Wednesday, November 14, 2007

There's a First Time for Everything

Last night we had dinner with our friends Ryan & Sarah. They are the kind of friends that you can descend upon with little warning and they will graciously make you a delicious meal, hold interesting conversation and not make you feel bad for leaving early to do homework. They also have a 5-month-old baby (born a week after Soren), so that makes hanging out even more fun!

Here's a picture of Soren and his friend Hattie at 6-weeks-old; taking their baby naps together on the Miller's couch...


Lately Soren has been VERY interested in watching people eat and he tries desperately to get a grip on anything we are about to consume. I have wanted to hold him off from eating solid food until he reached 6 months, so that his digestive system has some time to mature a little more. After weeks of watching him reach out for our food as we eat, I decided very spontaneously that I would let him try some solid food last night. I had some very yummy avocado in the salad Sarah made for us, and I held it out for Soren to try. He grabbed my hand and shoved it in his mouth. What happened next amazed me......he loved it!!! I think the key is reading your baby's cues and not going with a one-size-fits-all approach to feeding (and everything else for that matter.) Soren was ready for something more in his life and for the next week, that something will be some delicious and nutritious avocado!

Thanks to Sarah, I have a picture of his first bites...


And if you thought I was done with the "firsts", you're mistaken! (I'll make this one brief.) I had a dream last night that I was listening to Kelly Ripa (what can I say...it was a dream) talk about her baby sleeping through the night. In that dream I was thinking to myself, "Wouldn't that be nice" or "Maybe someday." I awoke a couple minutes later to the sound of the monitor relaying the sound of little feet softly kicking. This is when I know Soren is up. I looked at the clock and it read 7:55am. I suddenly realized that my little man had been sleeping for 12 hours - straight!! This is quite a monumental occasion for a mom who can't remember the last time she slept the whole night through. I tried to capture a picture of my well-rested baby in his crib and somehow jacked the camera up in the process, so the pictures I took are blurry. You can still get the idea of how happy he is with himself...


OK, my apologies to anyone who made it through that whole post and isn't a parent or who doesn't care about babies. I know that must have been hard to get through.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

He's growing up so fast...real food! I love it...keep the Soren stories coming :)

love,
S

Unknown said...

Whooo Hoooo - 12 hours of sleep?!! Way to go Sören and rejoicing with you Erin!! Keep it up Little Man, Mommy (& Daddy) will love it.

Can't wait to hug you,
Grandma Deb

Andrea Rooks said...

Wowsers, congrats Soren and fam. Natalie has tried several different foods and avocado is the only one she's remotely interested in. The only solid 'food' she likes is paper right now. I'll keep introducing her to foods but not forcing her to eat more than she cares for (which isn't much right now!). I like what you said about watching the baby's cues -- it's wise and takes patience and trust that everything's developing as it should for your particular little one...

Flo Paris said...

Haha I love your disclaimer at the end of the blog!
I appreciate it all, even if I don't really love all babies except for my own and my close friends. (what can I say? not a baby person) But I just love that Sören Bean. He's my favorite boy. I guess I might not be able to say that in a few months..??

I had NO idea you fed him!!!!
Sera was the same age. There was NO holding off on food for her after 5 months. She HAD to have it, and I knew she was ready.

Flo Paris said...

Wait...how I said "I had no idea you ed him" makes it sounds like he's starved! I meant..I didn't know fed him solids.

Ryan said...

Hattie is still proud and amazed that Soren actually ate real food. Like Natalie, she has only eaten paper thus far, though I let her lick some salt off of my hands the other night, and Sarah let her ineffectually gnaw at a green apple at a party a couple weeks ago. Most of the time, she (Hattie, not Sarah) frantically grabs at whatever we're eating, then looks around with a blank expression when we hold it up to her mouth. Anyway, if Soren wants to come back for seconds, let us know.