Ummm...Real Food Good

In the last 2 weeks we decided to start Luke on some real foods. I've been itching to start and I thought he was ready. We started with the traditional rice cereal. The box said to give an ounce at the first feeding and that they may not eat but a few bites. Well...Luke ate the entire ounce and screamed for more while I mixed it up. He ate all of it too! So we did the rice for a few days then moved on to carrots. I'm giving him canned organic carrots. I wanted to make them, but I read something that said baby food carrots should not be home made. Apparently carrots absorb a lot of the nitrates in the ground in which they are planted. So organic or not, you can't be sure of the level of nitrates in the carrots you prepare. Baby food companies test for nitrates and only use carrots that are low in them. So the canned stuff tastes and smells like crap, but he seems to like them. We did the carrots for a few days then started on the peaches that I made. The peaches were hilarious! They are a little tart (but oh so good) and after his first few bites his head kind of twitched after every bite. He is used to the tart flavor now are really likes the peaches. Those are the only foods he has tried so far. I'm hoping to introduce sweet potatoes this week, if I can find some organic ones. Then maybe apples after that.

Luke's turned 4 months this last Friday. He has his 4 month check-up on Tuesday. I'm anxious to see how much he weighs! I'm starting to see a little bit of chunk on his thighs, and his diaper tabs aren't over lapping anymore. Oh, and his 0-3 month shorts aren't too big on him either. I don't notice that he is any heavier, but I'm sure he is! He is definitely longer too. His rise has him almost out of his 3-6 month clothing and into the next stage. He does need to slow down a bit in the length department though. I have some 6-9 month long sleeve stuff that is really cute and it would be a shame if he never gets to wear them.

On a sad note, I found out this week that a girl from my college sorority lost her 5 month old baby on Tuesday. It doesn't say how he died, just that he died in the hospital. I can't even imagine what she must be going through.

A Day at the Zoo

Luke and I went to the zoo in Nashville last week. He absolutely loved it! I didn't think he would get much out of it, and while he didn't really focus on the animals, he loved looking at all of the plants and listening to all of the sounds. It had just rained when we got to the zoo and it was VERY humid and hot, which must have woken up the animals because they were very active. The elephants even went swimming in their pool in front of us. We went to a larakeet garden, which is an enclosed room with a bunch of birds that will land on you. One tried to eat my hair, but Luke thought they were pretty neat.

Luke and I are feeling much better. After I posted last weekend, Luke felt really warm. We took his temp and it was 100.8, so we made an emergency Sunday appointment. Apparently when babies have head colds and they start to get well, it will often turn into an ear infection. I wish they would have told me that at the doctor the week before, I would have been looking out for it! When they took his temp at the doctor it was 101.4 and he had a pretty bad ear infection. They gave him an antibiotic (not fair! I wanted one too) and he is great now.

Luke is figuring out his hands. I'm not sure that he knows what he is really doing yet, but I am more confident that he will. The little toy in the picture below is great. It has thin enough parts that his hand can grasp them. A lot of toys are still too thick for him to grasp well. Heather's (my sister-in-law) little girl, Ava, found her feet this week. She is a month older than Luke. But now Garen keeps trying to get him to find his feet. I just tell him, one thing at a time.

I decided that when Luke is old enough to eat solids, I will make his baby food. It will be cheaper and probably taste better. It turns out both of my SIL's Heather and Melissa make their baby food too. Heather said she just made and froze a bunch of peaches since they are in season now so I decided that was a great idea and I would do the same. So on our trip to Nashville, I went by The Turnip Trunk, which is an organic food store and bought 7 lbs of peaches and a bunch of plums. I borrowed my friends steamer and spent last Friday making baby food. It was really easy and I am so anxious for Luke to try real food. Garen let him try cantaloupe the other night (Garen held the long slice and let Luke suck on the end). I've started giving him rice cereal if he takes a bottle. At his next appointment at the end of the month I hope we are given the go ahead to start on solids.

Stay at Home Mommy

Well, its only been 6+ weeks since I last updated this blog, but now that I am going to be a stay at home mom, I don't have any excuses anymore! So for those of you that don't know (which is probably most of you) I went back to work on Thursday, the 19th of June, only to get laid off (due to lack of work) the next Thursday. I had the option of staying on through the end on July, but I didn't want Luke to get completely adjusted to daycare just to pull him out and make him get re-adjusted to life at home. So I went ahead and made Friday the 27th my last day of work. Friday was a pretty sad day of telling everyone at work good-bye. But Luke made it better - after I picked him up from daycare and we arrived home, he laughed for the first time!

To add to his firsts, Luke also got his first cold! Thanks daycare! It only took 7 days in their care for him to get his first cold. It is a head cold and he is stuffed up and congested. I took him to the doctor on Monday and because he is only 3 months old, they can't give him any drugs. So I get to squirt saline solution up his nose and then suction it out several times a day. He HATES it! I don't blame him. I hate squirting anything up my nose too.

Then on Thursday, I started to get a sore throat and by Friday I was feeling awful. I went to the doctor on Saturday and Luke gave me his cold. I am contagious, so I have to be extra careful not to give it back (or get it back) to Luke, and I have to make sure Garen doesn't get it. Garen is an awful sick person, so I hope he doesn't get it!

Mom and Dad came down for the long weekend and thank goodness they did. It was really nice to have someone else take care of him while I laid around and got some rest. I don't know how people take care of sick children when they are sick themselves! We didn't do a whole lot with them during this trip, but it was a nice visit.

Last Saturday I went to get my hair cut and decided to let her chop it off. I had it cut up to my chin! My hair hasn't been this short since BEFORE my freshman year in high school. I like it, but I don't have any pictures yet. I'll have Garen take a picture in the next few weeks and get it uploaded. In the meantime, here are some more pictures of Lucas.