My Personal Paci Debate

I have a strong love/hate relationship with the pacifier! In the beginning...long before I even knew Babywise exsisted...Kye had a rough day. I broke down and gave him a Soothie Pacifier because I wanted to help him. And it helped! It also started a trend that could not be stopped, our son sleeps with a pacifier. I felt a lot of guilt for starting him on it because of the many negative connotations that go along with pacifier use (the worst? that lazy parents give their kids a paci b/c they don't want to "deal with" them crying and respond to their need).
I decided to write about this so that way I'll better be able to decide what to do with the NEXT baby! I find myself all the time saying "ugh I hate this thing and will never use them again." But then at times it IS a blessing (crying baby at church anyone?). Here are the pros and cons of the paci so I'll better be able to make the decision next time:

Pros:

• He sleeps awesome: It really really does help him sleep. You give him that paci and it's like a drug. His eyes immediatly roll back and he's just so relaxed and ready for nite-nite time. Probably the biggest pro of the paci by far!
• Teething: Until I got the RazBaby Teether the paci was awesome to help out with teething issues. When he was hurting I'd give him one from the freezer or even just a regular one and he'd feel better. I don't know if it actually took away the teething pain but I think because he gets it at night that it soothes him. We don't use it AT ALL outside of the crib now because the Razbaby works so well!
• In Public: It's handy to have in the car or in a public place because if he starts acting up we can pop it in! It also is good because if it's his naptime in the car we can give it to him and it helps him fall asleep since he can't be swaddled in the car seat.
• "Easier" to get rid of?: Supposedly everyone says it's easier to get a kid to stop sucking a paci than it is to get them to stop sucking their thumbs, hands, or fingers. I have yet to even attempt at weaning Kye from the paci but plan to do so at 6 months old so I'll let you know how it goes, but I don't think it will in any way be EASY.
• SIDS: Sucking on a pacifier is supposed to help reduce the risk of SIDS...but I swear that half the stuff "they" say is just a guess because "they" really don't even know what causes SIDS so how can they be so sure about what won't cause it?

Cons:

• Looks: The paci is UGLY. Sure it may be just as ugly as a kid sucking their thumb or something and you could get ones to match their outfits if you wanted (WHY would I want to do that though seriously?). Ugh it's just ugly!
• Sleep Prop: It's a sleep prop. Both Babywise and Baby Whisperer are very anti-sleep props and I agree! I want my baby to put HIMSELF to sleep, not to need something else to help him sleep!
• Falls Out: While helping him sleep is the biggest pro, the falling out is the biggest con. SO ANNOYING. He falls asleep wonderfully with it but then it will fall out and BAM he's awake (at least for naps, doesn't seem to apply as much at night) and I spend the rest of his nap putting it back in his mouth. The new thing? He wakes up because it's out and now he tries to get it so he gets out of his swaddle and squirms all around and then gets frustrated and cries. So I have to go in there and reswaddle AND repaci every 10 min!
• Swaddle Issue: I'm ready for Kye to be done with the swaddle. If he didn't have the paci, I honestly think he's be able to sleep without it. But the swaddle helps the paci stay in and when I leave one arm out he will take his paci out of his mouth with it! It's like he's sucking on the paci thinking "yummy a paci" then he puts his hand on it and thinks "wow what's this?" then he pulls it out and is like "where did my paci go?" haha! He'll get it back into his mouth (eventually) but he hasn't mastered letting go of the paci once it's back in so he ends up taking it out again. Bottom line? He has to stay swaddled!

I don't think paci use is a right or wrong issue. I often say that it's the one thing I regret so far in parenting, but then again I'm not sure I do. There ARE pros to it as you see and they do kinda at least come even with the cons. While I was writing the pros I was like "aw it's really not that bad" but then dang I wrote those cons and now I am having evil thoughts about it haha! Even though I'd love to think I'm some Super Mom who won't use the paci next time, most likely I probably will. ...Or maybe not. Who knows! My opinion seriously changes on it everyday...sometimes multiple times a day!

It's funny b/c I've probably told Zach that we're going to officially get rid of the paci like 20 times but so far I have yet to actually take it away. Kye just really likes it! And I guess I'm not ready to deal with the difficulty of depriving him of it. Babywise says that at 6 months their sucking reflex is gone and they don't have the "need" to suck like they do as little babies so it's a good time to take it away. I really do plan to do it then...I swear. I don't want Kye keeping it until he's in kindergarten or something!

Walking into the Walk-in Clinic

Since Kye's bad day on Monday he's been fine! However, his diapers haven't been. Since I breastfeed his diapers are always pretty runny (like butterscotch pudding I'd say) but lately they have been like liquid and have been much more frequent than usual. That has lead to the WORST diaper rash this kids hiney has ever seen!

I decided yesterday to break down and call the dr. I'm NOT one of those omg-call-the-doctor mother's but at his appointment last week she TOLD me I can call anytime with any questions so I just wanted to make sure he's not dehydrated or something from all the extra poop.

Well when I called I got a nurse and the nurse took down all his "symptoms" and said she'd ask the dr. and call me back. When she called back she told me not to give him any juice...um I haven't been. Ever! And to use A&D cream on his rash rather than the Desitin. That was it! She then asked how often he's going #2 and said she'd call me back. When she did it wasn't any other info! I asked her if I should feed him cereal or not and if that could be the issue and she said, "I'd recommend that you take him to our walk-in clinic."

Keep in mind, I don't think ANYTHING is wrong with my kid!!! But what mother wouldn't take their baby in when they are told to??? So of course I rushed to get ready, get him ready, and get us both up there before they closed. I was pretty annoyed but was pleasantly surprised when we got there. First off, we were only in the waiting room with 1 other patient and they have an awesome fish tank that kept Kye occupied the entire time we waited, which was only about 15 min!

Once we got back in the room I had the BEST experience I've had yet at the doctors office. The nurse was SO sweet and went on and on about how cute he is and talked to him and cooed at him. Then the dr. came in within 5 minutes and was SO wonderful!!! He and I talked for 45 min!!!
He checked out Kye and, duh, he's fine. He said that he's very healthy, cute, and that he can tell he has a wonderful mother! Made my day!!! He said that as long as he isn't pooping like 8-10 times a day, it's not bloody, or it doesn't stink really bad then he's fine. He listened to his stomach and said it's not messed up at all. He said if the diaper rash is still bad to use a hydro cortisone cream under the Desitin (he also said that I'm a smart mom b/c I used the original Desitin and not the creamy!).

The doctor (John he said to call him!) said that he usually doesn't recommend starting babies on solids until at least 5 months old. I told him that he showed all the signs of being ready and that Stephanie, his pediatrician, said with his stats that he's ready. He told me that he would stop the cereal for a week to just see if it helps but that he's so close to 5 months old that it's fine to give it to him. I showed him the box of cereal that I've fed him and he said he only knows about Gerber! I'm pretty hardcore with trusted brands so I'll probably use Gerber from now on just because he said that haha!

We also looked at Kye's chart which I've never done before and it was neat to see what those percentages mean and where he is on the growth chart. He said he's actually not a "big baby" because a "big baby" would mean that he was way off the charts on weight or length and then average or below average on the other one. But with his percentiles being 80% length, 70% weight, and 50% head circumference (something else his pediatrician never told me!) it means he's just right b/c all the numbers are close.

Even though it was a pain rushing up there and Kye didn't really need to be seen I'm glad I went! I had FUN! haha! It's pretty sad when going to the dr. is fun huh? But it was nice to have someone show sooo much interest in Kye and to talk babies with someone without having to worry about overly talking about my kid, not asking enough about theirs, or wonder if they are judging or something ya know?

I asked him about what baby food he recommends to start with if Kye doesn't like the cereal and he said greens first then squashes. I told him that I've heard a MILLION different opinions on all of this and he said his advice is probably a little outdated since he deals only with sick children and hasn't had a well-visit with someone in 6 years! haha! We did get to talking and he loved Kye's razbaby teether (lifesaver!) so I told him about that and he looked at Kye's chart and asked about the GERD so I told him my thoughts on it. I told him that I don't think Kye ever had GERD and that it was just a hyper lactation issue. He asked how I solved my milk problem and I told him how I just nursed from one breast each feeding for a couple days and it slowed things down...he told me I taught him two things and that HE was glad I came in!!!

The whole experience was so wonderful and I want to HIGHLY recommend Winnersville Walk-In Clinic to anyone who lives in the Valdosta area. I'm kinda considering the idea of switching pediatricians. After all the special attention we got at the clinic it made me wish our own doctor showed that much attention! This guy even checked out his gums for me to see how he's doing with teething...when I mentioned teething at my dr. did they even look in the kids mouth? nope! While I partially feel like it was a waste of time going up there, I'm still glad I did b/c I'd much rather go and hear that Kye is fine than not go and him endup being super sick or something!

Kye's Rough Days

After Kye's shots on Wednesday he seemed to be fine. He was a little fussy, but not bad. Well Thursday Robyn brought LL over for the play date and while Kye was super cute for a little while, he got VERY fussy. He cried and cried and just wasn't himself, he even had diarrhea diapers after every feeding! I broke down and gave him some Tylenol.

The next day he still wasn't being himself but I went ahead with the Rice Cereal b/c I figured it was just a reaction to the shots which I heard is common at the 4 month visit. He was pretty cranky during the day Friday and I broke down and took his temperature and for the first time in his young life he had a mild fever! It was 99.8 which is high for him as he's like his mommy and daddy and has a low body temperature (in the 97 range typically). I gave him Tylenol and just assumed it was the shots as I know it can last a couple days.

(Levi was a good boy through it all!)
That afternoon I took the temp again and it was high but not as high as before so I guess everything was getting better! He did fine the rest of Friday and all day Saturday but then came Sunday!

Every baby has their typical ups and downs and Kye's worst nap of the day is either the 2nd or 3rd one NEVER the first. He's ALWAYS gone down super easy for the first nap and slept pretty well for it..well not on Sunday! We had church and Zach's parents for lunch and of course Kye picks a busy day to act up haha. He literally would not sleep for the first nap. He didn't sleep AT ALL and missed the WHOLE thing! That set us up for disaster and Zach actually had to go sit in the car with him for the second half of church services because he was crying so much. Thankfully he slept well at Charlotte's (which is rare) and the rest of the day went okay. He was fussier than normal and did not go to sleep very well that night. He woke up at one point just screaming (usually he makes little grunting noises that can lead up to a cry) and Zach thought maybe he'd had a bad dream!

We thought Sunday was bad until Monday came!!! It was AWFUL. He woke up so many times during the night just crying and crying. I ended up getting up at 6:09 (yes, I remember the exact minute haha) and stayed up. I fed him at 6:20 because Babywise says to always treat any problem first as a hunger problem. I've read that around 4 months some babies go through a growth spurt and that if you meet their needs they will get through it quicker than if you don't. So I fed him early and he acted OK for a little bit.

Then his first nap came and he went down great like usual but then woke up a wouldn't go back to sleep. He cried and screamed. His whole day went like that. He was only happy RIGHT after he ate and then was pretty fussy they rest of the time. It was SO hard to deal with and it showed me that everyone is right...I'm thankful I have such a good baby b/c if I had to deal with that everyday then I probably wouldn't want more!!!

(So sad...)

I decided to treat it as a hunger problem for the day and see if it helped. For my first time since starting BW I completely went off schedule. I fed him on-demand. Instead of feeding him at 7, 11, 3, and 7 I fed him at 6:20, 10:40, 1:30, 3, 5, and 715. I don't think it was a feeding issue, however, because it didn't really help and after the 5:00 one I just went ahead and gave him Tylenol at 5:30 because he was super fussy even right after eating.

I gave him the Tylenol because if it's not a food issue my next guess was that it could be a teething issue. I have heard that babies have some REALLY bad teething days and that could have been what was going on! I don't know how long Tylenol takes to kick in but he didn't start acting better until about 6:20ish and then he was pretty much his normal self! Sure he was a little messed up because he's so so so adjusted to that schedule and he was totally off of it, but for the most part I could see my little boy shining through!

(doesn't this sad face break your heart?)Zach noticed that his stomach was making a lot of noises and that he was pretty gassy. He also had a lot of projectile vomit. So he thought maybe the rice cereal was causing an issue? I didn't really know what to think. I mean he'd had some liquidy diapers before introducing the cereal (which I attributed to the shots as well) and he seemed to be okay to me the first day we gave it to him so I wasn't sure. I did some online research and did find that while rice cereal is one of the most gentle things on the baby's system that it can cause constipation. Well Kye wasn't constipated for sure! Through all the crying he had an AWESOME "normal" diaper that made me feel a lot better about it!

It was such a frustrating day not only because Kye was filled with constant tears, but because I couldn't figure out what was causing them. It wasn't hunger for sure! So was it teething or was it the introduction of food? I decided to stop the rice cereal for a couple of days to see what happens when I re-introduce it. Zach doesn't really want me to ever feed it to him again just in case that was what caused the problem, but if I don't give it to him again how will I ever know if it was the cause?

(whoa ugly face haha)

Some Positives:

It was an awful day. I did well handling myself, but it was tough. At one point I left him in the crib and allowed him just to cry for 3 minutes while I went outside and sat in the grass. Being in the sunshine felt so good and I needed that 3 minutes to gather myself. I didn't even get a chance to shower so I was hot, sticky, and covered in puke. Even though I did pretty well I did break down and join in with the tears. When I started crying the sweetest thing happened. Kye stopped crying, looked at me, and smiled!!! Yeah, two seconds later he went back to bawling, but it was so precious and helped remind me that one bad day is worth all the great, amazing moments he brings me!

Another positive of the day...even though Kye was horrible it seemed like he magically grew into an older kid before our eyes in one day! Zach and I both noticed it!!! During that day while crying he reached and reached for us and would grab on our faces in ways he hasn't done before. He wanted to be touching us, to have our comfort. It was so sweet and loving and it just made him seem so much OLDER. Like he knows what he wants and he reaches until he gets it!

Thankfully I have a great, supportive husband who let me get in the bed early while he did Kye's bath and put him to bed. I am also so glad for Facebook as I could put my problems out there and have a million suggestions from people of ideas that may help! I woke up Tuesday morning SO thankful to God that he granted me a night of rest which allowed me to start my day fresh and in a positive mood. Kye's been back to his self since and didn't have any major problems with getting back on schedule! I plan to start back the rice cereal tomorrow (having given him 2 days off of it) and we'll see what the reaction is! My gut? I think it was just a ROUGH teething day...which means we'll probably have several more in the future seeing that no teeth have even come in yet!

(Had to end it with a happy boy picture!)

Kye's First Baby Food Experience

This whole food thing has been a little tough for me. First it was hard to figure out how to even begin, then it was a tough choice on when to start. Kye is still young to be eating baby food. Most books recommend to wait until they are 6 months old and Kye is only 4 1/2 months old! However, he is a big boy and he showed all the signs of being "ready." So I knew it was what is best for him, however, it was still tough!!! Eating solids is a big step for a baby! It's the first step to being done with nursing. It's also the first time that I will really start to be responsible for how he handles himself. Even though it made me a little emotional (no actual tears fell, but they were super close) I knew I needed to just do it so I decided to start with the rice cereal on Friday morning.

I didn't buy rice cereal when I had gone to Publix but luckily we had some from awhile ago when they gave it out free and we used it once or twice in a bottle (which Kye hated). I decided for the first time eating it I'd mix it with breast milk and I did 1 TBL of cereal and 4 TBL of milk. It was SUPER liquidy so I added a little bit extra of the cereal.
I was pretty pumped to use the feeding bibs and the cute little spoons! Doesn't Kye look excited? I think he really did know that it was finally HIS turn to eat!

Eating the bib he was so pumped!

I got him up at 7 and nursed him like usual but didn't have the typical 25 min or so playtime in my lap. Instead I got him up and going for the big boy food! Here's his very first bite!

And the reaction!

I was really impressed because I thought it'd be a HUGE mess and surprisingly most of it made it into his mouth! He for sure is past the push-out reflex as he did well with the spoon and quickly understood how the whole thing worked.

He wanted to help Mommy!

Babywise II talks all about how the "highchair" (Bumbo for now!) is the first place you start to teach your child how to properly behave. You decide the rules and then you have to enforce them. Well when I fed him I hadn't read that yet! I read it that day and have decided I will not allow: his hands up in his face/grabbing the bowl, spoon, etc, intentionally "playing" with his food by making raspberries with it, and holding the spoon himself. At first I thought holding the spoon would be okay because won't it teach him to hold it on his own eventually? But I am a big supporter in the idea of parenting not re-parenting (I'll be writing an entire post on this idea eventually) and I can see him taking the spoon from me being an issue so why let him start now?
I'm kinda glad I hadn't read that yet because I snapped some pics of him breaking the rules before they were set haha

I also really like how Babywise talks about not making eating time into a fun time. It's not playtime, it's a time to eat and that's it. We all think of feeding babies as the time to do "airplane" or whatever while feeding them but what is that really teaching? It's saying to the child, "Hey! Food time is FUN time and playing with food is fun!" I don't plan on allowing Kye to play with his food and if he does he will get in trouble.

Fat boy!

Again, the feeding time brings about changes! With setting rules comes punishment and while Kye is too young to know better right now, I still am going to "punish." When he puts his hands up in my way I say "hands down" then hold his hands down while I feed him. If he does raspberries with the food (he hasn't done this yet though) I will push the food back in with my finger and say "no sir we eat our food." As he gets older I will say these things and if he does it again I will take him away from the table into his crib, etc because if he's playing then he must be done eating! Ugh...having to teach is so much more responsibility than just playing and having fun like we've gotten to do together the past 4 months but I guess this is what parenting is all about huh?

The one thing no book mentioned (and no one told me either) is how to do you tell when they are done eating? I had NO CLUE! So since I've started this whole adventure I just feed him until he gets fussy. Is that a good way to tell? But like this morning he was fussy the whole time so I didn't know when to stop! With the breast he'll turn his head and simply won't open his mouth if it's offered again but I don't know what signs to look for with the spoon!

He's a proud Big Boy!

Saturday we tried mixing the cereal with water and he didn't have an awesome response so I tried breast milk again. He just isn't overly happy while eating...but why would he be? I think that's pretty normal...it's SO much new stuff for him to take in that he has a lot to concentrate on and those are the kinds of faces he makes while eating. Not happy, not upset, just very focused.

Today was day 3 and we did it with water and I heated it up a little bit. Didn't seem to make it any "better" to him and today he fussed the whole time. Of course I had an "oops" moment..I used TAP water and you're supposed to get some special Nursery bottled water for babies because our tap water has bad stuff in it I guess? Luckily Mrs. Charlotte had some when we were at her house and she gave me some to use until I can get to the store.

Daddy's first time feeding him! I love how we both open OUR mouths when we go to feed him..I think we think if we open wide then he will too :)

I know, I know. I feel like I've been throwing the kid through a bunch of loops because I keep changing things up on him with this cereal! I've decided to for sure use the Nursery water to mix it with and will probably not heat it up as I heard the cold will actually feel good to his teething gums. My plan is to stick with rice cereal just in the morning time then do it all three meal times sometime next week. After 2 weeks of that I'll go for the REAL DEAL...probably carrots?

While it's a lot to figure out and a lot of trial and error it is exciting too because it makes me feel MORE like a Mommy! Sitting around playing with him all day is wonderful but I don't feel like I'm really teaching him much. Now with this whole feeding thing I know he's learning so much and I feel like I'm helping him in ways that will affect him the rest of his life (I know I've already been doing that but it just hasn't FELT like I have!). Pretty fun stuff!

Babywise says that by 6 months we should be eating about the same times he does so we can eat as a family because it will teach him how to behave at the table and will be valuable time as a family. I think this is VERY important as I'm big on table manners and I've always thought it was important to have family meals. Zach and I are going to start eating breakfast a 7 (right now I do it at 9 while Kye's napping) and I'll try to move my lunch to 11 (so early though!) then eat dinner as a family at 7. Babywise II also talks about the importance of prayer and how you should pray with your baby before each meal. I keep forgetting to do this with him but I know it's SUPER important and swear I'll remember to start tomorrow ;)

Baby Food: Some Complicated Junk

"There are a lot of breast-feeding consultants out there, but what I need now is a solid food consultant."

I read that quote and couldn't help but to TOTALLY agree!!! I left Kye's dr. appt on Wenesday feeling like Kye was ready for solids but still not too sure how to go about it. Like I mentioned, Stephanie said that cereal is up to me, to start with veges, to give him the same vege for 5 days then introduce the next one, to feed him 1/2 a jar twice a day, to start him on diluted juice, and to mix juice with his cereal.

Okay. She did NOT tell me which vege to start with, what kind of cereal to buy, and what kind of juice to buy. I got to Publix and felt VERY overwhelmed when I looked at ALL the millions of options. This lady who worked there could tell I was confused so she started offering up her advice and I basically tried to ignore her because she said she gave her kid cereal when he was 1 month old and just did everything she wanted no matter what her dr said (um not quite me huh?). In the end I bought green beans, carrots, and sweet potatoes. I thought I'd start with green beans because Zach and I both love them and I figured Kye would too. I bought a mixed cereal and a whole wheat cereal thinking that I didn't want any fruit yet and that those were both pretty plain. I also decided against doing ANY juice right now, it just didn't settle well with me.

I came home and was pretty pumped to figure out all this stuff! I've been getting a lot of pamphlets in the mail that cover how to introduce food and other tips. My problem? They all conflict each other! So many things say to breastfeed him on one side then do solids then feed him from the other breast, other things say to feed solids first then offer both breasts, and still others say to completely breastfeed then offer solids. Some advice says to start with fruits, others say cereal, others say veges. Then none of them agree on time of day either. Some people say night, some say morning, some say whenever you want!
Bottom line? I was left feeling VERY confused. Being a by-the-book parent I NEED direction. I crave for someone in charge who knows better to tell me "do this" and I'll do it. I'll do it exactly how you tell me to! I decided to not follow any pamphlets as they were mostly from companies afvertising their products. Instead, I decided to read what The Baby Whisperer has to say about it.

She is very anti-starting baby food until 6 months old. However, she does mention that if the baby weighs over 16 lbs (check!) that they may be ready to start early. Based off that I decided it is time to start. She says to start at breakfast only for one week, then both breakfast and lunch for a week, and finally all three meals, with breastfeeding as a snack for the "forth meal." Hogg says to feed solids before breast and to move the proven foods to lunch and dinner when you add a new food to breakfast. Her recommendation is to start with squash and pears.

I agreed with her on some things. I like the idea of starting at breakfast and moving proven foods to later in the day because if, by chance, he does have an issue with the new food I'll have all day to figure it out and will be able to call the peditrician if needed and it'll be out of his system by bedtime. I did not like the idea of offering him food first as if he's really hungry won't he be super fussy and therefore less able to focus on eating the new food? I also didn't like how she said to offer the breast as a snack! Plus I'm NOT doing pears and squash first! I agree with Rachael, and many others, that veges should be first. It makes sense that fruit is sweeter so the baby will like fruit more and if you do fruit first they will be less likely to enjoy veges.

In the end, I decided to go with my trusty Babywise. It's never done me wrong in the past! Babywise II discusses solids but just like the first book I feel like it doesn't go into enough detail. I went to the Babywise Blog and followed some of her advice along with the book. The book discusses feeding him solids after the breast since liquids are still the main source of nutrients for him. It also says to do solids at 3 of his 4 mealtimes (I've picked 7, 11, and 7. The book says 7, 11, and 3 but I like the idea of Zach being home at the 7 pm one so he's part of it too and we can all eat dinner together). BW says to do cereal first which I agree with. My mom said she did that for us and I think it's the best thing because it's bland and cheap!

The book says to introduce cereal at MY most convient time of the day (I did after his 7 am feeding) and to do it just at that time for about a week. By week two I'll be doing it at breakfast, lunch and dinner. It says to only use RICE cereal (which isn't what I bought of course). And to mix 1 TBL of cereal with 4-5 TBL of breastmilk, keeping it pretty thin but not so runny that it will come off the spoon.

After 2 weeks of cereal only then you start with veges, yellow veges (squash and carrots) first. Then after those two weeks do peas and beans with fruits two weeks after that. They suggest mixing the fruit with the cereal and I like that idea as it makes life a little easier! I have carrots but no squash and no peas! BW says to feed cereal as a part of his diet until he's a year old and to wait on meats until he's also a year old.

Juice is never a must=have and shouldn't be introduced until he's 6 months old and even then it shouldn't be an everyday thing. Once all foods are introduced (other than meat) it says his solid food day will be like this:

breakfast: cereal and fruits
lunch: vegetables and fruits
dinner: cereal, vegetables, and fruits

I, of course, agree with pretty much everything Babywise says! I plan to follow their plan but to mix the cereal with water instead of breastmilk. Since I'm not doing a daily pump session anymore I don't have extra milk sitting around and I don't feel like it's fair to Kye to pump while he's eating (pump the side he hasn't yet eaten on) in order to have milk for the cereal since he won't eat ALL the cereal anyways and that's a waste of his milk. I researched it online and liked what one lady said...she mentioned that adding water isn't bad, that it's part of the SOLID diet and that he's getting all the breastmilk benefits from the LIQUID diet! Makes sense to me!

As with everything else in life, I feel better with a plan. Once I find one I like I stick to it pretty hardcore. I took a little advice from Baby Whisperer, but I plan to mostly follow Babywise down this solid food journey! Wish us luck!

Kye's First Playdate!

On Thursday Robyn, who I actually met through this blog, brought her daughter, Lorelai, over for a playdate! I've been dying for Kye to get to meet another baby near his age. With him being an only child I think it's SUPER important for him to have lots of interactions with children. Being around other children will not only be fun for him, but in the future it will teach him valuable lessons like sharing, friendship, taking turns, etc.

I got a Bumbo off Ebay but still have Mrs. Charlotte's so we set them down in those to see how they responded...Kye is just like his parents: A FLIRT!!! He smiled SOOOO big right when he saw her! It was precious! I think LL was a little shy at first but she opened up too!

Look at the cute touching feet :)

See him smiling? LL has the prettiest little eyes and they were HUGE when she looked at him. It was probably such a shock for both of them to see another person the same size as they are! LL is exactly a month older than Kye so it was great talking to Robyn and seeing LL because I can see a little glimpse of what Kye will be like soon! Of course she's a month older but almost the exact same size as Kye. Haha.

I was really pleased with how great Kye did, he was so sweet and just talked and talked and talked to her! I wish I could know what he was trying to say! I wonder if all babies can understand each other's baby talk? We stood them both up facing each other and they grabbed each others hands, so cute! They both tried to put the other's hand in their mouth!

LL acted pretty mellow but once she got used to Kye she was hilarious. We layed them on the floor and she kept putting her hands in his face and even rolled over to him! I guess Kye's already a lady's man ;) See them holding hands?

Kye started to get fussy and ended up having to go down a little early for his nap but I enjoyed the Mommy Time with Robyn as we have so much in common! She's a Christian and a Babywise Mom! Hard combo to find! It was such a fun time for our babies and for us and I hope we do it again soon!

4 Month Check Up

I hate that we are so off on Kye's appointments! This Wednesday Kye had his 4 month check-up, even though he's more like 4 1/2 months. His 6 month check-up he'll be a week shy of 7 months! They assured me that we will get back on track at his 9 month check-up though which is good!

I try hard to handle things that come up with Kye on my own by using the internet, friends, or books. I'm not one of those "omg call the dr." type people. That being said, when I AM going to go to the dr. I come up with several questions to ask because I want to make sure I'm doing things as they would have me do them!

Why do we bother dressing Kye up all cute for the visits? He always ends up being naked anyway! Here he is with Daddy waiting for Stephanie to come in! This time the appointment fell at the end of his nap and during his feeding time so we had to feed him a bottle while we were waiting. It worked out well though because he was in a great mood for the doctor!

When we first got there they stripped him down and did his measurements. I was glad they did it before we fed him because I knew if they weighed him right after he ate that he'd weigh A LOT more! Here's his latest stats:

Head Circumfrance: 16 3/4 inches (I assume that's huge but they didn't tell me a percentile)Weight: 16 lb 4 oz (went from the 75th percentile at his last check up to the 70th this time)Height: 26 inches (went from the 50th percentile last time to now the 80th)

Zach, of course, is THRILLED about the length! He texted his dad right away haha. I did ask if they can predict his overall height and she said no, but that at 2 years old he'll be half his adult height. I guess we'll see in a couple years what his height future will hold!
Since Kye hasn't been sick (yet at least) and has been such an easy baby, most of my questions were rather vain ones:

His flathead? Bald Spot? She said the flathead is fine and normal and that the hair will grow back better once he is out of the swaddle because he most likely will start stomach sleeping
Inverted nipples? She said that's normal if they are inverted and isn't an issue at all
Eye Color? By 6 months his color will most likely stay whatever it is. She did look at his little brown spot and said that it's just a pigment thing and doesn't mean anything is wrong with his vision or anything like that.
Vein? Kye has a little vein on his nose and she said it's VERY common for babies and that, while the vein is always there, it'll be less and less noticable as he grows up
Birthmarks? I love birthmarks and think they are precious! She said the one on the back of his neck is a stork bite which is the most common birth mark. She said it'll most likely go away. The one above his butt may stick around but since it's so light she said it'll most likely blend in with his skin
Other things we covered at this appointment included:

GERD: YUP! It's officially off his chart! I told her we quit the Zantac about 6 weeks ago and that we've seen no side effects from it and so she said they will put in his chart that he no longer has GERD! Yay!
Teething: She said her son got 2 teeth at the same time around 8 months old and that there is no way to really predict when they will come in. I asked for some tricks and she said motrin (dosage is 0.6) is very safe for him as well as hurricane gel. I'm currently bidding on a Raz Berry Teether on Ebay (it's a paci that has a raspberry looking thing on it that's supposed to really feel good to him). So we'll see!
Cows Milk: I told her I plan to keep on nursing but asked when he's able to drink "real" milk. She said that he'll probably start with cows milk around 10-11 months old.
Poop: I mentioned that he's been pooping every 3 days and then lately more often like after each meal. She said with breastfeeding that it'll be a lot of different times and ways until he really gets into baby food and it'll eventually look more and more like "our" poop
Sunscreen/Pool: She okayed sunscreen! That was a relief to hear! I know he's still under the 6 month mark but she said it's fine! She also said it's okay for him to go in a pool and that when we do either of them just to rinse him off and he'll be good to go!
Swaddle: She said her son swaddled until about 6 months old and that I'll just know when he's finished. She said it's not hurting his development being in it and just to let him decide when it's time to move on.
Monkey: With the swaddle question I told her that the times he's gotten sleepy he tends to put the burp rag, a blanket, his monkey, whatever over his face and I asked if he's okay to sleep with any type of blanket because I know the whole SIDS scare thing they tell you not to. She said a Lovie is fine...and guess what? His monkey IS a Lovie! She said the size of them is perfect to insure the baby won't suffocate and that it's fine to give that to him once he's done being swaddled! Yay! Good job on buying that Mom :)
Ear Wax: The child has his daddy's ears and gets quite a bit of wax in them. I didn't know how often I should clean them and if I should use q-tips etc. She said each night during his bath to just take the washcloth and kinda wipe them out. So Zach's incorporated this into the nighttime bath ritual.

This appointment Kye had to have another round of shots. This time the cocktail included: Polio, Pneumococcal Disease, Diphtheria, Tetanus, Pertussis, Rotavirus (which is taken orally) and Hib. Again, Zach was there so I didn't have to be in the room!
The biggest news of the appointment was the whole baby food talk. I've been seeing Kye showing signs that he's "ready" but didn't want to do it too soon since most people recommend waiting until they are 6 months old. I talked to the dr. and she said that with his weight he's ready when I am. Don't get me wrong, I think Stephanie is wonderful, but I am a person who follows directions so therefore...I NEED DIRECTIONS! She was not as informative as I needed for this whole food thing.

She told me that cereal is not a need but I can give it to him if I want. She said she mixes juice with her baby's cereal (um sugar...no thanks!) and that she waited until her son was 5 1/2 months. She told me to start with any vegetable and give him the same one for 5 days giving him 1/2 jar twice day of the stage one type food. She said to do it at any time of the day and to do all the veges then start with fruits. We didn't even discuss meat, I forgot. She also said it's fine to start giving him diluted juice (1 oz mixed with water) as a snack.

I knew right off I'm not doing the juice thing. He doesn't "need" it and it has a LOT of sugar so I don't feel comfortable with that yet. When I left the dr. I had to go by Publix anyways so I got several things of food and started to consider my options on this whole baby food stage!

Overall it was a good appointment, especially the news on the length percentile haha. We don't go back until the END of Sept and she did tell me that I should call up there when I have questions and not to feel like I'm bothering them. We'll see...

Found Those Feet

This week has been some big milestones for Kye!!!

He's now in size 3 diapers, has rolled from his back to his belly, and has found his feet! We were eating lunch together (well, I was eating, he watched) and I noticed him checking them out so I ran and grabbed the camera! He's not obsessed with them yet but he is enjoying discovering his new body parts that he never knew exsisted!

Checking them out...

Realizing there are two of them to play with!

He's growing up too fast already!!!

Family Picnic

This past weekend Zach, Kye and I headed to Melbourne yet again! My aunt and uncle recently moved their family out to California and we've been missing them like crazy so we were pumped to get to see them over the weekend during a family picnic!

We went down on Friday and made a weekend out of it! On Saturday we had a great time with Mom and went for Kye's first Bagel World trip! He loved it, duh.
Of course his favorite bagel will soon be: cheedar cheese bagel toasted with peanut butter, eggs, bacon and cheese!

Saturday afternoon Mom watched Kye for a little bit and Zach and I ran to the beach to catch a little sun. It was nice just the two of us. The rest of the day Mom and I watched old home movies (which motivated Zach and I to finally start video taping our child!) then Zach and I rented He's Just Not That Into You that night...it was SO good!

Sunday was our family picnic! It was SUCH a blast! It was my idea to rent an outdoor pavilion so I was pretty nervous that everyone would hate it and it'd be my fault but I think everyone had a good time!

Zach was silly and took pictures with everyone in my family with the watermelon haha He's so random! And he had to get the silliest one with Uncle Chip, of course!

It was great for everyone to meet Kye! He behaved very well for being outside for so long and loved being held by all the family. Out of everyone in our fam Ben is probably the one that loves babies the most. He grabbed Kye up as soon as he saw him.

Aunt Michele was thrilled to meet him as well and let him sleep in her arms during his nap. I think she realized pretty quickly that he gets HEAVY haha

While Kye got a lot of attention, I think Liz got even more! My cousin Jason has been dating her for awhile now and they are the cutest couple. Just perfect for each other! She hadn't met most of the family before but she jumped right in and is a GREAT fit for our family. I liked her instantly and she was so sweet with Kye! When it was time to feed him she wanted to! So sweet! I hope we get to see a lot more of her in the future :)

While Nana didn't get to stay for the entire day you could tell she was thrilled to see all of her family together. I noticed her being reserved and just enjoying watching all of us as we told stories and shared laughs. I think it made her very happy, which is always important to me! Everyone knows I adore my Nana :)

Since the picnic I can't stop thinking about how BLESSED I am to be part of such an amazing family! We ALL have fun together..isn't that rare? I truly love my cousins and always have a blast when we are together. Zach even loves them all and when it was time for us to leave to drive home he suggested that we stay the night and leave the next morning so we could go see The Hangover with all my cousins! How many people WANT to be around their in-laws longer than they have to be???? Not many! That just shows how great my family really is...they make everyone feel like they belong!

Some of my awesome cousins!

And my favorite one of all...and he knows it! I hate that Jonathan is ALWAYS working when we are in town but Brian assured me that they will take off so we can hang out more next time!

The men doing their thing at the grill

And Lonnie providing some entertainment since we didn't have a radio!

I loved watching my family interact with Kye and hearing all the stories about when my cousins and I were babies. It's neat to think that one day Kye will be US with his cousins and will laugh and joke around at the kids table.

Getting some kisses from Auntie Becky!

Out of everyone there though Aiden was the most excited to spend time with Kye. He's actually my second cousin and is the only one without someone close to his age to play with. He's four years old and is thrilled that Kye is around now! He can't wait until Kye is old enough to play with him and he kept saying that he wants to be Kye's "big brother." So sweet!

Kye playing with his cousin!

Aiden is such a precious kid and I hope Kye has him as a role model as he grows up. Right when he got there he wanted everyone's attention to tell us a joke! Here's a video of it, he's so cute!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nil2w55VSJw

Here he is again playing with Kye. This time he used his blanket to play with Kye and got a little mad at Kye when he tried to put it in his mouth! He let Kye know that it was HIS blanket haha

Before they left Aiden wanted a picture of him and Kye together...of course Kye was SUPER sleepy and got fussy but we still took one because it was just so precious that Aiden asked for it!

It was SUCH a fun day. I still can't get over what a great time it was with all of us together and just truly how blessed I have been to be born into such a fun, close, loving group! Us Bublitz's know how to have a good time!!! :)