Five Months Old

What you see here is the first ever published photo of The Mommy Blawger. The wee boy is being worn in my new sling.

The big new thing is that Andrew has learned that rattles make noise when you shake them up and down. And hands and feet make noise when you bang them against a flat surface. So this last week has been all about shaking things.

Also grabbing things. I can't hold him in my lap when I blog, because he will pull papers off the desk with his vise-like grip and proceed to "taste" them (at this age, everything goes directly into the mouth, which is why I have established a moratorium on legos on the living room floor). At Friday's chiropractic appointment, my husband was holding the wee one in the waiting room when he reached out for a plant that was on top of the water cooler. The pot hit the ground, leaving Andrew holding the plant. Sitting him on your lap while eating is dangerous because he will reach for you plate. But not the food yet. Which brings me to...

Starting solids. A little bit of a dilemma. For a while, the AAP recommended starting solids between 4 and 6 months (not that I necessarily rely on their advice anyway) . But a year or two ago, the AAP and several other organizations began recommending that solids be delayed until six months, since studies have show it reduces the risk of developing allergies and allergy-related conditions such as eczema. Some even suggest exclusive breastfeeding for a year or more. However, the authors of a recent study say that not introducing wheat into the baby's diet before six months actually increases the risk of wheat allergies. I think the jury's still out on this one, and it may be years before we have the whole picture. I started both the older boys on rice cereal at 5 months; DS5 was ready for it then; DS3 was not, so we put it away for a while longer. I think that they will get interested in food when they are developmentally ready for it. We start foods very slowly, and with two, three, or more kids you don't have time to sit there for an hour and feed them cereal. You pretty much just wait until they can eat finger foods and let them feed themselves. So DH thinks we should wait a bit, and I'm pretty much in agreement. The only rub is, while our grocery store has a wide variety of jarred organic baby food, it has no organic whole-grain cereal. Which will necessitate a trip to Central Market. Or Walmart (gulp!).

Last week I put away the bassinet and got out the pack 'n play. He's over in the corner of the bedroom now, instead of right by the bed. Sometimes it feels like too far away. I can't wake up in the middle of the night and check to see if he's breathing without getting out of bed. You would think that after three babies, that feeling would go away, but it doesn't. I'm quite a bit more laid back now that when I had the first baby. But not entirely. He sleeps next to me for the second half of the night, though. I sleep better if I can fall asleep by myself with plenty of room. Plus, with his pre-crawling behavior (rolling over and scootching around) it's not so safe for him to be in our bed by himself. At least until he learns not to fall off, which is a good six to eight months away, as I recall. And he's going to be crawling before we know it.