Ready for Solids?

Brody has reached the 4 month milestone. He is developing so well and getting so BIG! He hasn’t been to his 4 month check up yet, but we weighed him at home and couldn’t believe he weighs 15 pounds already. He is our BIG BOY, and we love him to pieces! He is so sweet and happy, and he really does seem to be so smart. He already “socializes” well with his big brother and others. Yesterday, Mommy met the nanny (Nana) and the boys for lunch close to Mommy’s work after Nana took the boys to a local children’s museum in uptown Charlotte. I wish I had pictures of that experience, but Nana did not take a camera with her. We have to teach her to use ours! Anyway, Evan was playing with one of Nana’s friends’ granddaughters, a little girl of six (yes, he loves older women…haha!  They were actually playing under the table at one point and Evan said they were in a cave and were drawing like cavemen!  I guess it is a good thing they weren't playing "doctor" right?). Brody was just smiling and watching the older kids playing across the table and making hand gestures like he wanted to talk and play with them so bad. Because of his great weight gain and his other developmental accomplishments, we are considering going ahead with some solid food tasting. From what I’ve read online, these are the milestones to look for that he has met:

• Wants more than milk alone and still seems hungry after feedings. He eats every two hours during the day, but since he sleeps all night, he does want to eat more during the day. He wakes up at 6:30 a.m. and breastfeeds, breastfeeds again at 8:00 a.m. before Mommy leaves for work, eats a 5 oz. bottle of formula with cereal at 10:00 a.m., eats a bottle of breast milk at 12:00 p.m., eats a 5 oz. bottle of formula with more cereal between 2:00 and 4:00 p.m. (he usually takes a longer nap before this feeding so he goes longer), eats another 5 oz. bottle of formula with cereal around 6:00 p.m., and then gets breastfed before bedtime around 9:30 p.m. His schedule is right on track with adding in solid feedings. We started the cereal a few weeks ago because we read that sometimes thickening their milk with a little infant cereal can reduce the spitting up which he had started doing more frequently. He has improved a lot in that area.

• Starts making chewing motions and begins teething. This baby wants to chew on everything. It started out about a month ago with his chewing on his blankies and now he chews on his toys (which he can now firmly grasp and play with) and his fingers. He doesn’t just suck on his fingers…he goes to town chomping down on those cute little digits! I gave him a baby spoon the other day to hold and chew on, and he seemed to like the chewy, soft texture that fit into his mouth more easily that most teething toys.

• Can control his head and keep it upright and steady. Both of my boys have had very strong neck muscles and could hold their heads up very early. Although Brody doesn’t really like being on his stomach, he wants to sit up ALL THE TIME. Although he can’t quite do it without a little support on his lower half, he can sit in his bumbo seat for a very long time without hunching over, falling backwards, or getting fussy and tired. He just loves to sit up and watch the world around him!

• Has doubled his birth weight. We are not sure how important this step is, but he has seriously just about reached that milestone. He weighed 8 lbs. 9 oz. at birth and now weights 15 lbs. I am pretty sure his doctor will have no worries about this little chunk! However, if you’ve seen his pictures, you can tell he really isn’t that chunky looking…just healthy and LONG!

So considering all of these milestones, we think he is ready to begin his next big adventure of eating some big boy foods. Mommy is planning to make his baby food at home using this lovely little device:

THE BABY BULLET! Isn’t it the cutest? It has little smiley faces on all the feeding cups and on the big mixing cups. And it is easy enough that even Evan could use it. It has very simple recipes for making baby food and easy to follow lists for when to introduce certain foods (and the no-no foods to stay away from). Plus, Mommy has been dying for Brody’s first food to be avocado (one of Mommy’s fav veggies). I mean avocado is the perfect baby food…rich, wholesome, full of nutrients and omega fatty acids for good brain development, a naturally creamy and smooth consistency. Has anyone found avocado in pre-made baby food jars at the store because I haven’t?


HAPPY FEEDING!