Success!

Applesauce, people. After a month of trying a startling assortment of homemade, organic, all-natural foods, what does Gabe decide to eat? Applesauce. Gerber applesauce.

I know, I know, I should only be feeding him cereal and green vegetables and maybe a Cheerio or two at this stage of the game. I definitely shouldn't be giving him anything as sweet as applesauce. I can hear you clucking your tongues and shaking your heads sadly as you read this, undoubtedly thinking to yourselves, "If you give him applesauce you'll never get him to eat green beans." "He'll hate vegetables forever." "You've ruined his palate." But for the first time in my almost-seven-month-long career as a mother, I don't feel guilty for failing to follow the Good Mom Rules. I've got to be honest: I'm just glad he's eating something.

Of course, I use the term "eating" loosely. When I say he "ate," what I really mean is that he smeared his hands around the bowl to feel the squishy processed apple goodness, then stuck two fingers in his mouth and sucked a little food off of them. Next he allowed me to put four tiny bites into his mouth (two with the spoon, two with my finger). Last and perhaps most effectively, he dipped his teething toy into the applesauce and then gnawed on the teething toy enthusiastically.

Hooray! Maybe he won't be the only exclusively bottle-fed child in his kindergarten class. Maybe he'll have bottles and applesauce in his little lunch box. I am so relieved.