Movie Monday

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We are currently giving her otameal cereal once a day and she is loving it. I cannot believe we are already feeding her and she is not even 4 months old yet. Things are a lot different with the second child!

How to Start Solid Foods with Your Baby

Boy, am I glad I blogged with Jackson. I had totally forgotten how to introduce solid foods with a baby. Every baby is different, but Abigail has been eating 32 ozs of formula daily and still has not seemed satisfied (32 ozs of milk is the max a baby can have and 24 ozs should be the minimum) She is a very hungry girl and was smacking her lips when we ate so Monday I tried oatmeal cereal with her (about 2 weeks before she turns 4 months old). I know it is going to take her a couple of weeks to figure out how to swallow. However, she did real well and opened her mouth wide and I think she might have even swallowed a little bit of it. Here are my suggestions when starting solid foods:

• If your baby struggles with constipation at all get the oatmeal version of rice cereal. Abigail struggles with it every now and then but nothing like Jackson. So, we choose to do the oatmeal cereal with her as well
• mix it with 2-4 tablespoons of formula and 1 tablespoon of cereal (that way he does not get choked)
• Also, offer the cereal during normal feeding time after they have eaten about half of the bottle or a little more than half way through the bottle. I have found if you introduce it before the have gotten at least some of their milk, they will be real upset about it.
  
• Before you start fruits or vegetables offer you baby Rice Cereal or Oatmeal Cereal (if they struggle with constipation) for 2 weeks three times a day. Baby Wise recommends this but the doctor says you do not have to do it. It takes a while for them to figure out how to swallow. At first, they will only take half of the fruit or vegetable (make sure you buy 1st food not 2nd or 3rd).
• Eventually Baby Wise II says:

  Breakfast (8am): cereal and fruits----Lunch (12pm) Vegetables and fruits----- Dinner (4pm) cereal, vegetables and fruits-----then one last bottle at 8pm. That would be my perfect schedule in a perfect world----haha!

With Abigail I am going to offer her cereal 1 or 2 times a day at least until she turns 4 months old. You are really suppose to wait to your baby is 4 months old to start food and definitely by 6 months old. If your baby seems satisfied by your milk then there is no rush. However, if your baby struggles with constipation, I would recommend starting right around 4 months old at least just with the cereal. We will probably not start the squash and pears for another month or so, but I will keep you updated.

I do not recommend putting cereal in a baby's bottle because they cannot tell they are full until it is too late. This could cause severe stomach aches (a screaming baby), vomiting, or your baby being overweight. I know different doctors have different opinions about this though.

Let me know if you have any more advice on starting solid foods. I am always learning!

Pictures from Abigail's First Trip to Spartanburg

We had the best time in Spartanburg last weekend! Charlie turns 30 this Thursday so we went ahead and started celebrating his birthday while we were there. I was so glad that Virginia (my good friend since 8th grade) got to meet Abigail and that we were able to see her while we were there. A couple of pictures where taken when we got home with Abigail...but she is holding a book Grand and Gigi got her. We are so blessed that my parents take Jackson one weekend a month. Now, that dad is retired it is even easier for them and they can come spend quality time with me when they drop him off. Jackson had the best time with them Saturday and Sunday night (we just stayed Thursday and Friday night). They took him to the golf course and he loved it. I have the best parents!

It was such an easy trip with our van!

Movie Monday

Mondays I usually put up a picture or video so today's post is entitled "Movie Monday." We were all by ourselves Saturday night with Abigail while my parents kept Jackson for 2 nights, and we went to Baker Brothers for the first time. Abigail thinks her daddy is the funniest person ever. You do not have to teach girls to flirt, it is with them from the moment they are born. If Charlie is in the room, and I am holding her, she will almost break her neck to see him. She is definitely daddy's girl!

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Strike a Pose

She is so funny! She is changing in her looks everyday. I think she is looking more like Charlie now. I weighed her myself the other day and she was 13.8. She is really ready for food (eating 32 ozs daily which is the max), and I think we might start her on some otameal cereal this week. I put a spoon in her mouth yesterday and she opened wide and did not tongue thrust it out. I will keep you updated!

She made her first trip to Spartanburg this weekend and we had a great time! Now we can finally go since we have a van...God is so good!

Princess

Here is our princess. Love her cheeks. I also love her dresses and bows! She is still doing really well.

Don't You Just Want to Eat Her Up?

We are really enjoying our baby girl and love kissing her little round cheeks. I cannot believe she is already 3 months old. The other day she squealed at my mom and laughed at Charlie. She is getting even easier to raise every day which I did not think was possible. The first 3 months are usually pretty rough since babies' stomachs are so sensitive during that time. The other night she slept from 10:45pm to 8 am in her crib which was amazing. She loves to eat and we will be trying cereal right when she turns 4 months old. She is such a joy to our family and we thank God for giving her to us every day.