Eli Tastes Applesauce

When we took Eli for his 4 month well visit, Dr. Russ mentioned that if we wanted to, we could start introducing some baby foods to Eli. She gave us a list of foods to try-bananas, applesauce, peas, carrots, and sweet potatoes to name a few. Ever since that visit, Eli has been getting rice cereal once every day. Last Thursday, I decided to try giving Eli some oatmeal for the first time and he LOVED it! I couldn't get it in his mouth fast enough! He's already working on lowering his cholesterol :) He was doing so well on the oatmeal that I thought he might be ready to try a fruit. I was going to give him bananas first, but I was a little nervous about this. When Josh eats bananas his chest tightens up really bad. We told Dr. Russ this and she said that bananas weren't a normal trigger food, but to definitely watch Eli for signs of an allergic reaction once we introduced it to him. I decided to fore go any chance of an allergic reaction and gave him the second food on the list instead...applesauce.

I found the smallest container of Gerber applesauce and mixed it with some rice cereal in a bowl. As you can tell from the pictures and video below, Eli is not too fond of applesauce just yet! He made so many faces that it was hard for me to feed him because I was laughing so hard at him. I was laughing so hard I was crying at one point. Poor thing! He was probably thinking, "What is my Mommy doing to me? What is this stuff?"

I read on the back of the oatmeal box that sometimes it takes 11 tries before a child actually develops a taste for a certain food. So far we've tried applesauce 2 times, I guess that means we have 9 more to go before he acquires a taste for it. I've decided to postpone any more baby food until he gets a little older. I've actually read that some people suggest waiting until the baby is 6 months old before starting baby food. I'm going to give him a couple of weeks on just oatmeal and then I'll start with the baby food again. It's going to get really messy around here pretty soon!

What is this stuff?

Eww! What are you feeding me, lady?

I gotta get out of this chair. Someone...please...help me!

Attempt to escape failed...she keeps putting this stuff in my mouth. What is she thinking?

Whew! Thank goodness! She just told me I don't have to eat anymore. Now, THAT'S something to smile about, Mommy!

Eli's Rice Cereal Experience

Eli made a "Happy Bowl" :)

Schedule Shemedule

Wednesday Grammy and Pop kept Eli all day while Josh and I went to work. I was so glad that they were able to get this one-on-one time with their grandbaby. I know they miss him so much! The day before Eli had his 4 months shots and did fine all day-no fever, not fussy, eating and sleeping habits were the same- but when he woke up Wednesday morning he was running a low grade fever. I gave him some Tylenol and hoped that would bring it down. I didn't want to leave my baby when he was sick and go to work, but I knew that he would be in EXCELLENT hands.

I wrote out a very detailed schedule so Mom and Dad would know when Eli normally eats, when he normally naps, the normal duration of the naps, his "I'm getting sleepy" cues, and a lot of other information. Well, look at the next picture and you'll see what Eli thought of my schedule :) Mom said he was trying to "read" it, but he pretty much took the schedule and threw it out the window. LOL! He woke up a little later than normal after his first feeding of the day, and that threw the entire schedule completely off, but they did great despite his little deviation :)

"No one tells me when to eat and sleep. I'm my own little man!"

Here are some pictures from their day. I think they had a wonderful time :) I'm so glad they were able to come visit us. We're going to try to get up to their house sometime very soon :)

Eli chewing on his teething ring with some assistance from Pop.
He's been chewing on his fingers and anything that comes in contact
with his mouth so much now.

Eli's second rice cereal experience. Yum, yum!
Dad videoed the entire feeding and it's so cute to watch, but unfortunately if I uploaded it, it would use up all my space (nearly!) on Blogger. Trust me, though, it's pretty funny to watch!

Mom said Eli spotted her Diet Pepsi can and wanted it so badly!
He loved the colors on the can.

Eli's "Going to School" picture.
He's got his book and he's ready to go.
Hopefully, he got a star on his sticker chart today for good behavior :)

Visit from Grammy and Pop

Tuesday afternoon, my parents, Eli's Grammy and Pop, came to visit us for a couple of days. We were all so excited! The last time they had been down was back in January and they were dying to see how Eli had grown. They get to see him about once or twice a week on the web cam, but it's not the same as seeing him in person. We were so glad they were able to make the trip!

They got in late Tuesday afternoon (Eli's well visit day) and Eli was taking a much needed nap in his crib when they arrived. I know it was so hard on them to not rush in there, snatch him up, and start smothering him in kisses, but they refrained because they knew how much he needed to sleep. He'd had a very busy morning and needed his rest. It wasn't long before he started to stir and they went back with me to get him. It was so much fun to see his face when he saw them for the first time. His face lit up with joy! He was so happy to see them and their faces were GLOWING! There is no doubt this baby is loved :)

Smiling in Grammy's arms

Eli and his Grammy

Eli and his Pop

Eli and Pop chillin' on the couch

My little jumping bean

Doing leg exercises in Grammy's lap

Earlier that day, Dr. Russ had given us the go ahead on trying rice cereal with Eli, so I let Mom feed him some that night. I think we're going to have a lot of success with rice cereal. Eli LOVED it! He's still figuring out how to use his tongue to eat from a spoon, but I think he did really well for only his second time to eat rice cereal. Dad videoed it, but I don't know how to use iMovie and the video is kind of long, so I can't post his just yet. (Josh and I did one that lasts about a minute the other night. I'll try to post that one soon). Like I said, I think he did really well, but it was funny because at the end of the feeding he had it ALL over him. He enjoyed "helping" Grammy feed him the rice cereal. Oh, and you'll notice the spoon he's holding in the picture. Grammy had a spoon that he wanted, so we finally gave him one to hold. The spoon ended up getting in the way and making things messier (if that was possible!). I think every orifice on his face was covered in cereal by the time it was all said and done. He probably wore more than he ate! (Where was I with the camera then?)

I've got my spoon! Let's eat!

Yum! This stuff is kind of good!

Like "see"food? Here ya go!

Eli did enjoy showing Mom and Dad all the things he can do now. He showed them all his tricks-squealing, cooing, laughing, jumping, grabbing his toes, and rolling over. He especially enjoyed using Mom's and Dad's arms as a Johnny Jump-Up. (I did post that video!) I don't think he sat still for 5 seconds Tuesday night. He just kept playing and playing. Pretty soon, he wore himself out and finally went to sleep. He must have known he was going to have a busy day with his Grammy and Pop when he woke up!