Thursday, December 27, 2007

Merry Christmas!...I'm 6 months old!

Trace spent his first Christmas in Grand Isle, LA. We spent the last few days toting him from one family’s house to the other’s, including visiting a few friends in between. It wore us out, and it’s made him completely exhausted. He skipped a feeding yesterday to catch up on his sleep and has slept almost all day today. As tiring as it was, he had a great Christmas. He had so many gifts that we couldn’t bring them all home with us. He was held and loved on by everyone; so much that I don’t think he had any floor time, except for a few diaper changes. He loved chewing on wrapping paper, ribbons, and bows. I’m sure he’s seeing stars from all the cameras flashing, and his cheeks probably hurt from all the smiling and “hamming it up” that he did for the grandparents. He is so loved.

Today, we took him in for a visit with Dr. Bankston. He’s grown so much! He is now 16.3 lbs. (55%), 28 inches long (75%), and his head circumference is 17 inches (50%). No wonder our backs hurt! Dr. Bankston said we can start working more foods into his diet. Ernie got real excited and went to Babies R Us to buy all sorts of new foods for him. So far he’s had all the 1st food veggies, like sweet potatoes, carrots, squash, peas, & green beans. He started applesauce last night and will be going through all of the fruits in the next few weeks. If no allergies arise, we’ll start mixing it up with things like garden vegetables, turkey, and chicken & rice. In the next couple of months, we can also start introducing soft table foods like mashed potatoes & grits. Also, he’ll start drinking a little juice & water, while learning to use a sippy cup. This should be fun!

Trace turns 6 months old today. I’m so filled with emotion over this because it’s been a wonderful 6 months, I’m sure the best 6 months of my life to this point; but it makes me so sad to think that in just 6 more months, he’ll already be 1 year old. The time really does pass by so quickly, as any mother will tell you. We spent 9 months before his birth preparing and trying to fast forward our lives to the point of his arrival; and now, I just want to hit pause for a moment and enjoy this time with him. But unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way. We just have to slow down our lives enough to try to catch every moment that we can (and try not to blink) as he sprouts up like a weed and explores new things every day.

Thursday, December 06, 2007

Veggie Time

It's peanut butter, jelly time....not quite yet, but it is sweet potato time! For Trace's introduction to the world of vegetables, we selected the ever-tasty sweet potato (our choices weren't aplenty -- sweet potato, carrots or squash).

Last Saturday, during LSU's victory over Tennessee in the SEC Championship, Trace ate his first sweet potatoes and enjoyed them much more than rice cereal. He's eaten them for five days now, and since he's shown no allergic reactions, sweet potatoes are now going into his feeding rotation. Tonight, we get to move onto either carrots or squash. Hopefully he takes to these just as easily.

We ordered a Bumbo online the other day to help teach Trace how to sit up, and it's taken him no time to start enjoying his new seat:

We hope the seat also become part of his feeding routine, as his bouncy seat (see pic above), has been visiting the washing machine quiet often lately.

It's such a fun and exciting time watching Trace grow and learn about the world. Teething is starting and he has a speck of a tooth coming in on his right side. Pretty soon, his gummy smile will be filled with little teeth. It's crazy to think that in a few weeks he'll be 6 months old. Time sure does go by quickly.