Pass the Peas, Please

A great debate starts when a child is around four months old--when do we start with solid foods? Because Hannah is still nursing, the thought of starting solid foods any sooner than I absolutely had to (as mandated by my pediatrician!) seemed like a complete and utter waste of my time. Why try to coordinate extra meals to be prepared and eaten? Why have extra dishes to wash? Hannah starting waking up twice a night to eat about a week and a half ago. I don't mind one night time feeding during her twelve hours of night time sleep (I know, I'm blessed among women) but two times a night is just not conducive to an alert and functioning mind. So we made the plunge last week and started feeding her rice cereal. She is five and a half months old today, so I did pretty good to avoid the inevitable. She has had rice cereal for dinner three evenings in a row and hasn't spit any of it out yet. The first time I fed her she was grabbing at the spoon to try to feed herself (that will be a long process!). And now I've entered uncharted territory in my journey of parenthood and the questions rain down upon my head--how much do I feed her? What time of the day? How many times do I nurse her? When does she get to start on veggies? And on and on and on. The answers are as many as their are children on the planet, and I figure that if I'm doing something wrong, Hannah will let me know--she is good at that!