Quality Time

Katherine, today was a "spend-time-together-but-not-as-much-as-usual" kind of day.

During the day you were with me at my office, but having a meeting that I could not take you in with me, you hung out with a team member and friend at the office during that time. When I came out of my meeting you were peacefully asleep cuddled up in her arms.... This evening I went out for an event, so it was daddy and baby time and you were already asleep when I got home.

On a day like today I am grateful that you have lots of caring people in your life. I enjoy our times where we hang out together, and the bedtime routine where I read to you and we cuddle up together, but even more than that I feel content knowing that you are happy too cuddling up with a friend for your nap or that you enjoy daddy's nighttime routine... and seeing you sound asleep when I came home was definite proof of that.

You are teaching me that time spent with the people we love is not about the quanity, but the quality. Having a phone call from a friend far away, or coffee with a busy friend in the same town - friendship is not dependent on how often we connect but how much we care when we do. And as for us, we still had lots of great moments to connect; time to cuddle, play and explore the world together... and of course the moment when I heard you cry a little in your sleep after I got home tonight and I raced to your room to give you a hug and a soft kiss good night.

A New Experience

Katherine, today you tried “solid” food for the first time. For the past weeks and days you have been more and more curious about the food Mark and I eat (and no, you really can’t have those Starbucks Frappuchinos you have been reaching for). I have been researching which food to start you out with – and the opinions widely vary depending if I research on Canadian or German websites. We even bought a jar of vegetable puree yesterday and some rice to make rice cereal out of… just so we have it when we decided the time is right (after all, you are only just over 5 months old and most research says to wait until 6 months).

But as you are your own person, it’s not up to me - you let me know that you were ready. As I was getting ready to make lunch for daddy and me today, you were in the kitchen with me, watching my every move and wildly waving your arms… aha, there was my clue! So I found the tiniest pot I have in my kitchen, cut up a fresh carrot and cooked and pureed it for you.

There we were, ready with photo and video camera, a tiny spoon and a generous sized bib as you had your first taste of carrot puree. I am not sure what was the bigger experience for you – the taste of the carrot or the fact that there was a spoon instead of a bottle in your mouth… but it was great fun to watch you experience this different sensation and taste.

You are teaching me that new experiences are fun – when we are ready for them. Trying something for the first time is magical… at any age. Be it food, or doing something we have never done before allows us to learn, grow and broaden our horizon. But trying new things can also send us outside our comfort zone and therefore sometimes we hold back instead of leaping forward into new experiences. For today, I am grateful I got to share your first food experience with you and I love that you have many more “first” adventures ahead of you.