Hallelujah, My Baby Is Eating!

When Lucas was 4 months old our Dr. told us we could start feeding him some baby cereal and slowly add in some fruit and veggie purees, I was stoked!  For about a week and a half Luke ate baby oatmeal once a day and loved it, I planned on adding a second feeding at the two week mark, but one day, Luke just decided that he wanted nothing to do with food.  I wasn't super worried, our Dr. had said that at 4 months, it wasn't super important that he got solid food, it was just practice to get him used to eating off a spoon, he was still getting most of his calories from breast milk.  I still tried to feed him oatmeal two or three times a week but he never ate more than a spoonful, and usually it was by accident and he would spit it out.  Looking back, I think the reason Luke stopped eating his oatmeal is because I fed him some sweet potato about a week in and he ate it fine, but later that night he threw it all up and I think he just was just like "Nope! Not doing that again."

Fast forward to Luke's 6 month appointment, Luke had dropped from the 50th percentile to the 20th percentile for weight, I kind of panicked a little... even though our Dr. told me it was fine, just that breast milk was not enough calories anymore, I need to start sitting down three times a day and at least try to get Luke to eat.  For the first week or so he still didn't want to eat any food.  I tried mixing fruit puree with oatmeal, putting avocado in the mesh fresh food teether, and finally I froze some fruit puree with a spoon the the container to make a popsicle.  The popsicle is what ended up breaking the ice, I think he liked having the control to feed himself.  After the popsicle, I cooked a sweet potato and mashed it up and he ate almost the whole thing and from then on, all of a sudden, it seemed like he liked everything!  

I feed Luke mostly Plum Organics pouches and a few kinds of Beech Nut Organic jar food.  The reason I chose these brands is because there is a very simple ingredient list.  There are not a ton of gross preservatives and dyes and additives, they literally say "pureed sweet potato and water."  I also recently made some of my own baby food, I started with sweet potato and honey-nut squash, they turned out pretty well, Luke eats them with no problem.  I want to find some more recipes and make my own food more often, I had fun with it.

Luke's Typical "Menu"

Breakfast: Fruit puree mixed with oatmeal

Lunch: Fruit and veggie Puree, something like Sweet potato and pear

Snack: Cereal puffs or yogurt drops

Dinner: Veggie puree 

Snack: Cereal puffs or yogurt drops

I also still breastfeed 5 or 6 times during the day, usually right when he wakes up then after each meal and right before bed.  I really don't have a set schedule for breastfeeding, if Luke wants to breastfeed, I let him, I want him to have as many calories as possible.

And now... a thousand pictures of Lucas eating!

Luke loves when Zack feeds him!  He is always smiling and laughing.

This was the popsicle, Luke loved feeding himself but he would start crying because his hands would get cold and I noticed later that day that it made his face kind of raw because the way the food froze was kind of sharp and he was rubbing it on his face.

I couldn't resist!  His feet always look so cute when he sits in his high chair!

Luke's Torticollis Update

This week we had an appointment with a physical therapist to start woking with Luke on his torticollis.  Overall, I am happy with how the appointment went.  They taught us several exercises and carrying positions to do to try to correct Luke's tight neck muscles.  Along with the physical therapy, we are also going to take him to a rolfer in our area who uses the blue laser technique and treats babies at no charge.  Hopefully we have really good results with the rolfer so we don't have to go to a ton of expensive physical therapy sessions.

Since going to the physical therapist, I have become much more aware of how tilted Luke's head is, especially when he is in his car seat.  It has gotten better since he was born, but not as much as I thought.

Luke's Six Month Update

I cannot believe my little baby Lucas is six months old already!  It is so fun and exciting to watch him grow and learn but part of me wishes he was still a tiny little baby who just wants to lay on my chest and sleep.

Today Luke had his six month well child appointment, he is 15.9 pounds and 26 inches long and had to get two shots.  I hate when he has to get shots but he actually did pretty well this time around (aside from the mean stink eye he gave the nurse when she came at him with shot number two), he only cried for a few minutes.  He hasn't gained much weight since his last appointment but he still doesn't want much to do with food. I think we have him figured out though, he doesn't like being fed, he wants to do it himself.  Our Dr. gave us a few ideas to try and get him to start feeding himself, I am excited to try it out.  I just have an independent kid.

When I was pregnant with Luke he was all scrunched up on the right side of my belly with his head up under my ribs, and he was in that position for the better part of the pregnancy.  When he was born our Dr. told us that because of the position he was in, he had torticollis, which just means his neck muscles are really tight on one side and he has a hard time turning his head to one side.  She told us that if it hadn't fixed itself by the time he was six months old he would need physical therapy, it has gotten better, but its not completely fixed so we are looking into physical therapy to correct it.

Aside from Luke's Dr. appointment, he is really starting to become more mobile.  He can roll back to front and front to back in both directions, he is starting to be able to sit by himself for longer periods of time, and he is starting to scoot a little bit.  I know he is going to be crawling really soon and it has me thinking about baby proofing.  He is always into everything so I just know its game over when he starts moving around on his own.  I really think he is going to be a much happier kid once he can crawl, he just loves to move.

Luke's Favorites:

Being outside

Being carried in the Ergo 360 facing out

His Sophie Giraffe Teether

Bath Time

Being Naked

Petting our dog, Rowdy

Kisses from my sweet baby boy