Food & Friends

Lately, Ian's been gnawing on his hands fervently and reaching for our food at the table. La Leche League and our pediatrician both said that, nutritionally, he does not need to have solid foods in his diet until six months. As a mama who loves my precious time with him nursing, I was happy to wait until absolutely the last minute. Six months, it is!

Well, with the gnawing and the reaching, the steady sitting, and the obvious desire and fascination, we decided we might as well start slowly giving him solids. We've been told that oatmeal is just a filler and doesn't really add any nutrition, so I decided to go for sweet potatoes or avocado. Avocados weren't quite ripe, so sweet potatoes it was! I'll put up a post of the sequence of photos soon. Let's just say, he wasn't too impressed with this orange goo. And later he wasn't too impressed with avocados either. He also still had the tongue reflex to push anything out of his mouth that came into it. (Since this post is late there has been an update, but it will come later!)

With the warmer weather of last week (FINALLY!), we were able to go outside for a longer period of time. Now that Ian has a sunhat (Thanks Mom/Äma!), I don't have to worry about my red-headed little man in the sun. Since Jim just got off a dermatology rotation, we are keenly aware of just how important it is to protect ourselves from the sun. Not that we didn't know that before!

Leif really loves basking in the sun. On days such as these, we will let him out and he'll just lie down right outside the door. Sometimes he'll walk a few feet and relax in the grass. Anyone who knows Leif knows that he is full of energy. It's nice to enjoy the dog he becomes on warmer days. And since Ian enjoys watching him so much, it's fun to have the two of them together.

This week Ian's sitting has started to stabilize. He's not quite as wobbly, though he still tips over a fair amount. He's such a multi-tasker, wanting to grab and hold things and suck on them while he's sitting. Often, something will be just out of his reach and he'll reach for it and ultimately fall. Most of the time I catch him and slowly lower him down. If he's sitting and not reaching he can go for a long, long time. If he's on an incline, then it takes him some time to get used to it and then he will last for a while. It amazes us how quickly he can master a skill.

He loves to grab his feet still. Don't you just love that huge cloth diaper bum? And those leggings (Thanks Lindsay & Mike!)... I mean c'mon. Killing me.

This quilt was from Vicki, one of my coworkers when I taught middle school. It's beautiful. Thank you so much, sweet friend!

Ian's fine motor skills are getting better and better! Now he's passing toys from hand to hand.

He is getting so fast and precise with his movements! He quickly knocked a water glass all over me and another time a bowl of chips all over the floor. Nothing's safe, I tell you! No more glass glasses for Mama (he didn't break it, for the record)! If it's near him, he'll get ahold of it quickly.

This weekend we hit the road for Richmond and visited with some of our old college friends. Friday night we got to visit with my dear and wonderful friend Meredith and her husband. She's pregnant and I could not be more excited and happy for her. With her there's never enough time to talk or visit, but it's always so good, so quality, so heart-warming.

Then the next day was the big event, when we got together with some other college girlfriends. Our lives are so different from when we were together in school. It was so fun to meet new babies, hear new stories, learn more about each other's lives, and actually see some of these people in person! I hadn't seen Kristin since we stopped in Auburn, when moving back from Louisiana. Since then she's had a child, moved multiple times and has another one on the way!

June at my shower

The little fellow with Ian above is Isaac, my friend Adrienne's little boy. He's three weeks older than Ian. It was so fun to be pregnant at the same time as her. It's so nice to have a great friend to call and chat with about the stages we're entering and the nitty-gritty about taking care of a baby and being a mama. It was great to finally get them to meet each other! Isaac was very kind to share his toys.

We were quite the group. Three pregnant mamas, two babies, and one incredible traveller! So fun to share and hear stories and see pictures. After a yummy lunch we went to Maymont for a nice walk on an absolutely gorgeous, warm day!

Amazing.... there are actually eleven people in the photo below!!!

Me, Ian, Lucy & baby, Mere & baby, Isaac, Adrienne, Jenn, Kristin & baby

Goofy bunch :)

Happy 22 weeks, sweet boy!!!