Jordan Attempts a Solid

Yesterday Jordan got a mini-introduction to solid food. Er, well, she tried at least! She must be in the middle of a growth spurt because she ate so much more than usual all week at daycare. When she normally drinks about 10 or 12 ounces of milk in a day she most recently has been polishing off all 18 ounces that we supply her with for the day. She was especially hungry on Wednesday when she drank all her milk by 2:00 pm. Fortunately, she was satiated enough to last until Josh picked her up for the day, or else I would have had to leave work early to nurse the growing, hungry baby! Now we make sure to pack an extra bottle or two for her daycare consumption.

Because of the recent spike in her nutritional needs we decided to try out some rice cereal between a regular feeding. The La Leche League usually recommends waiting until a child is 6 months old to begin solid foods because this is about when the birth weight should have doubled and the child is developed enough to sit up on her own. Jordan hasn't doubled her birth weight yet, but she can sit up, so we decided to give the rice cereal a try, as recommended by her pediatrician.

We weren't expecting much cooperation. If she has to take her milk from a bottle (as when I am away) Jordan now prefers to hold her own bottle. So, naturally, when the "airplane" was making its way to the "hangar" Jordan decided that she needed to help guide it in there with her hands. The rice cereal was so liquidy that it just ran down the spoon and all over the front of her. If I had to guess, she might have actually eaten about a teaspoon worth of cereal...maybe. But Jordan was having fun making a huge mess! We would have had more luck with a baby dropper. I suppose this is a sign that she may not be ready for solids yet. We'll probably try again next week.

Five Months (almost)

It's hard to believe Jordan is almost five months old.  It seems like only a week ago Jamie and I were just entering this journey and Jordan was just a little bump in her belly.  Over the past 5 months so much has happened and Jordan seems to be growing stronger and smarter everyday (I refuse to use the word bigger in fear of the wrath of Jamie who will deny that our little one is growing up and must stay a baby).  One of the many things I have learned is the phrase growth spurt is not some myth.  Overnight she seems to learn new skills and grow out of one item of clothing and into another.  One day she lays on her mat staring off the next she is looking at us and babbling on and on.

 Her highlight reel of new skills include, laughing and giggling.  She has graduated from pure baby grunting talk to actually forming some sound resembling speech that every so often actually comes out sounding like a word (I do understand this is purely accidental, but it is shocking to hear what sounds like a word come out of her mouth).  She loves to stand up and every day gets stronger, currently she will stand without any assistance and only hold onto my hands for balance.  She is still a bit fussy on her tummy but can raise completely up off of her chest.  Her dexterity is improving as she can now grasp toys and will use both hands to play with different toys.  She has also started to hold her own bottle on the rare occasion that Jamie is away and I feed her.  This can prove to be a little more difficult sometimes though as she isn't quite strong enough to hold a full bottle, this doesn't deter her from trying though and usually results in her just pushing it around giving me a challenge in keeping it in her mouth.  Once she finishes off about half of it she has the strength to hold it on her own.  Her new favorite past time the past few weeks has been to grab her toes anytime she can and attempt to put them in her mouth.  The most comical moment is when she tries to do this after a big feeding, lying on her back chin down to her chest reaching as hard as she can unable to quite reach because of her full tummy she will grunt and grunt and try over and over until finally giving up.  That covers most of it, tomorrow could bring something completely new.  Before we know it she will be walking around keeping us on our toes.  Which reminds me someone needs to get going on baby proofing this house.  If anyone has a stunt toddler they would like to bring over so I can follow them around the house making notes of things to baby proof that would be great.

Feeling Much Better

A week ago baby Jordan came down with a nasty cough and her nose began to ooze thick, sticky mucus. The snot we'd seen before--the last time she had a cold--but the cough was a new symptom. She sometimes coughs just for the fun of it, as if she likes the noise she is able to make and the attention she gets after she makes the strange noise. However this cough was not for play...this cough was raspy and productive, and it had us worried. This was on Friday. By Sunday the cough had gotten worse and Jordan's immune system was working overtime to try and eradicate the virus that had invaded her little body. Jordan was very lethargic and irritable and not interested in nursing and starting to run a fever, so we got her into the doctor as soon as we could on Monday.

By now some of the experienced parents have already made their diagnoses. If you guessed 'ear infection' you're the winner! Jordan was prescribed some infant amoxicillin and sent on her way. After missing most of the week Jordan felt good enough to return to daycare today. Her boyfriend at daycare, Tanner, was so excited to see her that he was running circles around her serenading her with his rendition of the alphabet song.

Jordan seems to have her usual spunk back and the cough and mucus are mostly gone. But we all know the next incidence of sickness is inevitable, since daycare babies share everything, including their germs.