Trick feeding!

We started out on Pristine - 1st Bites Ragi & Dal  organic food supplement yesterday. 


4 spoons in 100 ml of boiled and cooled water. Not tasty at all! The trick has been to show him the feeding bottle having water and when he opens his mouth, feed him a mouthful. 3/4th of the bowl finished. The rest? After a walk.

The IL's left yesterday and we are back on our own. Miss them.

Cake time

The wife's cousin celebrated his birthday last night and the boy was given a bit of the cream from the chocolate cake and he relished it!

At the same time he refused to eat carrot and on another occasion, beetroot, preferring the sweet tasting banana. I wonder whether I should add some jaggery to the mashed carrot / beetroot.

Cough and cold

The boy's cough and cold continues. It is worse during the night. 5 days of Mucolite has not helped. He sounds a grown up when he coughs and it is painful to watch and hear. I have to get in touch with Dr S.

At the same time it is amazing to see how much he has grown. There was a time when you could hold him in the palm of your hand.

Last weekend I participated in the Landmark Forum. I had been to their introduction seminar 20 years ago but never got around to take the forum. Was it transforming? Yes. Although I had read some of the concepts they taught in the literary works of eminent authors. At the end of the forum, I felt lighter and my anxiety was gone. The challenge now is to sustain it.

I was worried that the boy will not recognize me. For 3 days when I left home he was sleeping and when I walked in after midnight he was sleeping. Thankfully he did recognize me :)

There was a time in the nights when the boy used to only cry if he was hungry. Recently, I have noticed that he turns to his side and starts scratching and kicking the wife for milk! 

He has started recognizing people. A the Nanny has started getting a wide smile when she walks in. And when one eats or talks in his vicinity he stares at their mouth which sometimes can be embarrassing.

Haircut and fever

The boy's hair has grown and is falling over his eyes and ears. We trimmed it on Sunday. The wife made him sit in her lap and although he was squirming, we managed to do it painlessly. This was followed by a nice family get together and the boy was well behaved.

He has cold, slight fever in the night and a cough. Texted Dr S and he has prescribed 6 drops of Mucolite 3 times a day. His breathing is labored and sometimes he breathes through his mouth. The humidifier is on in the night and it does help a bit. He is fine during the day.

The frustrating part is there is no way for him to spit out the mucus he coughs up in the night. As long as he is active during the day (which he is), we are putting off the visit to Dr S. Baby Center has been very helpful.

Once in a while he does admire the fingers on his left hand :) Orange lights fascinate him. He literally falls on the laptop keyboard when powered on!

ILs are here!

The ILs (In-Laws) are here! The boy first cried on seeing them but later warmed up. I am glad that they are here and it is a blessing.

 

A the Nanny called in sick. The boy slept after the wife left for work today. Once he was up, fed him oats. The oats ratio has changed since the last time I fed him. It is 4 scoops of Gerber Oatmeal Baby Cereal now. As usual he was thrilled when I seated him in the stroller and took him for a walk.

 

The boy has started reaching out to the bowl and the spoon as he is fed. His dolphin squeals are very common. Lazy he is though! Refuses to crawl if we put him on the floor. He is content lying on his back and turning over. Occassionally he coughs - his fake cough. It is hilarious and cute! And if I follow it up a fake cough the session goes on for sometime. And times when I carry the boy and naturally cough, he is shocked and looks at me closely with a "what is this sound" look!

Ouch, my toe!

Another dinner outing to a quaint place called Cafe Telhado on Saturday. We had the whole place to ourselves. The boy looked in awe at the lighting from his car seat and settled down to his usual blabber. He did start whining later and the wife, having finished her dinner carried him around. We wanted to go for a drive to start his sleep process but he was asleep before we reached the car :-)

The boy's 9 month old cousin and his family came visiting yesterday. The boy's interest in him was limited as he could only crawl. There was a brief combat when he held on to the boy's leg (who was sitting in his bouncer) and the boy kicked out!

I have been told that the babies start biting their toe when they are around 4 months. Sir Cranky Pants decided to do it last evening. So while we were watching a dance number on TV, the boy who usually holds his leg, decided to bite his toe! Yes, I did get it on the video the next time and the time after that!

The boy has also started holding my head with both his hands when I nuzzle his tummy.

Bananas!

And he ate a whole one! I hope he still eats the Ragi though.

7 months

The boy is 7 months young (or should I say old?) today and he marked it by waking up 6 times last night. Just as we thought he is back to his pleasant disposition and regular routine...

On the brighter side he no longer throws up the milk after a feed. He has become more expressive, babbles a lot and is choosy of the people to smile at. He still has to be feed every 2-3 hours except traveling, which he enjoys so much that hunger is forgotten.

Gaa maa

The boy has added more sounds/words to his vocabulary. His daily breast milk feed has been reduced to only nightly feeds. Bed time is 830. Once fed he lies on the bed, plays for an hour and then falls asleep. He has lost interest in the mobile.

Front tooth

We finally figured why the boy was crying his guts out sometimes. His top tooth is emerging!

How did I find out?

The boy caught my finger to chew and I felt a prick on the bottom and top of my finger. He is very smart when it comes to his finger. Puts it in his mouth, sucks it or moves it from left to right of his mouth but never bites it :)

The boy has also started holding things on his own. When the feeding bottle having water slipped from his hand, he picked it up on his own, held it with both hands and put it back in his mouth! 

Another morning with just the boy and me. A the Nanny informed that she is tired from her travel but we asked her to be in after lunch.

Nanny holiday and developmental milestone

Last week, on Monday, A the Nanny announced that she is off for 3 days - Wed, Thu, Fri. That was a major blow for the wife as she works from home once she gets back and her most important call, the status call, is on Friday. A said she had to go.

On Thursday I got up at 6 am and finished cooking. We were good for 2 days. Once the wife left, the boy slept and that gave me time to do my chores - breakfast, watering the plants, preparing his food, cleaning up the house. Once he woke up, I fed him, placed him in the stroller and he was so excited when he saw the door open. First day went fine except that past 7 in the evening, the boy cried his guts out. I was at work and could not help. I got back home and at around midnight he had another session of crying that lasted 30 minutes. Tired he feel asleep.

I had to skip my Friday morning call and the wife surprisingly came back at 12. She told her bosses she could not take the weekly call and thankfully they agreed. I left for work and nearing 8 pm, just before my call started, the wife called, saying that the boy is crying his guts out again. I felt frustrated and helpless. Rushed home as soon as possible and he was quiet and asleep when I got in.

Saturday was the day of his vaccination - Hepatitis B. In the morning, he shocked us by flipping from front to his back after rolling over. First time and I got it on video! At the clinic, the boy was cheerful, smiled at the other children. Smiled at older children I may add - the ones that can walk. He is not interested in the ones that cannot move. One "waaaaaah" when the shot was given and he was done with crying. We weighed him and he is all of 9.5 kgs now. Dr S also told us that his crying his normal at his current 7 months, which was a relief.

Update - I forgot to mention the lunch we had at South Indies. Another place which is baby friendly. The staff were so helpful. And they refused to accept tips, including the valet. The boy also got new jumpsuits meant for 1 year old. He will outgrow them anyway. Might as well buy big!