Eli's First Food

Last Friday, our governor made the decision that schools would remain closed through June. I think we all knew that this announcement was coming, but it is still difficult to wrap our heads around such an abrupt ending to the school year. We have not seen our students face-to-face since early March, and we will not see them again in our buildings until August. School districts and administrators are scrambling to make big decisions in regards to grading, final exams, graduations, and general end-of-year wrap-up. Boomer doesn't often show signs of stress, but I know it is weighing heavy on him as he tries to lead his school and celebrate the senior class. Each week seems to bring more and more uncertainty, and we are doing our best to press on. We have much to be thankful for, and I try to remember our blessings during this time of great unknown.

While there is a lot of global news to digest right now, the biggest news in the Kennedy household is that Eli has reached another big milestone - the introduction of food! Well, "food" is a bit of an exaggeration. Perhaps I should say - the introduction of a spoon! Last weekend, we gave Eli rice cereal for the first time. The consistency right now is very thin, almost like a broth. We are mixing about 1 tablespoon of the cereal with about 3 tablespoons of breastmilk. As Eli gets better at swallowing and being spoon-fed, we will thicken the cereal to that of oatmeal. For the first attempt, he did a great job! He instinctually opened his mouth and wanted more. We are now doing the rice cereal once a day, during lunch time. It is not replacing nursing, but the hope is that soon it will be significant enough to constitute a "meal."  I plan to generally follow the same steps as I did with Emmy, beginning with rice cereal and then progressing to pureed fruits and vegetables. Emmy's first food after the cereal was sweet potatoes, and to this day, it is still one of her favorite things to eat. She, of course, wanted to be close-by to watch while little brother tried out his first food.  

Although we are staying at home all day, there isn't much downtime as we continue to juggle full-time jobs with feeding, entertaining, and caring for a toddler and a newborn. Boomer has been working from home on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and it is so sweet to have this time as a family of four. Emmy has shown even more interest in Eli this week and has even asked to hold him on a couple of occasions. She has also taken a greater interest in her baby doll that she got for Christmas from Grammy and Grandpa. She has named the doll "Sister" and has been carrying it around along with Minnie and Purple Baby. She has recently started "pumping" so that Sister has milk to drink. I definitely have little eyes watching me all throughout the day; she doesn't miss a thing! 

We had a special surprise this week when the ice cream truck came to our cul-de-sac. It was Emmy's first experience, and even though it was only minutes before dinnertime, we bent the rules for a double-chocolate ice cream sandwich. We continue to enjoy the days that Grammy comes over to see us. This week's activities included chalk in the driveway and kinetic sand. We've also made traditions out of Sunday morning muffins before church on the tv and our after-dinner walks around the neighborhood and in the "cul-de-jack." One night this week, Boomer took a turn carrying Eli in the baby carrier. Check out Daddy's proud pose...and that long hair!