Braeden Graduates

Braeden has graduated to fruits and veggies as of today. A bit early, but his doctor said it's time. He was constipated again over the weekend, even though he's been off cereal for the past week. So I called his pediatrician this morning, and she said that with a lot of formula-fed babies she recommends skipping the cereal entirely if there's a problem, and going straight to #1 peas or green beans, in addition to pear or prune juice, to give him the extra fiber his little body is obviously craving, even though he's only 5 months and 1 week old.

So this morning he had his first 2 tablespoons of peas, and he loved them. DH is picking up some pear juice on his way home from work tonight, and we'll start that. Braeden's to have 1-2 tablespoons of #1 peas and 1-2 tablespoons of pear juice 3 times a day for 5 days, to be sure he's not allergic to either, then we can switch to the green beans and real #1 pears. I think we'll skip the prune juice if the pear juice works. So he's arrived at yet another milestone.

He woke me up at 5:30 this morning (his usual time) talking away to himself. I turned on the video monitor, and all I could see was the bottom of his sleep sack. Somehow during the night he moved around so his head was at the foot of his crib, his feet where his head was supposed to be. When I went into his room and turned on his lamp, there he was smiling at me, looking kind of like the cat who ate the canary. I moved him back into his normal sleeping position (we've got a waterproof cover over that area to avoid any spit-up problem) while I mixed his formula. After he downed that and had his little constipated bowel movement, he happily went back to sleep for another hour, before I got him up for his morning DVD and tummy time.

Aunt Y. was here over the weekend. She brought him a new toy - a tractor, with 3 stackable farm animals. It's for ages 6 months and up, but Braeden's already batting it around, knocking the animals off the tractor, then picking up the tractor to stick the wheels in his mouth. He has no idea yet what to do with the toy, but he seems to like it so far. She also brought him some new socks, and two adorable outfits - one for 12 months, the other for 18 months. It was great seeing her again. We try and have her over for a visit close to each monthly birthday, and we've asked her to be one of his God Mothers at his baptism, which will be sometime in May. She cried when we asked her - she's never had that happen before, and she was very touched that we'd ask her.

I'll post again after I see what happens with Braeden eating peas and drinking pear juice. Hopefully it'll solve his constipation problem and he won't be allergic to them so we can move on to green beans and real pears (instead of juice).

Braeden Photos

I'd like nothing better than to post photos of Braeden here, but DH prefers I don't do that. His job position is such that he wants this blog to remain as anonymous as possible.

However, if anyone would like photos of Braeden, please don't hesitate to email me directly with your own email address, and I'd be more than happy to send a few to you, the small variety so they won't fill up your email quota. He has totally awesome hair - no kidding. He lost some on the sides and back, but for the most part what he was born with is still there and growing very fast. He'll need a hair cut soon, or some major gel applications so he doesn't look like a troll with dark brown hair standing straight up..hehe.

Braeden continues to enjoy his cereal. We're still doing it only once a day, but will go to twice a day in the next couple of weeks. The Bumbo chair works great for feeding, leaving both my hands free, since he's not exactly sitting up totally on his own enough to try feeding him that way. Now that would be messy..hehe. Plus, we put it on the couch while we're sitting there so he can sit between DH and I. He looks so pleased with himself sitting beside us.

I do have one development that seems weird to me, but then this is my first time doing this, so it's probably what all these little ladies and gentlemen do at about 5 months old (he'll be 5 months in a week). After he eats his cereal, we return to his bottle for the rest of his meal. The only problem is, he doesn't want to drink from the nipple. No, he wants the top off and to drink directly from the bottle, as if it's a cup. We don't have any cups for him yet, so that's how we're doing it until we're able to buy some real cups. We've done research which suggests he should learn to drink straight from a cup before using a sippy cup, so that's the route we're going. I get the biggest kick out of him drinking without the nipple and collar on the bottle, but has anyone else encountered this?

One thing I'm not sure of is how much cereal he should eat as he gets closer to 6 months and the start of his fruits and veggies. I know we're supposed to work up to three times a day, but how much at each feeding baffles me. The cereal box says to start with 1 tablespoon mixed with 4-5 tablespoons of formula (or water), and that seems to be his limit right now. Does it stay at that amount, just more frequently? New motherhood is really showing here, isn't it?

He continues to outgrow his clothes. This is getting scary. I swear baby clothes must shrink at some point in the laundering process..lol. He's wearing 6-9 months, which is appropriate for his weight, but what's after that? 12 months? It seems from what I've seen that after 9 months things are labeled differently, at least here. I have no idea what 4T is, and he has some of those for later - they're huge. We'll need to go on a shopping trip before long, and it's a maze out there. We received some things that are marked as 12 months, 18 months, even 24 months, but the majority of the clothing items don't seem to be marked that way. Help!

We're breaking out the Exersaucer this weekend after we clean it up. Most of our big items were inherited from friends, and need a good cleaning. I know he's going to love that thing. Will keep you posted on further developments, and don't forget that if you'd like a few photos, just let me know at my email address. I wish I could post them here, but DH would have a cow..lol.

Shots Not Fun

I'm so relieved Braeden's 4-month-old shots are behind us, and I'm sure he is too. He had a bit of a reaction this time (which he didn't at 2 months). Nothing major, some pain and a little fever, but Tylenol helped and he was fine in a couple of days.

He weighs 15 pounds, 5 ounces, is 25 1/2 inches long, and is doing great. His pediatrician said we could start messing around with the cereal eaten from a spoon stuff, so we're doing that, and he's doing very well. He loves that cereal. We're just experimenting for now, mainly getting him used to the spoon. We got him a "Bumbo"chair to help him sit up (he still needs some support), and that's working great for the spoon feeding. Thank goodness we also got one of those rubberized bibs with a big pocket to catch drippings..hehe.

His babbling has turned more to squealing, which goes on for most of the day. He only takes a couple of short naps, otherwise he's a busy little guy. Since he discovered his feet and toes, he's content to lie in his bed for an hour playing with them and sucking on his toes. Too cute. I guess naps are going to keep lessening. That's fine with me. I love playing - he's so much fun, loves everything. Let's hope that carries on to fruit and veggies when he reaches that point in about 6 weeks.

Will write more later.