Dinnertime chaos swirled around. We brushed aside the kids homework and sheets of stickers. Crayons rolled across the table as Scott set down paper plates topped with a simple meal of oven-baked chicken nuggets and sliced fruit.
The kids have this damn digital piano that Scott bought for his younger brothers and sisters 10 Christmases ago. Somehow we wound up with it… I really can’t imagine why anyone would want to get rid of the wretched thing. It plays such beautiful digital renditions of songs we love and songs we love to hate. And by “beautiful” I mean so annoying I think of throwing that piano away every day.
The piano blared on in the background, belting out Whitney Houston and the Star Wars theme. Scott and I took turns telling Kendall and Leyna to “Sit down, please. You have to at least try one bite. No, don’t spit your water out on your plate. That is disgusting. You still have to eat that. Ignore your brother/sister.”
Lowell sat in the middle of the table in the Bumbo. Best seat in the house. He laughed at Kendall, which was precisely the sort of acknowledgement Kendall did not need for his antics. He followed the path of our hands to our mouths, lifting food, and watched our mouths chew.
He smiled, he opened his mouth, he reached out.
He was ready.
I’ve put off starting solids with him because, honestly, feeding a baby anything other than milk directly from my breasts is a giant pain in the ass that results in more dirty dishes and foul diapers.
With Kendall, and even with Leyna, the first bite of solids was planned out, plotted on a calendar. We made a special trip to the store to purchase the perfectly ripe (and organic!) produce.
This time, I got up from table, grabbed an avocado, peeled and smooshed it a bit, and we gave him a taste.
The kids quieted. They watched and cheered him on. We all laughed at his reaction of excitement and wonder.
And in the background, the digital piano played The Beatles “Let it be.”
Bum bum bummmm, bum bum BUMMM….
Simple, sweet, little moment of unplanned perfection.