We've had one of the most enjoyable weeks with Jakub! He's been moving and rolling so much, playing with bubbles for the first time, laughing even more, sitting up better, and EATING! It's all been so incredible to watch and a little sad at the same time:) He truly seems to have left the "baby" behind and begun his journey towards being a little boy. It's not all been easy, either. With his new-found mobility he has not learned how to turn it off around bedtime. Before sleeping, either at nap-time or bedtime, he has to do several rotations around the bed and get stuck in a corner a couple of times before he can go to sleep. We're leaving him to it so he'll learn it's not the best time to try out all of those fancy tricks, but it will be a while before he settles down I think:) He's just too excited! A couple of days ago we were trying to put him down for a nap and it took over an hour of crying and turning and playing before he would sleep. He was laughing and crying at the same time! Poor kid can't quit playing even when he really wants to.
Here he was playing on my bed while I was cleaning up our room. I wish you could really see just how blue those beautiful eyes are in the sunlight.
He loved the bubbles:)
Sitting and playing with his toys.
We have ourselves a GOOD EATER! He's been watching us intently while we eat or drink for a few weeks now so, I guess he was prepared and ready for his own shot at eating:) He blew on the spoon for the first few bites and sent rice cereal flying everywhere, but then he just started opening his mouth like a little bird and swallowing the food really well. We began on Saturday for lunch and he ate the entire bowl we prepared for him. Sunday lunch was even better in that he didn't sputter at all, but ate it all again with little trouble. I still don't feel like I know exactly what I'm doing, but one day at a time we're having fun and figuring it out. I'm not so sure I made the cereal as thick as he could have handled, but I was nervous about the swallowing so it was a little watery:) We'll get there, though. I've already bought the carrots for making his food for next weekend. I can't wait to see how he reacts to each new taste. I think he's going to love it!
And here was the post-lunch result. He was kicked back in his chair with his feet crossed and a very fully little belly! I wish I could say it magically made his naps longer, but so far that is not the case. He is sleeping well at night, but he was already doing that on most nights. It has seemed for the last 2 nights that he's waking less even for his pacifier. Both nights he only woke one time for a feeding and slept all the other hours. I hope it's going to stay that way! These days he's sleeping from around 7 until 6 or 7 with a feeding around 1.I have some questions for anyone who might have some suggestions/answers: How quickly did you increase the thickness of the rice cereal? So far, I've followed the directions on the box, which leave it very runny (as it should be for a beginner). Also, how quickly do you try adding more to the amount he tries to eat? The directions said to give a beginner 1 tbsp of rice mixed with 4-5 tbsp of liquid, and both days he ate all of that (except for a few sputters here and there). How quickly did you move on to new foods like carrots (which I was thinking of adding next weekend)? Any other helpful tips about eating or trying new foods? Any of you make your own baby foods?
I started with using the directions on the rice cereal box, but then I just stopped measuring and "eye-balled" it :) We would give the twins 3tbs of rice cereal with about 1-2 ounces of formula. If it got too thick, I would just add more formula. With the food, we started with sweet potatoes (our doctor just suggested orange vegetables first). We probably did the same veggie for 4-6 days. Then we added in fruits maybe a month later. Now that they're 6 months, we do a fruit in the morning (and bottles) and vegetables later in the afternoon. Sometimes I mix them with rice cereal to make their bellies fuller. Hope this helps!
ReplyDeleteI just let Ava be the guide with food. She hated it at first, so I kept trying it until she was really good at that consistency and then made it a little thicker. The Level 1 foods aren't thick, so I would go for it! He did so great and really liked it, so I would think he is ready! My doctor said to stick to one food for about 3 days without switching so you can tell if there is an allergy to it. At first I just did a bowl or jar at a time, and that would satisfy her. I think you will be able to tell when he is ready to start having more. If he's relaxed with a hard belly, he's full! You're doing great! Good luck! Feeding new things is so much fun!
ReplyDeleteJakub is such a little cutie, and I love seeing all the pictures of him!
Congrats Jakub! That's so exciting that you are growing and learning so many new things. However, you need to stop growing until you come to visit! I've told Lillian the same thing. She is to stop growing until you two cuties can play together as babies!!!
ReplyDeleteIn terms of feedings, I followed the directions on the box for consistency. Then, I gave Lillian just rice cereal for almost a month before we moved onto baby food. We started with sweet potatoes but would probably start with carrots if I were to do it over again. I would give her a food for 3-4 days before I would introduce a new flavor. I think that I moved onto fruits too fast. After Lillian started fruits, she really started spitting up a lot more. To help with the spitting up, I backed off to giving her nothing but breastmilk and rice cereal again.
Babies are like puppies and will overeat if you let them. Our pediatrician recommended to give about 2-3 oz. worth of food at a feeding. This didn't always completely satisfy Lillian so I would follow a feeding with a short breastfeeding of 5-10 minutes. This would tide her over well.
Hope this helps. Have a good week. Maybe we could talk sometime this week. Love, Laura
We didn't even start with cereal, we went straight to baby food. If you are nervous about adding veggies, just mix your cereal and a little veggies together for the first few days. Trust me, you won't mess it up, if he is already sitting up and eating that well, he is ready for veggies. Let him "master" each veggie before moving on to the next one...probably will take 3-4 days. Oh, and he will tell you when he is full, just let him be the guide. Those are my thoughts...not that I am an expert by any means! Are you making your own baby food? Do they not have Gerber in the Czech Republic??? :) I'll have to make a call about that. Love you and that blue eyed baby!
ReplyDeleteThanks everyone for your comments! They're helpful! He's still doing well with the eating and I've increased the thickness just a bit and he didn't even seem to notice, but just loved it anyway. He's eating a bit more than when we first started and he does seem to reach a point when he starts to sputter it out and his belly looks full, so I stop then. I've been following it with breastfeeding, which he still seems to want a full meal of it, too. I think I will start with carrots first and hold off on fruits for a bit.
ReplyDeleteBecca- they do have baby food here, but I want to make my own at first is all I meant:) I'm actually looking forward to it! We'll see how it goes... :)