Oakley turned 6 months old last week. He weighed in at a thriving 15 lbs, 6 oz at his doctor appointment and stretched himself out to show off all 26 inches of his length. Amazing to think that with breastmilk, eye contact, loving touch, and lots of sleep (regardless of how interrupted it usually is!-another story…) he has doubled in size and quadrupled-times-10 his life skills- he rolls over from his back to his tummy, he grabs, grasps and says goo and grunts, he holds his head up, kicks rhythmically and with great strength, holds on tight, stands up tall, trusts and tolerates trips in the arms of siblings, gums and mouths most anything, sits with help, and most pleasantly, smiles with a smile that takes up his whole face and usually makes him turn his head- he’s easily overwhelmed by joy, beauty, and people locking eyes with him!
Alas, it’s time to diversify his eating portfolio. Time to move from sucking and swallowing to a spoon. If I’m honest, I haven’t been anxious to begin feeding Oakley solids because it’s one more thing to do at a time of day during which the list of happenings is already long! For instance, this morning during breakfast, I made waffles for Eli and Andi, babyfood oatmeal from scratch, and coffee and steel cut oats for myself. It took 1 blender, 2 big bowls, 1 pan/lid, 3 ramikins, the waffle iron, 2 forks, 5 spoons, and 4 measuring cups. I drew the line when Eli asked for powdered sugar on his waffle- besides the sugar overload reasoning, I just didn’t have space to put one more thing on the counter!
Despite the to-do list, I believe in feeding my kids so much that I’m willing to add spoon feeding to the daily routine 🙂 And last night, as we got ready to offer Oakley his first “bite”, I was very excited.
I went with butternut squash for his first food- thank you Kris for sharing your homemade squash!
Oaks went with boldness and confronted the confusing, all new, gooey, not-liquid and yet not a book, sock, toe, or toy- sensation that entered his mouth.
The first two bites went really well! I gave him one, he flinched but then tenaciously maneuvered it to his throat, and swallowed it down. Andi gave him bite number two with equal success.
And I captured it all on video. IMG_1546
Bites 3-7 ended with a bit of gagging and he eventually spit up most everything that had just gone down. It appears he has inherited some of the Lindsey and Poppy gag-reflex. This mornings oatmeal went down with a lot of face scrunching up and was more spit out than swallowed.
At the end, after 1 teaspoon of food had been delivered, I wiped his chin, held him, hugged him and told him I was proud of him for going for something new and trusting me to help him grow. He gave me a tight hug, a short grunt, and a sweet smile.
Cheers! to solids, another seat at the table, and changing poop consistency…Off we grow!
