Thursday, April 17, 2008

Claire's quotes of the week

"Mommy, don't come in my room right now. I'm busy." (SLAM!)

(As I hand her blue sunglasses) "No, Mommy! I need my PINK sunglasses that match my PINK shoes!"

This isn't a Claire quote but I thought it was cute - The ladies that watch Ford at the wonderful day care center at the hospital where I work have given him a nickname "Dr. Shirley". I don't know why I think that is so cute and funny but I do! When you say "Dr. Shirley" around Rhett's family there are about 4 people in his immediate family that could answer - now there are five! He didn't nap yesterday while he was there and they said "Dr. Shirley didn't sleep! He saw all the patients today he didn't have time to sleep!".

We had his 6 month check up this morning. He is 19 lbs (80th %) and 29 inches (90th%). That means we have 1 inch to get him into a "big" carseat! We aren't going to start solid foods until we get back from Disney World in few weeks. I'm a big fan of waiting on solids until they are 6 months old. There's just no reason to shovel food into a mouth of a baby who can barely hold their head up or still has the tongue thrust reflex. Most of it ends up on their clothes and what does get in their little tummies just takes up room where milk should be. Milk is the ideal food for them at this age - it has all of the protein, fat, vitamins and antibodies they need to build healthy bodies, brains and immune systems. Green beans and squash can't compare. When you fill them up on those kinds of food there is less room for the good milk in there. I think there is a lot of pressure from people to start feeding but it's often such a frustrating experience if you start too soon. With your first baby you are excited and can't wait to get out all of the feeding gear then you realize how much more work it is! Some people have said to me "What? You aren't feeding him yet??" and then they look at him and realize that don't have much of an argument about him being hungry or not healthy! So the signs I look for as readiness are they can sit up unsupported, they have an interest in our food (watching us eat intently, trying to grap at our food and put it in their mouths) and loss of the tongue thrust reflex. All of these usually happen around 6 months - about the time the maternal iron stores are used up and they need another source of iron in their diet. It's amazing how if we just listen to our bodies and see how God has made us things just make sense! I don't know why I just went off on a pediatric nursing tangent but it is my blog so I reserve the right to do that at anytime.

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