First "not out of bottle" food!

Those that have met Kylie by now know that she is a bottle kind of girl. She regularly drains an 8oz bottle in less than 2 1/2 minutes ~ yes, we've timed it to be sure! And if she is really hungry she can do it in less than 2, quite a feat considering it is a concoction of formula and rice cereal! We were told by several people (quite adamantly I will say) that, "She needs to be off the bottle by the time she is one!" That was when we got home, two weeks before her first birthday and she had quite an aversion to a spoon and anything that was on one.

Then we spoke to her pediatrician (whom we are VERY pleased with!) who told us not to panic and just keep letting her watch us eat (she probably never got to see adults eat when she was in the orphanage) and offering her tastes of things. We decided to be relaxed about it and see how it would go, though we had our doubts when she didn't show a sweet tooth side (both from the birthday party for the Lianjiang girls while we were in China and from her birthday party here).

But Tuesday night just as bible study was starting Kylie showed that she was indeed ready to take on things that didn't come from a bottle! And her first taste that she pulled to her mouth?
Carrots ~ no. Peas ~ no. Applesauce ~ no. Peaches ~ no. Take a look at the photo below and see if you can tell what it was...
Okay, well her hands pulling it to her mouth may be hiding it too much, take a look at the next one...
Yep, aside from chocolate, Kylie is enjoying her mommy's favorite candy ~ a chewy Sugar Daddy! Now before you begin to think of us as horrible parents, please notice that there is an empty bottle in the background. Every girl deserves a little dessert!

And if the Kylie eating story ended there, I guess we could be called bad parents. But something yummy made her curious for more and here are some shots of her voluntarily consuming her first baby food ~ something slightly more nutritious ~ carrots!

"Wonder what this is gonna taste like? At least the color is pretty, bring it on Daddy!"
"Well that wasn't so bad... Hey, Mommy and Daddy, if I clean the bowl can I have another lick of Sugar Daddy?"By the way, we didn't offer more Sugar Daddy...

Oh, and if you were wondering how I managed to post in the afternoon, it is because our little chickpea is sleeping soundly IN HER CRIB!!! I guess there is something to be said about 3 days to adjust, though I will be a believer tomorrow if she goes down without as much of a fight. Thanks for all who prayed and don't stop just yet...