Success with Solids! (6m1.5w)

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We’ve been trying out solids with Kieran on and off for two weeks now.  It’s kinda hard to find the time to do it during the week, what with out crazy schedule these days – and we don’t want daycare to do it all for us.  But we’re eager to get Kieran on solids at the advice of everyone, in the hopes that it will improve his sleeping and reflux especially.  Not to mention that he’s terribly interested in everything we eat and drink, so we know he’s more than ready!

Today was the magic day, apparently.  I was off work for MLK Jr Day, and Kieran and I had the whole day to ourselves.  We tried oatmeal twice today, and it was a success!  (We’re starting with oatmeal as opposed to rice cereal, since he’s had it before.)

The first time we tried oatmeal, I made it like it says on the canister – which ended up REALLY runny.  Like just about what we were putting in his bottle when we first figured out the reflux.  Kieran didn’t know what to do with it – but swallowing it wasn’t on order.

The first try, starting out.Swallowing didn't come naturally the first time.

He was fascinated with the spoon though, so I let him have it.

Nomming on the spoon was fun, but not terribly nourishing.Ended up letting him have the spoon since he was grabbing for it so much.Maybe inspecting the spoon would make it less weird.

But today we tried it again two times, a little thicker the first time.  Kieran struggled at first, confused why I was giving him essentially formula with a spoon.  But he decided to humor Mama and nom half the bowl!  Later after a nap, we tried it again.  The mess from the first time was epic, so I left him in just a diaper to save on cleanup.  (I didn’t think to take any pictures the first time, but it was messy, lemme tell you.)

I think we hit the sweet spot of an hour and a half post-bottle, and fresh from a nap.  Cuz Kieran was chillin like a tiny villian for his second round of oatmeal today at which we discovered that thicker is MUCH better:

Chilling in the mini-highchair during the 4th attempt.The Thicker runny oatmeal is a winner!

But it sure is messy!  Kieran helped clean up half-way through:

Kieran helps with cleanup halfway through.Much better! Ready for more, Mama!

Kieran still likes helping with the spoon though:

Kieran likes to help with the spoon.

End the end, he ate THE WHOLE BOWL!  I was so proud of him!  He seemed pretty happy with himself too.

All done with the whole bowl!Mama was doing a happy dance, so Kieran joined in! Hooray for Oatmeal!

We’ll keep up with the cereal alone for a week or so, but then we’ll move into homemade baby food purees.  I plan on starting with green veggies first, at the advice of our pediatrician, moving to yellow and orange ones afterwards.  I’m hoping to try fruits after veggies, as I’d rather him not be all about the sweets.   (Or rather, would like him to learn that peas, carrots and sweet potatoes are yummy and sweet before he discovers applesauce and bananas.)  I plan on adding in Greek yogurt wherever I can to help add in some good bacteria into his system as well.  (Anything we can do to help regulate his tummy would be a good thing.)

This is a big step for our little guy.  I’m a teeny bit sad that he’s old enough to be at this stage, but I’m mostly so stinking proud of my little guy and looking forward to helping him explore a whole new world of flavors!  (My friend Kelly is a big inspiration to me on this whole adventure – she’s done amazing things with her little girl and homemade food.  Between her and my local friend Caroline, I’m positive I’ve got good resources to make sure Kieran gets all he needs.  Here’s hoping they don’t mind a million questions in the next couple of weeks!)

Daycare, 2 weeks down (6m1w)

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Kieran is doing great in his daycare.  Or rather, his Early Learning Center.  (I say with tongue not quite firmly planted in cheek.)

We didn’t end up putting Kieran in the daycare around the corner from the house.  It ended up being quite A THING to find a daycare that we liked that would accept Kieran’s cloth diapers.  Over the course of 24 hours, I got well-versed in Section 3.4.3 of the Environmental Health Code for Southern Nevada – which pertains to cloth diapers in a daycare setting.  The initial response I got from all but one of the daycares I called was “Oh no, the Health Department doesn’t allow cloth diapers!” which required my educating them that there was not, in fact any regulation of that sort on the books.  That flustered them all, to say the least.  When pressed, they all said they would have to get back to me regarding whether they would accept Kieran’s cloth diapers or not.  (We realized quickly that we might have to put him in disposables during the day because of this, but we wanted to explore all the options available before making that expensive and environmentally-unfriendly choice.)

On Paul’s 2nd day at work (Tuesday the 28th) Kieran and I toured 5 daycares.  Four were pretty good, and one was a “Hell NO”.  All were within 3 miles of our house.  The final one I toured touted itself as an “Early Learning Center” as opposed to a Daycare.  It’s actually a preschool that starts taking kids at three months.  I had forgotten what the tuition was while touring it and rapidly began thinking that we wouldn’t be able to afford somewhere with this kind of program, with individual curriculum for each child, even in the infants room!   I was impressed that after a little conversation about what we expected in the handling of cloth diapers (just toss the whole dirty thing in the waterproof, zippered bag we’d provide – no rinsing or special handling at all) the director agreed that they could accept Kieran and his fluffy butt the next week.

Paul and I discussed all the facilities that evening and made our decision to go with Hand in Hand Preschool.  The tuition ($200 a week) was right in line with the other centers I’d toured, and it was just over a block away from the house.  Paul accompanied Kieran and me on Thursday to see the place for himself and sign the papers to register our little boy.

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Kieran’s First Christmas (5m4w)

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(Wow, where has half of January gone?  There is SO MUCH I wanna blog about, but there just doesn’t seem to be time these days!)

The Taylor side of the family on Christmas Eve at Grammy & Grampy Gorman's HouseKieran’s first Christmas was really lovely.  Grampa John, Great-Grandma Cat and Uncle Oin came out to spend time with us.  We enjoyed Christmas Eve at Grampy & Grammy’s house with Aunt Cassie, Cousin Grant and Great Grandma Nonny.  (Uncle Kurt was still stuck in Belgium due to a horrific series of winter storms.)  It was a lovely evening that ended with family pictures in front of the Christmas Tree.

Kieran contemplates the crudité on Christmas Day.

Christmas Day was a casual affair at home.  We watched football and hung around the house.  I made lasagna for dinner, and Grammy, Grampy, Nonny Aunt Cassie and Cousin Grant joined us here to partake.  We had munchies before dinner, which Kieran thought were fascinating.  (One of many clues that he’s probably ready to start solids any minute now.)

After dinner, Kieran entertained us all by playing with his blocks, showcasing his newly developed ability to sit up unassisted.  We’re loving his ability to do this, as it opens up myriad other toy and playtime options.  There’s not terribly much you can do when you’re always on your back!  Of course, it helps when there’s someone there to help you re-stack your blocks if you ask nicely.

I love my tidy stack of blocks!They're great for knocking over!Won't someone help me re-stack my blocks?

Daddy however, has a mean streak on occasion.  I have to admit, we had to stop laughing before we could help him up.

Yes, like this. This is how they should be stacked!Daddy is SO mean sometimes.That wasn't nice, Daddy - even if it was funny!

Uh oh. Getting a little wobbly....And then sometimes, Kieran gets a little *too* excited about his blocks and knocks himself over!

Baby overboard!

Merry Christmas, Daddy!We ended the evening with pictures around the tree, once we showed Kieran the pretty lights and what Mama did with all the handprints and footprints she made two weeks before.Inspecting the tree with Mama and Daddy.

All the ornaments were Kieran's hands and feet!Kieran seemed to approve of Mama’s craftiness, and was happy to gift Grammy & Grampy and Grampa John a set of handprints and footprints for their own trees.  Family pictures commenced directly because both babies were about at the end of their good moods.

Merry little Taylor family including Grandma Cat, Grampa John & Uncle Oin!Merry little family.Merry Gorman Family: Grammy Jeanne, Nonny, Auntie Cassie, Cousin Grant & Grampy Tom

A big hug for Uncle Oin before bedtime!Happy Daddy, Tired Baby.

Then it was a big hug for Uncle Oin and a snuggle for Daddy before heading to bed.  Presents from friends would have to wait until Boxing Day.  (And another blog post…)  It was a wonderful day filled with laughter and love.  A perfect first Christmas for our little boy.

Happy Half Birthday (6m)

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Six months of Kieran.  Doesn’t seem possible that it’s already been six months.  And yet to look at this little person (for that’s truly what he’s becoming – a little person) it seems that he’s always been part of our lives.

He rolled over tonight.  He’s done it a time or two before, on accident.  But tonight he and I were playing on the floor with his blocks and I put him on his stomach with his blocks just out of reach to see what he would do.  It took him several tries, and a lot of red-faced effort – but he rolled over!  He had a smile on his face the whole time and when I clapped and cheered and covered his face with kisses, his squeal echoed in the hallway.  I put him back on his tummy to see if he’d do it again – and he did, almost immediately!  So proud of our boy.

Our life is so radically different from how it had been.  It’s still overwhelming, and we’ve only just begun.  There’s still near-daily tears for me, usually as I’m putting him to bed.  I cannot believe we’ve been blessed with this amazing little person.

Life is gonna get a bit more complicated now that Paul and I are both working full time.  Daycare is gonna take some getting used to for all of us, but we’re confident that we’ve made a good choice for Kieran and it’s up to us to make the best of the reality of a two-income family.  We’ll just look forward to spending time together as a family that much more.

Happy half-birthday, my little son.  You are the light of our lives.  We love you so very, very much.

Daycare Tips? (5m4w)

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In light of our sudden need for Daycare, we’re realizing that we haven’t talked about how this will change our routines.  I’m imagining all sorts of good and bad things that might be results of Kieran spending his days somewhere other than at home with Daddy.

So experienced Mamas:  HELP!!  What do I need to know about putting my 6-month-old into Daycare?  I know that every morning we’ll be packing all his pre-made bottles for the day, and dressing him in “outside” clothes (as opposed to the sleep & plays he lives in at home.)  We’ll be packing a whole day’s worth of cloth diapers and extra covers, as well as a large wetbag.  (Eep, I need to purchase a bigger wetbag or two.)  We’ll be packing a spare change of clothes or two as well.  (Once Kieran starts solids, they’ll provide all the baby food – I assume.  The other location did.)

I know we’re not supposed to send personal toys with him.  I wonder about a blanket though.  What about his pacifiers for naptime?  Hrm.  I think I need to make a list to take with us tomorrow on our tour.

Any hints or suggestions would be appreciated.  What can I do to make this transition to this new schedule easier on all of us?  Geez, am I really gonna need two diaper bags of stuff every day?  Eeik.