Polywog

Tonight Avery embraced solid food for the first time. For months she has responded to our periodic tasty offerings with gags, retches, spoon pushes, and a turned cheek. She has led me to wonder if there is an upper limit to the American Academy of Pediatrics' "no solid food until at least 6 months". Is breastmilk-only odd in kindergarden? A few weeks ago Avery did find a use for food as we know it. Greg and I realized that we could buy ourselves precious moments to eat our own dinners if we let Avery play with food in her highchair (see picture). These experiments always ended the same way: Avery and high chair covered in pureed food....from the neck down only. Nevertheless, finger painting with fruits was a success.

Teething, tummy ache, growing pains? It doesn't really matter. For whatever reason Avery has hardly been sleeping day or night and at times I'm dancing somewhere between hallucination and hysteria. Last night was an especially sleepless one. After a series of errands, I returned home with a zillion groceries and some needy folks in tow. I'm sure any parent knows the feeling when a thousand needs converge on a single moment...add sleeplessness and hope for the best.

Dylan: Could you make me my peanut butter sandwich with raisins and yogurt now please?
Me: Hang on just a minute. There are a lot of things happening all at once and I can't do everything just now.
Dylan: What is going on all at once?
Me: Avery is crying because she bonked her head. She needs a diaper change and a nap. Lance is desperate for water. You need your shoes taken off and your hands washed and you would like a peanut butter sandwich with raisins and yogurt, but the jelly is downstairs. The groceries are still in the trunk and the frozen foods are melting. I'm really hungry and I need to go potty.
Dylan: That is a lot of things. Can you remember that I'd like some milk to drink too?