Again, not the Waltons...

Turns out Uncle Doug spent the weekend in the big house but got out in time to make his train down here for his sweet old mother's funeral...

Violated a restraining order his ex-wife had just filed against him. Not sure what the situation is over there, maybe it has to do with the custody battle over his son.

Tomorrow is the funeral, I'm not exactly looking forward to it (who would, really) though it will be interesting to see everyone. I have difficulty maintaining my composure, i.e. get all sniffy and sobby and etc, but maybe having the baby along will distract me. I get self-conscious about it because We Are a Stone-Faced People Who Do Not Cry, except of course for me. And it's only gotten worse since the baby. Darn hormones!

Speaking of the baby, we fed her her first rice cereal the day before yesterday. Organic brown rice cereal mixed with breast milk, so it's about as close to saintly food as you can get. She had been watching us eat for some time so we thought we'd see how she likes it; it's a little early, she's just turned five months old today, but not terribly so and I do intend to breastfeed until she's at least one year old, probably longer. We will introduce other foods as they recommend, slowly and etc, holding off on wheat and milk and things like that until after I forget what month. But everyone seems to agree that rice cereal is usually very safe, and so far no ill effects noted.

She seemed to really groove on the cereal, not sure if it was just that she likes to bite the spoon or ??? but she very emphatically CHOMPS! on it and then mushes the food around in her mouth for a while after. We are giving her about one tablespoon at a sitting, once or twice a day, just to introduce her to eating in general. Come to think of it, is it even one tbsp? The directions I got from our doctor called for one teaspoon of cereal mixed with breast milk to make a soupy slurry. So it's hardly any really. She still manages to get some on her clothes, hands, etc, and spends a fair amount of her time trying to suck on the highchair tray, but all in all I'd say it's a success. :)