Elias at 6 Months

At six months I am introducing Eli to a variety of solid foods.  Watching him taste something for the very first time is a mix of excitement (what will he think?) and anticipation (will he like it?).  The amount of pleasure I get watching him move a bite around in his mouth, make a face like he has just been given sour mash, and then bang the tray for more, is borderline questionable.  Cedric had a palate for sweets.  My boy loved fruit in any form and was less enthusiastic about the savory dishes.  Eli has been the opposite.  He will gobble down the squash, beans, peas, etc and quickly loose interest in sweet things like apple, pear, and banana.   Where my boys' tastes dovetail is with ice cream.  Thanks to the genetic makeup of Zach’s mother and her mother, both boys show a remarkable predisposition for that cold dairy confection.

Behold the video evidence! (Backstory: Cedric had given me the unfinished part of a mini drumstick and when I noticed how intently Eli was watching the cone, I lost my mommy head and let him have a taste for the pure enjoyment of watching him taste ice cream for the first time.)

Personally I would take a bowl of fruit with whipped cream or sorbet any day.

Other than ice cream, Eli has tasted rice cereal, sweet potato, carrot, zucchini, green bean, banana, apple, carrot & parsnips, acorn squash & apple, green beans & potato & kale.

I introduced a Sippy cup.  It was kind of a disaster in terms of successfully drinking water out of it.  But he has been a fan of chewing on the spout.  After reading this post I tried letting him drink out of a shot glass.  It looks very wrong because its obviously a shot glass, but he is really good at it – so long as I actually hold the glass for him.  Its his preferred mode of drinking.

He has two bottom teeth and lots of swollen gums where more are sure to appear.

Wakes up at least two times at night to nurse.  Just like his brother at this age.

He doesn’t roll over but he seems interested in the possibility of rolling over.  What can I say, this baby is content to watch the world around him and vocalize how he feels about it.

What has been difficult is his sensitivity about the environment where he will nurse.  Upstairs, in a quiet, dark room is The Place where nursing happens.  If I try to feed him downstairs, at someone else’s home, or horrors use a nursing cover, Eli does the baby version of wigging out.  This has resulted in nursing strikes that last upwards to eight hours.  During which I am a mental and emotional wreck.  So even though its frowned upon I nurse my baby in a dark, quiet room.

6 Month Stats

Weight: 19lbs 2oz – 90th percentile

Length: 27 1/4 inches – 75th %

Head Circ: 43 cm – 50th %

Eli’s First Foods

Clockwise starting with banana, carrots, golden beets, sweet potatoes

The picture represents what I hope will be a week’s worth of first foods.  Not pictured is your standard rice cereal, parsnips, apples and pears.  I had already put them away and didn’t want to get them out for the picture.  I’m struck by overwhelming laziness sometimes.   There is also a pretty good chance I may eat the golden beets, this recipe is making me second guess giving them to Eli.

Eli’s first official food other than breast milk was mashed banana watered down with breast milk to be near liquid (on his 5 month birthday).  He was very excited to sit in the high chair and wear a bib.  Almost like he knew something different and special was going to happen.  When I showed him the spoon he was still and opened his mouth.  Then his eyes got big and he promptly spit it out.  Then mouth wide open for another bite.  Eli carefully moved the food around in his mouth and spit most of it out but wanted more.  I’m much more aware this time around of him learning.  In this case learning to use his mouth and tongue in a different way.  He also enjoyed the mess on the high chair tray.  It makes me think it might be time to make some sensory toys out of Ziplock bags.  (Like these.)

Overall it was a great first tastes experience.  But wow what a mess!  This mashed bananas “eating?” was followed by a good scrubbing in our deep sink.

Apple Butter Madness

This past weekend was Old Iron Works days back in my home town.  This is the third year my sister and I (with the help of our husbands, parents, siblings, aunts, and girlfriends) have demonstrated making apple butter in a kettle.  Making apple butter in a kettle is only fun if you have a small army of people!  Though we have done it with 5 people and that wasn’t too bad.  Cedric stayed with Zach’s parents for the weekend – THANK YOU Stephanie and Peter for driving him to their house.  Eli went to Old Iron Works and was seriously The Best Baby Ever.  Until the drive home, but that’s another story.

Here I am wearing Eli in the Ergo and nonchalantly handing money to my sister.

Grandma June supervising my Dad adjusting the fire.

Dad was in his element coaxing people to stir the apple butter.

My sister, the mastermind behind all this apple butter craziness.  Seriously you know its bad when you peel 144 pounds of apples and think, “Hey that only took a couple hours, we’re getting faster.”

I wish the Internet could have a scratch and snip option because this picture would smell like apples, cinnamon, and wood smoke.

“I have two teeth! Feed me!!” This is what I imagine Eli is thinking…

Maramec Springs is beautiful, especially in the Fall.

The Houghs surprised us with a visit on Saturday.

Minus my brothers, this is my family.  Right after this picture we all went our separate ways home.  Eli cried almost the entire way home – he had finally reached his “I’m done, people!” stage.  But poor little Riley-Roo blew chunks leaving an entirely different kind of smell in my sister’s car. 

At the end of this weekend, I always feel like I never want to do this again.  But even just a few days later when I look back I think, “That wasn’t too bad, and next year the kids will be older and it will be easier.”   Is this normal?

Eli’s Four Month Review

Help my baby is growing!  Just kidding.  About the help part – growing babies are a-okay.  It must be intense to be a baby though; to go from a mass of cells to a squealing, arm flinging, feet kicking, smiling baby of four months is pretty amazing.  Eli’s four month well-baby visit was actually about a month ago, he will be five months on October 11th.  Crazy.

He was not very happy about being weighed and measured this time around so I don’t think these stats are accurate.  But nevertheless, here they are: (percentiles)

Weight: 17lbs 2oz (80%),  Length: 25 inches (50%),  Head Circ: 42cm (60%)

His pediatrician gave us the green light to start baby food but I haven’t yet.  Eli just did not seem ready at four months.  He has just started showing intense interest in what we are eating and making grabs for plates, cups, forks, etc.  I recently got Tyler Florence’s book Start Fresh and I am excited to make some baby food for Eli soon.  I’m thinking next week…

One of my favorite things about this baby?  The way his ears turn out at the top.

Elias Jack

So here I am 38 weeks, 4 days pregnant. I finally broke and had Zach snap a picture of me before pregnancy number 4 was over.

Wednesday, May 11th at 9:59am our son was born. He weighed 7lbs 15oz and was 20 inches long. Name? Umm......

Roland? What about Nolan? Let's ask people and see what they say.

And wow, he looks a lot like Cedric when he was born!

By the end of the first day about 50% of people polled liked Roland and 50% liked Nolan. Absolutely not helpful. In my drug induced state I decided to text some of my closest advisers for their opinion. I texted 6 girlfriends and 3 were for Nolan and 3 were for Roland. Eee gads people!

Zach and his mother spend a few hours that night pouring over names. The next morning, Zach shows up at the hospital with the name Elias, nickname Eli.

And it just suits him perfectly. So meet my sweet baby boy, Elias "Eli" Jack. Its so nice to have you in my arms and no longer fighting with my internal organs for space!