The other title I was considering for this post was “Teddy noms on a banana and then throws up” but it was a bit too long for my taste.
We gave Teddy his first solid food tonight: half of a banana. Yes, we gave it to him in one piece. Our favorite way to teach a baby how to eat solid food is called Baby Led Weaning where you skip spoon-feeding your infant pureed food by providing age and skill appropriate whole foods. This teaches the baby how to hold, “chew,” pinch, swallow, and experience food at their own pace with the goal (at least in our house) of creating a healthy relationship with food from the get-go.
Teddy couldn’t keep the banana in his hands even though he tried really hard so I provided a little assistance at first.Learning early that food tastes better if it smeared all over one’s face
It was about this point that Teddy gagged when he realized he had something that wasn’t completely liquid in his mouth and spat up his banana and some of the milk he had drank just before dinner. We’re not worried about that; it would be more worrisome if his body didn’t instinctively try to move the food away from his airway. Gagging didn’t stop Teddy from enjoying the taste of banana for the rest of dinner, though!
Teddy mushed up the banana on his tray, kept rubbing his fingers in it, and the sucking the banana off of them. That’s one way to do it!Mmmmm, tasty!
Teddy is getting big! He’s just as round and jolly as he ever has been and is aware enough to interact with the rest of the family, including the newly discovered kitties!
In spite of all the tummy time he’s had this month, Teddy STILL refuses to roll over. By the way he twists around when he’s on his back, it looks like he might roll back-to-front before front-to-back. We’re still working on it and tummy time is a highlight of Ben’s day, even if Teddy isn’t too thrilled. Teddy’s hand-eye coordination has improved tremendously and he can usually get whatever it is that he is holding into his mouth without missing. Just last week he started trying to snatch food away from me so he’ll be starting solids super soon. We’re going to try modified baby led weaning with him like we did with Ben and adjust as necessary for his skills and interests. First foods will be banana and avocado!
Teddy’s 6 month appointment isn’t until nearly the end of the month but I’m fairly certain his growth has slowed down quite a bit. He still wears a lot of 3 month pants since his legs are so short and has plenty of room in 3/6 month and 6 month onesies. Size 2 diapers are getting tight because his little chunk legs so we’ll be moving on up to 3s very soon. In addition to not growing as fast, Teddy has slowly started to sleep longer and better at night (mommy is thankful).
The last month has flown by for all of us. We wrapped up our Florida trip with a (cold) beach day in Bradenton and drove home over Saturday and Sunday. Teddy did much better on the way home than he did on the way to Florida. We got in a good rhythm during the road trip of drive time with a movie, lunch for everyone at a restaurant with a play area, diaper changes, “quiet time” in the van with only music playing (both boys always slept well without a movie), afternoon break for Teddy’s sake, and perhaps another movie before dinner. Ben thoroughly enjoyed his long-promised pj day on our first full day home.
Ben didn’t want to go in the water but had a blast playing in the sand all day. We’re going to prioritize building a sand box this springTeddy Bear! I have a very similar photo of Ben on the same beach at the same agePJ and movie day. Ben was running a little bit of a fever the day after we got home from Florida and happily watched movies all day. Note: cowboy boots with pjs
We got home to our freshly painted dining room and kitchen and seeing how clean it looked was worth every second of extra preparation before leaving! We installed new light fixtures, light switches, vent covers, and outlets and framed and hung new art. Little by little, we’re starting to feel more at home.
New light fixture (and it even has LED bulbs installed now!)Blue: Behr Swan Sea, White: Behr Cotton KnitNew art!
Last week, Brian and I flew to San Diego with Teddy to attend WordCamp San Diego. Teddy did marginally well on the flight there. We were in the air when he thought he should be going to bed, which didn’t go over too well with him. He cried for almost an hour on the plane and fussed in the car almost all the way to our friends’ house but that was far from the worst case scenario.
The WordCamp itself was really well run and the speakers I got a chance to hear were knowledgable and interesting to listen to. Teddy behaved angelically for both days of the event. Many attendees remarked that they didn’t hear him make any noise at all! He happily played in my lap and slept in the sling when he was tired. Teddy surprised us by adjusting to the three hour time difference pretty quickly and not waking up at 4 AM a single time all week!
We spent the first half of our trip staying at a gorgeous hotel and very much enjoyed breakfast on the balcony, even if it was cold by southern Californian standardsOne of Teddy’s many conference naps over the weekend. He is a big fan of falling asleep wherever I am
We had a chance to see Disneyland for a few hours one day and now we know that we’ll be headed back to southern California as a family. The best description of Disneyland as a frequent Disney World guest is that it’s like visiting somewhere in a dream that you’ve been in real life; it has a lot of the same parts but nothing is where you expect it to be. One thing that California Adventure has that Disney World does not is Cars Land, which is probably the most immersive and detailed area of a Disney property that I’ve ever seen. Radiator Springs Racers, the star attraction in Cars Land, was incredibly well made. I could have ridden it all day!
Look at that tiny castle!Teddy and Brian in front of the New Orleans-styled Haunted MansionCan I have those glasses, Daddy?Mountain range behind Cars Land at Disney’s California Adventure. I’ve seen those mountains in real life and the false range looks so believable!Another rock formation decorating the queue for Radiator Springs RacersThe three of us enjoying our day at Disneyland (photo courtesy of our friend, Chris Lema)Teddy did a lot of this on the plane rides home. It made the trip faster and smoother for everyone!
We don’t have any more family travel plans on the calendar until June (except a short trip for Brian to Vegas in early May) so we’re going to soak in all the at-home fun we can! The weather is warming up and flowers are starting to poke out of the gray landscaping so we’ll be taking long walks and playing hide and seek in the backyard before we know it.
Teddy discovered the cats and gets fairly exuberant whenever they are close enough to pet
The sun was shining and Teddy felt like snuggling. No more reasons needed to sit for a while with my littlest boyTummy time is slightly more exciting when there are tag-things to pull onMario Kart Wii is one of the first things Ben asks Brian for when he comes “home” from work every dayTeddy was super excited for his first WordPress t-shirt experienceI couldn’t resist seeing if Teddy fit in the doll bed. Not anymore!Big brother Ben cheesing on the way to CostcoTeddy’s first experience sitting in a shopping cart. Both boys thought it was great and I didn’t mind having more space for food!I picked up a doorframe style baby jumper from Craigslist for Teddy. He loves that he can spin between watching Ben play in the front room and me work in the dining roomBen was SOOOOO excited that he could make his own frozen yogurt and kept asking for more M&MsCrazy jumping cowboy (as decorated by Ben)
