Last Wednesday or so, we decided we'd go ahead and let Lukie try a little bit of solid food. By solid, I guess I mean puree'd into oblivion, but not breastmilk. Basically, our doctor recommends that babies, especially babies as big and insatiable as Lukie is, start eating some solids at 4 months. The American Academy of Pediatricians recommends six months, but notes that four is perfectly acceptable, too.
Not so sure about what's about to happen...
I really want to make as much of Lukie's food as possible...both so that I know what's in it, and so we save money. Jarred baby food is EXPENSIVE, and it's really pretty easy to make baby food, so long as you have enough time to do it. I'm working out of a really great baby food recipe book, so I'll have fun, too!
We decided to try some of the pumpkin that I had roasted, puree'd, and frozen in individual ice cubes a few weeks ago. The traditional introduction to solids is rice cereal in formula or breastmilk, but I've done my homework and lots of doctors and experts say things like sweet potatoes and winter squash are just fine first foods, as well. SO IN WITH THE PUMPKIN!
I took Lukie's shirt off, knowing that it would get ORANGED. Instead of using a spoon or something, I decided to just use a well-scrubbed finger. Lukie was...well, not thrilled with the whole experience. He didn't seem particularly excited about the pumpkin, but when you're only used to one food and then somebody shoves a finger covered in pumpkin into your mouth, I suppose you're allowed a face or two.
I think we'll try the rice cereal in breastmilk, after all. Or maybe puree'd oatmeal. But definitely something that maybe tastes a little more familiar. That said, I'm super excited to be starting him on solids. I'm so glad we stuck with the breastfeeding (a process that, to this day, is not without its difficulty, given that I'm a working mom and I have to pump four times a day to provide him with enough), but I'm also REALLY looking forward to the time we're done. I'm ready for my body to belong to me again. I don't plan to wean Lukie before one year (if he doesn't wean himself...which I don't expect given how this kid likes to nurse), but I'll be glad when the whole process is over. Sometimes the bonding is really nice...and sometimes you're sick of being a food dispenser.
Post-solid-food bath. Had to get the pumpkin off his forehead somehow...
Thursday was Lukie's first Halloween...and he's the cutest tiger I've ever seen! He was happy for about 30 seconds of the entire 10 minutes he wore the costume...but at least we got some pictures of the happy Lukie. Someday he'll look at the pictures and be convinced that he had a really fun first Halloween. Fooled ya, Lukie!
Now to the other big FIRST of the week...Lukie went on his first big road trip! We took him to Hilton Head, South Carolina over the weekend and honestly, it went about as well as it could possibly have gone given that Lukie is only 4 months old. I was really impressed with his willingness to go with the flow, especially since when he was 6-8 weeks old, half hour car trips were awful!
The first half of the drive was gorgeous...
We have friends from Iowa State University who vacation in Hilton Head every year, and more friends from ISU who live in Statesboro, GA. We all decided that Pete and I would drive to Statesboro to meet up with our friend Larissa and her two children, stay overnight in Georgia, and then we would all drive over to Hilton Head on Saturday to meet with Joe and Jennifer. I'll be honest...I was pretty darned nervous going into the weekend. I hate it when Lukie has a meltdown in the back seat of the car. I feel like there's nothing I can do to stop it, and even when we can stop and feed him and he calms down, I HATE strapping him back into the carseat afterward. However, I also really want Lukas to learn to be a road baby. My brother and I took car trips all the time when we were kids. We went to Colorado lots of times, out to Oregon, up to Minnesota. My parents never had any qualms about driving a couple of kids around the country, and since Pete and I really want to take family trips with Lukas, we need to train ourselves and him to take car trips, too. So...I guess we'll start now!
WANT. TO. EAT. HAND.
Lukie decided not to sleep all the way to Hilton Head the next morning and so spent a good part of the time completely on edge and fussy, sucking on my finger (the kid still refuses to take a pacifier). He did great the rest of the day, though. He took a nap while we ate seafood, then hung out on the pier, and then took another nice, long nap while we were at the beach...LUKIE'S FIRST TIME AT THE BEACH!!!
All bundled up-- it was a little chilly and somebody needed a nap, anyway.
Everybody's favorite picture from the trip...
We ended up going out to a pizzeria for dinner and...well...Lukie was tired.
The trip home was pretty uneventful. A couple minor meltdowns, but a lot of sleep. Honestly, he did a really good job. We did, however, learn a few things about traveling with a little one. These things will change as he gets older, but for now, we've discovered some baby car travel rules:
1. Lukie really has a 4-hour limit. Eight hours is too much for a guy of his age and with his attention span. He did a good job sleeping, but when he was awake, it was all we could do to keep him entertained.
2. Trips will just take all day out of necessity from now on. Gone are the days when we could bust through a 10-hour drive, stopping for 10 minutes at a Jimmy John's to grab lunch. We now need to look at the map and schedule stops so that Lukie doesn't get frustrated of being crammed into a car seat.
3. Restaurants are now our friends. They provide valuable wiggle time. The trick? Pick family-friendly places that won't get annoyed with a frustrated baby, and if possible, pick a slightly off time, so that you're not there during lunch or dinner rush. That way, you won't have a crazy mess of overstimulated baby on your hands. Our most successful stop was at a Pizza Hut in the middle of nowhere. Generally, I'm against such places, but this worked well because Lukie could wiggle all he wanted on the table and in the booth, the place had lots of lights and colors to look at, and we didn't have to worry about upsetting somebody's nice date at 2:00 in the afternoon.
4. Take advantage of every minute that baby is asleep. DO. NOT. STOP. FOR. ANYTHING. I had to use the bathroom for at least a hundred miles, but I figured I'd get ample opportunity when we stopped for Lukie. In the meantime...log the miles.
5. In the future, once Lukie is mobile and can run around and play, we'll plan our trips along routes that have a state park or a friend's house so that he can stop, get out of the car, eat something, and get some serious play time in before getting back into the vehicle....hopefully to take a nice, long nap.
I really can't stress enough, though, how well he did. I remember when I used to dread getting him in the car...going to a restaurant...stopping at a red light...leaving the house at all...because I had a super fussy baby and it was too stressful to try any of those things. Lukie drove 8 hours one day, an hour and a half the next, ate in 5 restaurants, stayed in a hotel, drove another 8 hours...and we all survived relatively unscathed. I mean...there sure was a lot of happy wiggling when we got home...
...wiggling so fast he's a blur...
...but I sure feel emboldened by the adventure!
That's about it for this post. Lukie turned 4 months old on Sunday, but because we were driving, we have yet to have our traditional party. We're having it Saturday! Catch you all this weekend!
Yay for his first big road trip and trip to the beach! Glad it went as well as it did. His sad pumpkin face is classic. :)
ReplyDeleteYeah...his sad oatmeal face is about the same. You'd think a kid who loves eating as much as he does would be into any kind of food!!
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