Eating!

Okay, so I know it's been a little too long since I posted. I do apologize. It really is amazing how quickly time passes when you're taking care of a baby. Plus, Brad was gone out of town all weekend, so I was left to play the single-parent role (ie: manage to get nothing done, including sleep, then get a migrane all day yesterday because of it).

We have had some interesting developments, however. Most notably, Barrett has started eating solids. And man, that baby loves his food. It only took him one feeding to figure out how to use the spoon himself. So this is how the feeding process goes:


1. Wrestle baby into highchair. Avoid pinching baby's hands in the snap-on table section (learned from experience).

2. Prepare a tasty mash of rice or oats in the kitchen while baby is distracted by spoon, toy, or plate at the table.

3. Wrestle bib onto baby and pin it down under the table so he can't eat it.

4. Take a spoonful of tasty mash and hold it a few inches from baby's mouth. Wait while baby grabs spoon, puts it into mouth, makes grumbly eating sounds, and tosses spoon back to you for a refill.

5. Immediately repeat step 4 or else baby will growl and flap his arms because the food is taking too long.

6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 until all the mash is gone.

7. Get wet cloth from kitchen and wipe the mash off of baby's hands, mouth, nose, forehead, and eyelids, as well as your hands and arms.

8. Give wet cloth to baby to chew on and play with (his favourite toy!) while you try and wash a few dishes (usually unlikely).

Repeat entire process twice a day.


It sounds like trouble, but it really is quite hilarious. I think the only bad thing about solids is the way they come out on the other end... I do miss a baby who was only eating liquids!

Here are some photos:

First solid food ever!

That's a tasty spoon.

Where's the food, dude?

Some other funny things..

Barrett has started making new consonant sounds. Well, more specifically, he's trying out Bs. It started out with him making noise with his mouth closed, so kind of a muffled bbbb. Then he figured out that opening his mouth during the noise was even more exciting, becoming Boo or Baa. Now he's moved on to blowing out between his lips to make that motorboat sound. It's awesome. It does have the drawback, however, that he now makes the sound all the time - when eating cereal (which flies everywhere), when mommy is trying to sleep, when he's nursing... There's nothing quite as charming as a baby making zerberts on your nipple.

He has started laughing now, too. This is great. I find I spend my whole day now trying things to make him laugh. The best one I've found so far is to throw him onto the bed. This isn't as bad as it sounds. In fact, I discovered it by an accident recently. I was picking him up off of our bed, but I didn't get a very good grip and lost my balance. Worried I was going to fall over and crush him, I just let go while he was still safely over the mattress. He fell about a foot and bounced on the mattress a couple times, and let out a big baby giggle. Now every time I pick him up from the bed, he grins in anticipation of being tossed down again (so I usually do it!).

I think, though, the most hilarious thing that has happened recently is that Barrett found his balls. Yes, the boys have been discovered. I can't keep his little hand away from there. As soon as his diaper comes off, it slips down between his legs and hangs on for dear life. What used to be "naked time" is now "ball time." By the way, I think he might be left-handed...

Jolly Jumpin'

Here's the video I promised. Unfortunately, I couldn't turn it in youtube, so you have to watch it sideways! It's still hilarious, anyway.

Riverdance

Barrett has recently discovered the fun of jolly jumping. This is both good and bad. It's good because it means I can put him into his jumper and he'll be occupied for at least half an hour. It's bad because now he thinks he's always in his jumper - so he tries to stand and bounce all the time: when in bed, while feeding, in your lap. My arms are getting tired of holding him up. I think it's like when you go swimming, and then for a few hours afterwards it still feels like you're in the water, and normal movements feel weird. Or maybe he's just a bouncing baby. But seriously, he's fussy all the time now unless he's standing. Last night he cried and cried, and I couldn't figure out what was wrong. Nothing worked - not cuddling, rocking, feeding, burping, singing. So I finally picked him up and tossed him in the air a bit, letting him stand in my lap. End of cries... until I put him down again. That had better not become a regular occurrence.

I do think he's been a bit fussy lately because of a few other things, though. He seems to have developed some sort of rash on his face and arms, which also seems to be causing some bad cradle cap. He's always rubbing his face on things, or scratching with his hands, of course, just making the whole thing worse. I've tried creams and soaps, but no luck. Yesterday at yoga, a few ladies suggested trying breastmilk, like, actually putting it directly on the rash. Apparently it heals anything, including eye infections. I put some on last night and this morning and it actually does seem to be working. Who knew!

Also, I think he's ready to start solid foods. He's such a big, hungry baby. I just don't think milk is doing it anymore. Speaking of yoga class, Barrett was very chatty yesterday. So loud, in fact, that I actually had trouble hearing the instructor. It was hilarious. And not very relaxing! But it's fun, so who really cares about the yoga part.

So a few funny developments lately: Barrett has started sucking on his lower lip. This is a hilarious face that you must see to appreciate. I got a picture of it the other day while he was playing with his giant frog. Yes, his giant frog. This is a big stuffy that Auntie Christina gave him, which is about the same size as him. He loooves it. He sucks on its fingers and eyeballs and wrestles with it.



Also, he's started laughing a little bit. Now, I was expecting him to start giggling like you hear babies do. Not Barrett. His laugh is a one-shot suck-in of air. The kind you do accidentally during a hard laugh or at the end of a hearty chuckle. And that's it. No giggles. No breathing out in a little chuckle. Just a suck of breath and a gummy smile. It's still worth all my troubles, but I do hope he figures out how to breathe out and laugh soon.

Daddy's shoulders is the place to be!

You must be wondering why this post is titled Riverdance. This is because when he jumps in his jolly jumper, he doesn't move his arms. But his little legs go like crazy. It's awesome. I got a video of it but it's not working right now. I'll try and post a new one later.

Yoga

Today was our first Mom & Baby yoga class. I've never been in a room so full of babies before. There were about ten moms, with babies ranging from 6 weeks to 6 months, and they were all quite active little critters. It was pretty good, although I got very little yoga done. But I suppose that's not really the point. I did, however, learn a few other things.

1. I definitely need new workout clothes. It's shocking how easily I convinced myself that I still fit into my old (pre-pregnancy, pre-40 extra lbs) ones... there's nothing quite like a full-length mirror to bring you back to reality.

2. I need to pin back my bangs next time. During one of the moves I leaned over Barrett (who was lying on his back on the mat) and he grabbed a big clump in each hand. Hard. It didn't hurt so much, but I was totally incapable of freeing myself. The instructor actually had to come over and pry his fists open while everyone in the room giggled at us. Now I'm always going to be "that bang girl."

3. I'm way more out of shape than I thought. I think I would have a hard enough time doing lunges and squats these days, but with a 16-lb baby on my knee it was nearly impossible! I'd better start walking every day.


In other news, I've gotten a bunch of kids' CDs out of the library to make copies of them. It's amazing how much my opinion of this music has changed over time. I remember how fun it was when I was a kid, but I never took any notice of the quality. It's still not too bad, but I never realized that Sharon, Lois & Bram use hilarious 70s-era keyboards, Raffi can't sing worth beans, and none of them can pronounce French to save their lives.

I'm also signing up for Babytime at the library. Whoo-hoo! Shakers, here we come!!

Haha baby mullet!

blanket + squeal = fun

Barrett found the next octave of his voice recently. It's hilarious, but also mildly irritating. Instead of making happy baby sounds, now he makes high-pitched baby squeals - which are difficult to distinguish from angry noises. Still, though, there's nothing funnier than watching this kid shove blankets in his mouth and squeal with pleasure!