Baby-Led Weaning

When Henry was born, Before Henry was even born, I knew I wanted to nurse. And my goal was to nurse exclusively for 6 months and then introduce food. But as it got closer to the 6 month mark, I wasn't sure if I was ready to give him solids. Mainly because he was thriving so well and I really enjoy the bond you share with your baby through nursing. I didn't want to give that up. But Henry had a high interest in food, so I didn't want to deny him the opportunity of eating solids if he was interested either. Then a friend told me about baby-led weaning. I did some research and I knew that was exactly the answer I was looking for. Basically, baby-led weaning is offering your child (6 months+) food that is safe and age appropriate and letting them do the rest. You feed them the same foods you eat every day. At 6 months, they have the capability to put food into their mouths and they can choose what they would like to eat and how much of it. No purees and no worrying about making a separate dinner just for baby. It is all about following your child's cues and  letting them do the rest. Here is the wikipedia link for those who are interested. And here is a book on Amazon that I would highly recommend. I've really enjoyed reading it. So, because you are letting your child feed themselves, they obviously are going to be very messy at first. Henry has only had a handful of meals with us and it has been very messy, but I can see an improvement already. But because you are letting your child feed themselves, you are allowing them to put what they want in their mouths and at first they are just going to be tasting or playing with their food. It can take a little while before they actually start getting any substance out of it. Which I really like the idea of, because we are still nursing just as much, so I am getting what I want and Henry is able to try eating foods, which is what he wants. (Though he really likes nursing too.) Henry has loved everything we have let him eat so far. Yogurt is super messy because I just put it on his tray and let him go to town. If I give him a spoon with yogurt on it, he will eat the yogurt and then just likes to chew on the metal spoon and splash the yogurt around. The other night we made sweet potato french fries and he really liked those. Not much ended up on the floor that night. P.S. Be forewarned that your pediatrician will probably not agree with you/think you are crazy/ try to persuade you differently. Do what you feel is best for you and your child. As for us, we are going to continue our BLW journey. Enjoy the mess! Oh yeah, and a plastic high chair with no cover is probably best. We now have Henry in a seat that attaches to the table and he loves it. We tried out these two high chairs we already had and neither one worked.

 Carrots and pears. This high chair we got from a friend, unfortunately it is angled weird so you need a blanket behind baby in order to get them sitting where you would like them. This doesn't work when you are letting baby have a free for all with their food.

 Banana, yogurt, and scrambled eggs. Messy! We thought this high chair would work fine because it was all plastic and therefore easy to wipe off when it was dirty. Turns out Henry can reach a vast part of the chair the high chair is strapped to. So the chair became filthy after just a few times of use. Strike 2. I'll post a picture of the third seat later. It's a keeper though. Henry is doing well in it.

Henry is now enjoying being rinsed off/showered in the sink. He has always showered with Kevin or I and doesn't ever take baths. But, with BLW, things can get quite messy. So we just give him a quick rinse when he is done eating. He seems to like it!

6 months

I find it quite amazing that so much can change in a little human being in the course of a month. Henry just amazes me with the new things he does almost daily. I can't believe how fast these past 6 months have gone, but more so how we only have another 6 months and he will be a year old already. It makes me sad, really. I am a stay at home mom, so sometimes I find it funny that I wish I could spend more time with my son. He is with me 24/7. But sometimes I wish I had a maid to wash my dishes and fold my clothes so I could just play with Henry all day long and not worry about making sure we have clean underwear. (I don't need a chef though, I like cooking. Just a maid please.) How do you get them to stop growing so fast? I guess that's why you end up having more, right? Sigh.

Henry is getting so big. He discovers he can do something new almost every day.
At 6 months, Henry...
-is now rolling over
-sitting up
-running in his walker (He chases Penelope down and now has started reaching over the side and petting her) He is getting pretty good at backing up and turning around too.
-pinching (and it hurts sooo bad, especially when he gets your face.)
-gives Momma lots of kisses. Only gives Daddy kisses when Daddy has a smooth face.
-has learned how to blow bubbles/spit. Usually only when he is mad.
-knows what medicine is. He had RSV and a double ear infection recently. You need at least two people to give him medicine. The nurse that had to give him the oral vaccine at his 6 month check up said she's never seen a baby that young put up such a fight when trying to administer medicine. Kevin held him and kept his arms down, I held his head still and tried to keep him from spitting it everywhere, and the lady tried to get it into his mouth. Quite hilarious, actually.
-Henry is so strong. I am starting to see what Vicky(Kevin's mom) is talking about when she talks about how strong Kevin was by 2 or 3. This boy is gonna give me a work out every day.
-loves to talk. He growls and loves to say "baaabaaabaaa". He gets excited when he learns a new sound and will repeat it all day once he figures it out.
-has found his penis. And will grab for it every time his diaper is off. Oh boys... (I wasn't going to put that in here, but Kevin said I had to. It's funny and we'll laugh about it later.)
-loves to rub things(toys,food, your finger) back and forth on his gums. I guess it feels good on his teeth...
-has started on solids. We chose to do baby-led weaning and Henry loves it. I'll blog more about that later.

 6 months old!

 Seeing if the toy Grandma and Grandpa Haynes gave him is edible. Thanks for the toy! It's delicious!

Lots of kisses for Mommy!

5

I know, I've been slacking. It's been a few weeks, but here is Henry's 5 month post-

At 5 months...

-this stubborn little guy still isn't rolling over or sitting up.

-when on his stomach, he pulls his knees up and scoots himself forward. Crawling will be in our near future!

-loves to follow the pig in his walker and has started pushing himself over to things and grabbing anything he can reach(his favorite thing to try to grab is the purple swiffer.) My dish towels are now always on the floor instead of the towel bar.

-claps (doesn't make any sound yet, but he loves to clap!)

-tries to grab any and all food within his reach. I have a feeling this boy will love food!

-sleeps at least 10 hours in his own bed every night, sometimes 12. And this momma loves it!

-has figured out how to pull his mittens off... this might be why he is sleeping 12 hours. Dang it! But recently, I've been putting them on differently and I think he is having a harder time taking them off now, so that is good.

-loves to pet (grab fistfuls of hair) the pig. And she doesn't even seem to mind.

-makes mmmmmmmm sounds.

-loves to give his momma lots of kisses! He holds my cheeks in his hands and goes in for lots of slobbery open mouth kisses! I love it!

-has found his feet, though sometimes I think he has a hard time reaching them because the cloth diapers add so much extra padding.

-right as he was turning 5 months, his first tooth started coming in. It has officially poked through and the second one should be any day now!

I just love being a stay at home momma to my sweet boy and I wouldn't have it any differently!

First time sitting in a grocery cart!

4 months

I know I probably sound like a broken record, but where does the time go? I can't believe our little munchkin is 4 months old already. As Kevin said it, "1/3 of a year old!" Which just made me sad to think about. How can he be 1/3 of the way to a year old already?!? I love babies at all stages and always have, even that newborn stage when all they do is sleep all day. But I honestly feel like I am enjoying Henry at this age so much more than I have in the previous months and stages. He is so much more interactive and his personality is just so much fun. I love being a mommy to this cute little man.

His personality is really starting to come out in his pictures and it is so fun to watch him make faces at me while I try to take pictures of him.

At 4 months Henry is---

-not yet rolling over. Little stinker.

-16 pounds(70%) Taking after his daddy in that category.

-sleeping through the night(11 hours) on most nights. If only I would go to bed at a decent hour now. Hmmm...

-has started smiling and talking to himself in the mirror.

-is always trying to put things in his mouth. Whether it's his hands, your hands(or face), his toys, or blankets, he is always trying to chew on something. Just the other day a lady asked if he was teething because he was chewing on Kevin's hand. Nope. He just likes to chew!

-hating his car seat and riding in the car in general. I think we are going to get him a bigger rear facing seat and graduate out of the baby seat since he only stays in it in the car anyways.

-laughing. But only when he is really tired. You have to work to get this kid to laugh!!!

-is super ticklish, but doesn't really laugh. Just holds his breath until you stop tickling.

-loves to watch Penelope and is starting to follow her around in his walker. Sometimes she tries to eat his hand and he just looks at her wondering what the heck she is doing. Don't worry, I always wipe his hand off after she does that. I'll have to try to get a video sometime.

-is in mostly 6 month clothes. The cloth diapers add some bulk, so his jeans and pants fit really snug. 6 month fit easier, but are a little long.

-absolutely loves his papa. He loves balancing on Kevin's hand and will always stop crying if Kevin does that.

We dressed him up as Yoda for Halloween and took lots of pictures even though we didn't really do anything special. Kevin's family has a family calendar, so I knew we'd have to at least get some for that and for memories sake. (Yes Michele, you can steal pictures off my blog when I fail to get you any others for the calendar)

May the force be with you. And stuff.

3 months

I can't believe Henry is 3 months old already. Some things about our not so little guy-

•He has been smiling since just 12 days old and we absolutely love it!
•Slept through the night for about a month but now he likes to wake up at least once and have a 5 minute snack. I am in and out of bed in less than 10 minutes so I really can't complain there.
•Is definitely built like his daddy. He is 3 months and a solid 15 pounds.
•Loves to lay under his play mat and grab his toys. He'll usually stay there for about 20 minutes at a time.
•Has started sitting in his bumbo and doesn't mind it as long as he is in a good mood.
•Loves when Daddy gets home from work. Starts smiling and talking up a storm as soon as Kevin walks in the door. Their new thing is holding Henry's feet in Kevin's hand and balancing. Henry is starting to get the hang of it.
•Henry hates the car. Cries almost every time we start driving somewhere. His new thing is to start screaming and arching his back as soon as you try to put him in his car seat.
•Still sucks on his hands like crazy. And I just keep the mittens on to try to break the habit. He's not giving up without a fight though.
•Everyone comments on how old he looks, most people think he is 6 months old. Maybe I need to dress him more like a baby since he looks like a little man already.

We love having this little man around and seeing him grow. It goes way too fast for my taste though.