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.

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

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:

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

Kieran still likes helping with the spoon though:

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

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!)