Brendan is 18w1d/ 4 months + 5 days old! He had a check-up on the 21st and he is a whopping 16 lbs. 9 oz. and 26 ½ inches tall!! He still wears size 2 diapers and 6-9 month clothing. These few weeks have seen Bren’s introduction to solid foods! His first taste of food was at a barbeque buffet restaurant in Gainesville on June 28 with Gene and Waynell. He tried banana pudding (and mashed potatoes and then vanilla ice cream…). He seemed to enjoy the experience. The next day Waynell made homemade peach ice cream and he went gaga over it!
Grandma’s Peach Ice Cream Recipe (small ice cream maker):
1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 large can peaches
1 T flour
Fill with milk to 2/3 full
His first official baby food meal was on Monday, July 7. I fed him carrots instead of the typical rice cereal first because of his past problems with constipation. He loved them so much he ate the entire 2 ½ oz. jar! So his first foods and initial reactions went like this:
Baby carrots: July 7 (Loved)
Baby peas: July 8 (Liked)
Baby peas mixed with mashed plain potatoes: July 9 (Didn’t care for)
Fresh bananas: July 11 (Liked)
Mashed potatoes: July 12 (Didn’t care for)
Peach flavored applesauce: July 13 (Loved)
Baby sweet potatoes: July 13 (Loved)
Baby peaches: July 16 (Loved)
Yogurt (peach flavor): July 16 (Loved)
Baby squash: July 19 (Liked)
Plain baby rice cereal: July 22 (Didn’t care for)
Baby rice cereal with baby applesauce and cinnamon: July 23 (Liked)
Baby green beans: July 24 (Tolerated)
Baby rice cereal with bananas: July 25 (Liked)
For the first week we mostly stopped him at ½ a jar of food once per day. He quickly moved to a whole 2 ½ oz. jar and then 2 two jars a day. He now gets 2 ½ oz. or so of rice cereal mixed with a fruit for lunch and a jar of veggies for dinner. He also drinks 28 to 32 oz. per day of formula. We mix the Carnation Good Start with a much more inexpensive HEB formula and he does fine with it.
I did a poll on what Brendan can do a week ago and I think it does a fair job of showing his current abilities:
How I Grow:
*I turn my head in all directions YES
*I lift my head forward when I’m on my back and grab my feet with my hands YES (feet on July 10)
*I sit up for about 15 minutes with my head and back straight if you support my body YES
*I prefer sitting, instead of lying down-it’s more interesting YES
*I roll from my back to my side, but sometimes I get my hand caught under my stomach YES (Roll to side on June 30)
*I move a toy from one hand to the other YES (July 5)
*I put things in my mouth YES
*I splash and kick with my hands and feet in the bath YES
How I Talk:
*I babble and imitate sounds like coughing and clicking my tongue for long periods of time (no clicking but you do make a cute cough!) YES
*I coo, grin, or squeal with joy when you talk to me YES- I love his huge squeal!
How I Respond:
*I love to see myself in the mirror YES- He has a mirror toy on his changing table that he loves!
*I’m fascinated by my hands YES- but he has moved onto his feet now!
*I like some people and am shy or scared of others- No shyness yet
*I may have one favorite toy or blanket- your blue bear + blankie “lovey” (Last week it was a blue telephone rattle)
How I Feel:
*I get excited when I’m having fun-everything is a game to me OH YES!
*I cry and get mad when you stop paying me attention to me or take a toy away OH YES!
He also likes to throw himself back when excited or drinking his bottle, loves to go outside & loves to pat our faces when we talk to him up close. He plays with toys very well now! He just hates it when he loses his grasp on them and can’t find them. He can’t stand being on his tummy but he loves being upright and being able to bounce in his new stationary entertainer.
We spent the 4th of July with our friend Dobie. He barbequed. Brendan sucked on a mango slice and had a wee bit of root beer float in celebration. We watched some fireworks from the distance and he loved the pretty colors.
We went to the zoo on July 15th with Nico & family. Brendan loved being outdoors but didn’t pay much attention to the animals. We got rained on and Brendan ended up in my shirt to keep warm. It was a great day!
We read Brendan’s first books to him on July 24th. Darrell read “Spread Your Wings and Fly” (a neat book that tells a story to the folding of an origami crane). He got it at one of his baby showers and Darrell promised that it would be the first book read to him. I read him “I am Winnie the Pooh”- a very basic Pooh book. He LOVED reading the books and seemed to pay good attention to us and looked at the pictures. I hope to make this a daily activity now.
Congratulation to my friend Kim on her IVF pregnancy of TWINS! WooHoo!