I love that I get to do this blog on the heels of Thanksgiving. We do have much to be thankful for as J expressed so well in yesterday's blog. It's hard to believe Riley's been with us for six months... it has gone by sooo fast. Here's the scoop on what he's got going on right now:
His Body
*He's over 15 # and I suspect that when his doc weighs him next week, he'll be closing in on 16. He's been putting on weight at a steady pace ever since I began supplementing with formula 2 months ago. He's quite the chubba bubba and has got a nice little "beer" belly to boot. Storing up the energy for when he goes mobile, I'm sure.
His Food
*He has 4 bottles a day --taking around 24 oz total. As I've been introducing him to solids for the past month, he's been eating 2oz of rice cereal with 2oz of pureed veggies or fruit each morning before I go to work. This week I started an afternoon meal of 2-4 oz of veggies or fruit, whichever he didn’t have in the morning. He’s been getting protein in the form of yogurt and starting this week, I’ll add meat, cheese and hard-boiled egg yolks. He also gets a tsp of omega 3-rich flaxseed oil in his cereal which is good for building immunity.
*He hasn't been too picky with food, though he's not crazy about rice cereal alone (when it tastes like paste, who can blame him?). Here's a list of all the foods he's been eating for the past month:
Rice cereal and...
sweet potato / yam
butternut squash
broccoli
rutabaga / yellow turnip
brussels sprouts
banana
He also enjoys plain yogurt & papaya, as well as pears and apples.
*The one thing he's turned his nose up at is avocado, but I'm going to keep trying with that one. If anyone has a good idea for hiding it in something, let me know.
*We're also giving him 2oz of prune juice each day (diluted with water) to help with the constipation he had once he started solids. Seems to be working for him and this is the only juice he gets for now.
*He’s still getting used to the sippy cup – gnaws it more than sucks, so we keep practicing.
His Sleep
*He's still going to bed around 7p each night and getting up around 5:30a, give or take 30 min. He takes two naps a day – an early morning nap about 90 min long and another for 2 hrs in the afternoon.
His Activities
*Anytime he's placed on his back, he rolls to the left onto his tummy. Maybe since he's a righty he only rolls in that direction. I finally put my fears of suffocation aside and just left him alone when he started tummy sleeping at night. Since he doesn't know how to roll from tummy to back, I was convinced that he'd be hollering at us to rescue him in the middle of the night. So far, that has not been the case.
*The thing we're making a conscious effort to work on with him is sitting up unassisted. He's not able to do it, nor does he try to balance himself with his arms yet. Since he's not been crazy about being on his tummy, we've not forced the issue. Now, J and I make sure he spends some quality time building his neck and arm strength so he'll be able to sit up on his own before too long.
*He's ditched the bink altogether in favor of his fingers -- esp the thumb. He doesn't suck it though, he gnaws on it. I keep watching & feeling for teeth, but none have made an appearance yet.
*He can now pass an object from hand to hand.
*He loves, loves, LOVES to be in his jumper and he's learned how to manipulate all the toys in the tray and spin himself around in it.
*The other activity he enjoys is going for walks in the stroller. I think he enjoys it even more now that he can sit up and look at what or who's ahead of us.
*He smiles at himself in the mirror and is intrigued by seeing the dual images.
*He loves music and when we whistle to him, he gets a big grin on his face – not sure if it’s the music from our mouths or the look on our face that causes the amusement.
His Personality
*Our son is destined to be a social butterfly. He talks a blue streak, loves to interact and giggles easily. When faced with a choice of playing with a toy or interacting with people, he chooses people over any brightly colored object.
*Besides playing tickle games and peek-a-boo, when I'm cradling him in my arms he likes to reach up and push my chin away as I'm talking to him. It's as though I'm being slapped in slow motion. Gets very amused when I exaggerate the motion and make noises to that effect. It’s our new game that's all his idea.
*He flirts with women whenever we’re out on the town… no question, a ladies man.
He’s finally grabbing for his pooh-bear when we sit them together for a picture:
Shelby
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