Helping His Sister

I love to see Caedmon taking care of his sister! I told them they had to finish the food on their plate if they wanted a treat, but Carys didn't want anything to do with those veggies, so Caedmon decided to help her out. And sure enough, she ate them all with his help!

It always does my heart good to see Caedmon emulating the good things I do. Too often I see myself in his negative behavior. I don't want to be a parent that needs to say "do as I say and not as I do." And when I hear Caedmon raise his voice and I ask him to use a gentle voice, I realize that he's only copying what he hears.:/

So when he decided to help his sister get a treat by feeding her, first of all, it warmed my heart to see him loving his sister in this way and secondly, he was doing what he'd seen me do for him. It was encouraging for me to realize that along with some of the negative things I do, there are positive as well. Parenting is tough!

Proper Etiquette Out the Window

Thought I'd try a bowl...
guess it was easier to put it to her mouth
than grab the food out of it!:/

(5/5/10)

Curious...and Into Everything!

Yes, that would be our refrigerator, which I guess was left open too long (by my husband of course!:)) because I turn around and find this!:)

Enjoying Dinner!

I made my Grandma's Pizza Casserole last night for supper. This is one of my favorites and I found out that Caedmon likes it as well!:)

Supper With Dada

Caedmon had already eaten supper and was playing when we sat down to eat. He decided he didn't want to be out of the loop, and "helped" dada eat his supper.

Success!:)

I'm kind of a clean freak. My husband calls it OCD, but since I married him, I've lightened up, and since Caedmon arrived...well, my house is not as clean as it once was. Still, as I thought about my future in motherhood, I prayed I'd be able to let my children be children - have fun making messes without mommy freaking out, or not allowing it at all. As I took these pictures today, I decided I've succeeded...or my prayers were answered!:) Caedmon was definitely NOT clean after a lunch of muffin, avacado, and tofu. I think he enjoyed squeezing the stuff in his hand and between his fingers more than putting it in his mouth!

I'm A Big Boy Now!

I believe it was last Wednesday, June 25th, that Caedmon finally got a Cheerio into his mouth all by himself! So Thursday, for breakfast, I threw a few onto his tray and he gobbled them right up. This has become our routine for breakfast now, along with sliced banana, avacado, or a cooked carrot or two. I've decided to try different foods and some of the same in different form, but only food that I can put on his tray and he can eat by himself. Thought I'd see how he would eat if he could do it himself as well as make the decision of what goes into his mouth and what doesn't. I don't know how much better we're doing. It's hard for me to be patient when I want him to get the healthy nutrients from veggies and fruits. So far, we just really like the Cheerios and graham crackers. So much for my health food ambitions! Everytime I go to the farmer's market, I want to cry over all the new veggies I was going to puree and try with him!

Solids Part 3

Last night, he seemed like he'd caught on to our little game and he wanted nothing to do with it. I had to slip in the first couple bites while he wasn't paying attention. Then he started opening his mouth for the next bite!! It was very exciting! I think we got about a teaspoon in!:) He didn't sleep quite as long, but still only woke once during the night.

Tonight, he was ready and opened his mouth for the very first bite! He ate everything I fed him tonight, probably about 1/2 a tablespoon or so. We'll see how the night goes. He was so very fussy tonight. He ate the rice cereal, then nursed right away and fell asleep. I haven't heard him peep since I put him to bed. Hopefully it'll be a good night!

Here he is enjoying his bowl after his meal.

Solids - Night #3

I was out and about yesterday - day # 3 of looking for the right size of pants for my husband. Why not bring him with, you might ask. Well, Corey does NOT go shopping with me. If he enters a store at all, it's by himself and it's in and out as quickly as possible - unless, of course, we're talking about Menards, and only then is it a long trip because he won't ask for help. You might also ask why he doesn't buy his own pants. Let's just say, he came fully clothed when we met, but he was also constantly mistaken for a man in his 30's.

All that aside, I was in Target and guess what I found?! Whole Grain AND organic rice cereal! YAH!! And for only $1.64! I was so excited - for that price, we can definitely put away the blender for now. It'll probably come back out when he starts eating his veggies and fruits, only to save some money though, because I'm pretty sure baby food is now perfectly healthy and free of all preservatives.

So we used the store bought kind last night and got some pretty good pictures of his face! Last night, he definitely wasn't digging the rice cereal. After a few bites, his mouth was not open for business! Hopefully he'll get used to it at some point - we'll keep trying! And the best part of all - he only woke up once last night!!! WAHOO!!!:) And it's 7a.m. and he has not yet woken again!

Six Months and Solids!

Yaahhh, Caedmon's 6 months old as of Friday, March 28th and can now begin the next phase of food - solids! My doctor told me that babies need nothing more than breast milk till they're 6 months. Sounds good to me - it's so easy to let him be in charge of his food intake - eating when hungry and eating until he's full, not having to think about what to feed him or how much. Except this one little problem: this past week, all week, he was up two and three times a night and yes, he wanted to eat. So, Friday could not come fast enough! I talked with a friend who is very health conscious and natural and she told me how to make whole grain rice cereal myself. We attempted it and in the end, the consistency wasn't much different than my milk (which is what we added, and lots of it). It was kind of a pain and I'm trying to figure out how we can minimize the work involved. I'd like to feed him whole grains, so I might see if the local health food store sells it, or I'll keep attempting to make my own.

So, his first experience with "solids" was fairly uneventful. He didn't really make any faces and seemed pretty indifferent to it all. And unfortunately, it didn't help him sleep through the night any better. We fed him again last night, but the same thing. He didn't want too much, but then scarfed up my milk when I nursed him again.:( Not sure if he doesn't like it, it wasn't good leftover, or it's just going to take some getting used to..? Lots of questions.

Anyway, here are a few pics.