Maverick's first "solid" food

Until now, the only time Maverick has tasted rice cereal was one night a couple weeks ago when nothing would satisfy his hunger, I put a teenie bit of rice cereal flakes in his bottle. That night he slept 12 hours!

When Mav went for his 4 month check-up (by the appt date he was actually almost 18 weeks), his doctor recommended that I begin letting him experiment with "solid" foods. She said he showed all signs that he is ready (supported sitter, double his birth weight, etc). Doc said that at this point it's not about nutrition, just introduction. Just letting him play with the spoon and feeling the cereal in his mouth is a great way for him to learn how to transition.

All parents are different, and all babies are different. I'm just gonna stick with rice cereal until he's about 6 months because I've read that babies' digestive systems aren't ready for anything else until then, and there is a greater risk of food allergies. Some don't even introduce cereal until 6 months.

My biggest rookie mom mistake: I tried giving him the cereal first before the bottle. Oooooh boy. That was a huge mistake!! He was red-faced angry because he was so frustrated. After the bottle we tried again. Success!!!




By the end, he was actually anticipating the spoon and reaching for my hands. Woo hoo! He was also wearing more on his shirt than what actually made it in his tummy. Rookie mom mistake #2: I forgot to put a bib on him! I was just so excited, I guess I didn't think about it. He went straight into the bath afterwards!

The second attempt was today, and it was much more fun! Having satisfied his hunger first, he was in a good mood to try it again. I did notice that when I first put the spoon to his mouth he looked at me like, "Umm, what is that??"

After I pushed a bit of the cereal in his mouth, he still stared at me like I was crazy. But then it was like a light bulb went off. He suddenly remembered the spoon and what it was for. I had to get up to answer the phone and he started to fuss when the spoon went away. Ha ha!




Maverick is just itching to crawl. I know its waaaaaaaaay to early for him to crawl, and it most likely won't happen for a while. (Trust me---I'm trying to enjoy this short time of immobility!!!)

But this is what he does when he's on his tummy:



He bears all his weight on his head and shoulders.



Then he pushes himself across the blanket. Smooshed face and all.



He knows how to rest on his elbows. But he hasn't figured out how that could help him out here. Poor kid! lol!!

Maverick is definitely his father's child. Robbie was a very, very active baby and toddler (...and teenager...and adult). Robbie's mom said that as soon as he could make himself mobile, he ran e-v-e-r-y-w-h-e-r-e. Even kicking his sunday school teacher in the shin. Watch out world, here comes Robbie's son!