Baby-Led Feeding Update

I haven't given a Baby-Led Feeding update in a long time. I guess I just felt like until Holt could have dairy I was just repeating myself. So, now that he CAN have dairy (happy dance) and we are approaching toddler-hood (yes, he is so close to walking) I figure I should let you peek into Holt's eating habits.

This child loves to eat. You know how all the experts say "feed your baby until he stops eating; he will let you know when he's full"----yeahhhh, that doesn't apply to my child. Ha Ha.

Here is a typical eating day in Holt's world:

6:45-7:00AM     8 ounce sippy cup with formula (I switched to Enfagrow for now)
7:30 AM            Breakfast---frozen waffle with applesauce or PB and ½ banana
8:30-9:00 AM    Nap
11:00 AM          Snack---puffs, sometimes ½ pouch or part of a banana or string cheese
12:00 PM           Lunch----if we are at home, he will have some sort of leftovers from the fridge (bite size grilled chicken, avocado, chicken salad, pasta salad, veggies, hot dog, mac-n-cheese) and maybe a pouch. If we eat out he eats some of what is off my plate and then I always pack pouches and/or banana
12:30-1:00 PM  Nap
3:00 PM            Snack---same as earlier snack
5:00 PM            Dinner---he typically has some of what I make us for dinner: salmon, veggies, chicken, spaghetti, enchiladas….nothing is off limits.
6:30 PM            8 ounce sippy cup with formula before bed

*He also drinks water from a sippy cup all day long. No juice*

He eats so well. I am so amazed that he literally will eat just about anything I put in front of him. The possibilities are endless--especially now that he can have dairy! Last weekend we had my family's annual reunion and he ate grilled chicken dipped in guacamole, cucumber, tomatoes, cheese, tortilla, beans, and a few more things I can't remember. He is truly a wonderful eater.

Now that he can have dairy, we have switched from Nutramigen formula to Enfagrow. I do plan to go ahead and switch him to whole milk, hopefully but the time he turns 11 months old next week. I feel like he gets wonderful nutrition from all the good food he eats and doesn't rely on formula near as much anymore. Plus, one of the main ingredients in formula is corn syrup solids---I don't want that to be in his little system! And as a bonus, it's a little easier on the check book ;)

I do still buy a little bit of baby food. Mostly I buy pouches from either Plum Organics or Earth's Best. They are a tad more expensive, but I feel like it's better quality. I try to buy the ones that mix fruits, veggies, grains, and/or yogurt so that he gets protein too. They are so handy and convenient! I also buy a couple of jars---the dinner ones like turkey and vegetables or ham and rice---to have in the case that I don't have a lunch or dinner ready and he's starving or we are on the road or something.

And of course I'll leave you with a snapshot of our little family :)

Holt: 10 Months

     

Double. Digits.

Y'ALL. My mama heart is really struggling with the fact that we are 60 days away from turning ONE. How can that be? It's true what they say---"the days are long, but the years are short."

This month has FLOWN. I can't believe it's already June and we are halfway through 2015!

BIG NEWS----I am so excited I can hardly contain myself!!! Drumroll please………

HOLT CAN HAVE DAIRY!!! I am somewhat in shock and can barely believe it, but it's true. I decided to test him out with the Plum Organics "mighty 4" pouch that contains fruits, veggies, grains, and greek yogurt. I gave that to him Friday (june 5) morning so Daniel would be home to help me in case he started hurting and was really fussy. He ate it for breakfast, and I continued to watch him throughout the day---no gas pain (even though he was releasing quite a bit of gas ;p), no upset tummy, no slimy poop (sorry, TMI). So far, so good. I decided on Saturday morning to try a new formula sample that contains milk and see how he handled that. He didn't really like the taste of it, but he got down about 2.5 oz first thing---again, he released quite a bit of gas, but acted completely normal and not like his tummy was upset at all! For his other bottle feedings, I mixed the Nutramigen formula with the EnfaGrow formula in hopes of starting to wean him off the Nutramigen (praise the Lord). This is SUCH an answer to prayer! Now that he can have dairy, it opens up so many more food possibilities----cheese, yogurt, pancakes, muffins…..oh my goodness!

*My cousin, Katie Jo, graduated from high school this month so we went down to Conway to celebrate with her. We are so proud of her and loved getting to see her and show her our support!

*Memorial Day weekend Daniel and I got to go out of town and celebrate our 5 year wedding anniversary. We went up to Branson and got to see "Jonah" (which was fabulous) and "the Revollusionists" (a great illusion show) and other than that we just went shopping and ate dinner and saw a movie and it was SO NICE to just have alone time with my spouse. My parents kept Holt for us while we were gone (THANK YOU). They had a wonderful time the first day and a half and then he got really sick----103 fever, lethargic, a rash, and just didn't feel good. It was incredibly hard for me to not be with him knowing he was so sick, but I knew he was taken care of and that they were doing everything I would've done. When we got back, he was still pretty sick so we took him to an urgent care clinic and found out he had an ear infection and a virus. They put him on an antibiotic (cefdinir) and 2 days later he was fever free and back to his old self!

*I am so glad summer is upon us! Bring on the sunny days, pool parties, beach vacations, popsicles, and fun! Holt has LOVED playing and splashing in the water---it makes me excited for our beach vacation! We are thankful for sweet friends to play with us too :)

*He loves to make music on pianos. My parents have a tiny, kid-sized one that I used to play as a baby and that is his absolute favorite. Cute little baby Mozart!

*Holt started whistling this month. Does anyone else's kid do that? It is the CUTEST thing ever! He just forms his mouth in a little 'o' and you can hear a faint whistling. He thinks it's hilarious!

*He started a new "leap" about 2 weeks ago. A new leap is basically a new brain development---he is starting to recognize sequences---for example, a lid goes on top of a container or the door opens to let the dog outside. This is characterized by less sleep, mood swings, and more clingy-ness. Check, Check, and Check. When he goes through these little phases, it sure makes me appreciate how he normally is! It has been a rough 2 weeks!

*We have officially joined the swagger-wagon club! Daniel and I bought a minivan---a white Chrysler Town & Country. I'm a little embarrassed at how obsessed I am with this car. I am convinced that anyone with young kids should drive one of these! I felt super cool at Walmart the other day with my cart full of groceries and a busy 10-month old, and I just clicked my key-remote to open the back and the side door. EPIC.

Weight: 19 lbs. **complete guess** (25th percentile)
Height: 28 ¼ inches (20th percentile)

Favorites: *remotes---of any kind. *phones, iPads, anything electronic (even though we don't let him play with them) *dogs *walking----he is SO close to walking by himself *being outside *splashing in water *figuring out how things work *other kids

Milestones: *free stand for a few seconds at a time *his second tooth came through on 05.15.15 *can say "dada", "mama", and "up" *he started whistling *he waves (every now and then) *we graduated to sippy cups *he can have dairy!!

Sleep: Amazingly enough he has continued to sleep well, even when being sick. He still goes to bed at 6:30pm, but the past week and a half or so has woken up between 5:30 and 6:00 AM (killing. me.). I am attributing it to the fact he is going through one of the "leaps" they talk about in the "Wonder Weeks" app. When a baby starts a new leap, one of the "symptoms" so to speak is less sleep. He also was taking MUCH shorter naps there for a while. He still takes 2 naps a day.

Feeding: Obviously, the big news is Holt can now have dairy. SO exciting! He has decreased his amount of formula from 24 oz down to 16 oz a day. And we are officially done with bottles and completely on sippy cups! He still gets formula 3 times a day---first thing in the morning (about 6 oz.), after his afternoon nap (about 4 oz.), and bedtime (about 6 oz.). He eats 3 meals a day---for breakfast he usually has a frozen waffle with applesauce or peanut butter on top and half a banana; for lunch he has some kind of protein baby food (turkey usually), some veggies and fruit; for dinner he has the same as lunch. He also has multiple snacks a day---cheerios/puffs, banana, pouch, etc. I'm excited to see how his food choices will develop this next month since we can add dairy products now!

Holt-man,

Goodness you light up our world. You are so smart and fun. You are very social--you love other kids and babies especially, and you love to observe and study people when we are out and about. You are a big explorer, always ready to take on the next adventure and see new things. You love to make drum noises and you have started mimicking your daddy---clapping and sitting with your knees under you and making different screeching noises. We love you son, more than you will ever know.

Holt: 9 Months

I'm in denial. There is no way my baby is only 3 short months away from turning ONE. Why in the world does it go by so fast?

He is so much fun right now! He is such a little explorer and climber and is FEARLESS. One of the staff wives told me this week her daughter was the same way and to start praying for safety now…and to be prepared for some heart attacks in the future :)

Case in point. 

*Holt and I went to his first Arkansas Red/White Football Spring Game with my sister this month and he had a blast! It was a BEAUTIFUL day and I may or may not have been daydreaming about going to watch Holt play in a Red/White game someday :)

*He is crawling at lightning speed and is pulling up on things constantly. One of the moms at church let us borrow a walker, which he LOVES, so he gets around that way too (and loves to chase Sophie in it).  We are inching ever closer to walking!

Pulling up to check out the dishwasher

Sophie hides in her crate when he is in the walker

so busy!

* He is such a happy baby. I know I say this every month, but he truly is just always happy. Don't get me wrong, he definitely has cranky moments (or days), but for the majority of the time, he babbles and laughs and smiles. Sometimes he just randomly gets the giggles and it is so contagious you can't help but laugh too. I'm excited to see how his little personality continues to develop.

stop it. He looks so grown up here!

dimples

obsessed with Sophie---she tolerates it. 

*A friend from church let us borrow an Amber teething necklace (thanks Beth!). I was super skeptical, but thought I'd give it a shot just to see. I kid you not, within 24 hours, Holt didn't drool AT ALL and it seemed like his pain was more under control. Every now and then I give him Ibuprofen if I can tell it's just hurting really bad, but not very often. (He still just has the one tooth by the way) It is blowing my mind that it actually works pretty well. I wasn't going to let him sleep in it, but the first night I completely forgot to take it off and he did just fine. So now he wears it 24/7 and never messes with it at all.

*He started saying "dada". He just goes around all the time "dadadadadada"---it makes Daniel pretty happy to hear it, even though I don't think he has connected the word as "dad". He says "mama" every now and then. For a good two weeks he said it at least once a day, mostly when he was mad or upset though, but now that's gone extinct and is replaced with "dada dada". I still get to claim it as his first word though!

*Daniel and I went to the dentist earlier this month and I asked about fluoride drops for Holt. Our drinking water doesn't have fluoride, so I wanted to supplement it in some way because I know it is such an essential nutrient for strong teeth. They called us in a prescription to the pharmacy and it's a peach flavored liquid that I put in his nighttime bottle. You can start using them in babies 6 months and older, so if you know your water doesn't have fluoride, check with your dentist!


Weight: 18 lbs. (20th percentile)

Height: 28 inches (50th percentile)

Favorites: *Sophie *Mama (he likes daddy too, but he's pretty attached to me) *paci *Puffs *eating in general *playdates---he absolutely LOVES playing with other kids *exploring *looking out the window

Milestones: *pulling up on EVERYTHING *starting to learn how to open drawers (yay) *says "dada" for everything, but it makes Daniel pretty happy ;p *says "mama"---but only when he's frustrated or upset (but I'll take it!) *celebrated my 1st Mother's Day with Holt outside the womb *graduated to Size 3 diapers

Sleep: I'm kind of in awe at how wonderful of a sleeper he is. (that makes me nervous for our next kid! lol) More often than not he is in bed BEFORE 7pm (usually between 630-645) and sleeps until about 7 the next morning. He also slept through all the thunderstorms we have had recently---definitely gets that from me! He takes 2 naps a day---one around 9AM and the other around 1PM. Sometimes, he just takes little 15-20 minute catnaps and then is good to go for the next 2 hours---he gets that from his RoRo (my dad).

Feeding: My child eats like a champ! He eats pretty much anything and everything---he even ate salmon last week! Holt also goes through Puffs like they are going out of style (any other moms feel me on that?) and I've also been feeding him dairy/gluten free frozen waffles spread with either applesauce or peanut butter. He essentially eats 2 big meals a day (sometimes 3, it just depends), some snacks, and then 3 bottles a day with 7-8 ounces each.

*Milk allergy update: The doctor told us to wait to closer to a year to try milk products. My plan is probably around 11 months or so, give him some whole milk and just see how he takes it.

one of my favorite pictures of all-time