Culinary and musical adventures

This past weekend, Caden had two fun adventures. The first, which took place in our kitchen nook on Saturday, was his first foray into the diverse realm of solid food. The second was a trip into San Francisco on Sunday to go to the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival.

Caden has been actively trying to grab food from our plates for several weeks now, but we waited until he had passed the six-month mark before introducing solid food. "Solid food" is a bit of a misnomer, at least at this point. Right now, his culinary repertoire consists of rice cereal, which we mix to approximately the consistency of runny applesauce. Caden seems to really enjoy eating from a spoon, and he signals his approval by reaching for the spoon as it approaches his mouth and by banging on the arm of his high chair. Here are a few photos and a video clip of our little guy enjoying his first meal from a spoon:

Video of the week:



Selected scenes:

Here it comes!
Tasting, tasting...
Yay! I like rice cereal.

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass

On Sunday, after fortifying himself with a tasty meal of rice cereal, Caden joined Daddy for a trip to San Francisco's Golden Gate Park to see some free live music. Mommy was busy studying for her PhD candidacy exam and decided to stay home while the guys went on their adventure. We drove to Oakland and met our friend Anne, then took the BART train under the bay to the city. From the BART, we transfered to a streetcar, which we rode to a stop near the park. We walked to the park and met Mark there, then found a comfy patch of grass to watch and listen to a couple of fun bands, including Hot Tuna and the Wayback Boys (featuring Bob Weir). Neither band played much bluegrass, though Gillian Welch joined Bob and the Wayback Boys for a couple of songs, including a great cover of "Like a Rolling Stone." Caden, who loves music in almost every imaginable form (including whistling, his dad's sleepy middle-of-the-night mutterings, and wild sea chanties), had a great time. Despite the drives from Sebastopol to Oakland and back and the two-hour transit time on crowded trains from Oakland to the park, he kept laughing and enjoying himself, though he was a bit unsure about the streetcar (see left). We all had a great time, enjoying a beautiful October day in the park.