By the next day, Mommy was back to her usual loving, patient, attached self - but Mark still wanted to make her feel loved and happy, so he took particular care to not bite her while nursing, resisted the urge to play with strands of her hair if he could and attempted to cry less, although that didn't make much of a difference as he usually only cried when he was really, really hungry or something hurt. He also made an effort to learn to talk faster, but his mouth was definitely not ready to form any words yet. Even the simplest he could think of, "Mama", didn't come out quite the way he wanted. He just babbled and drooled a lot, which was really frustrating - although mommy would often repeat the sounds he made and "talk" to him. Mark found those "discussions" quite fun and continued them until they were both laughing and Mommy gave him kisses.
Some days after the date, Mommy ate dinner with Mark sitting in her lap. She'd made herself some Guacamole, and two Avocado sticks were on a tiny plastic plate in front of Mark. So far, he had refused all her offers of pieces of soft vegetable or fruit - he'd explored the feel and texture with his hands and sometimes he'd tried the taste, but he'd never chewed or swallowed anything, fearing that it would be the start of a weaning process and he'd lose access to Mommy's milk and the comfort and warmth of breastfeeding.
But today, curiosity won out. Mark felt like using the four little teeth that had recently and painfully appeared in his mouth for the first time. He put one of the slippery, soft Avocado pieces in his mouth and tasted it - completely different from Mommy's milk, but interesting. He bit down, and a chunk separated from the piece. He chewed for a while, and his mostly toothless gums turned the soft vegetable into a mush he could swallow. Only then did Mommy seem to notice. "Wow, did you just eat some Avocado? Is it yummy?" she exclaimed, and Mark answered by eating the rest of the piece, and then the other. Green slime ran down his chin, but most of it ended up in his tummy. He still felt hungry though, and without warning he turned around anf pushed his face into Mommy's left breast, as if trying to feed through her shirt. Mommy laughed and took a selfie with Mark and the huge stain on her white shirt before she pulled it up and let him finish his meal.
From now on, Mark would usually eat some solids (except pear, which he hated) three times a day followed by Mommy's milk. Sometimes his tummy hurt a bit, and Mommy complained that his poo had become stinky and sticky when she changed him, but the variety of new taste experiences was worth it, and as long as Mommy nursed him as often as he wanted he was happy.
Mommy proudly told Emma and her other mom friends about Mark finally eating solids, and he was glad about the joy that little milestone brought her. "What will she say when I can walk or talk?" he thought.