I fed Johann his first real meal today (it was oatmeal mixed with apple juice). He's tried to eat things before, by snatching off our plates or having totally unsuitable things put in his mouth by his father or grandfather, but this was his first official solid food. He didn't like it, of course. He gave me the sourest look and then practiced his spitting out and gagging skills. I think some got down, but mostly he ended up wearing it. I'll try again tonight, and hopefully he'll change his mind about food in a couple of days.

Glady was the earliest eater, I think. She snatched a handful of mashed potatoes and gravy off my plate when she was about five months old and they are still her favorite food. I don't remember what Juliet's first food was - probably rice cereal. Pippa decided early on that if she couldn't feed it to herself she was'nt going to eat it. She waited a little longer to start on solids because of that, but once she got going she weaned herself at ten months and never looked back.

It was frustrating, this morning, feeling like I only had enough energy to get the girls off to school and then feed Johann and Phil their breakfasts. Afyer that, I just wanted to curl up on the couch, but I had too much to do today to let that happen. Phil suggested a walk, so I made myself a travel cup of mocha, figuring that between the two of them I'd wake up, and set out. It was relatively warm , wet, and grey out. Despite the overcast, the snowshine hurt my eyes, so I looked down, mostly, at the tracks. The fox visits the compost pile regularly, along with the crows, and assorted other birds. He tends to follow my beaten path across the pasture into the woods. I suspect he lives in the den in the side of the ravine. I haven't looked into it in years, ans haven't yet bothered to track the fox all the way home.