Starting on Solids

I've been thinking about the "hows & whats" of starting solids. We talked about this at my new mum's group. I realised I didn't really know anything about it, other than you start your baby on solids at 6 months. I always thought you started your baby on pureed foods, but then I read about an interesting idea, 'baby led weaning', where you give your baby finger foods straight away. Now, I don't know what to think.

Any thoughts?

Daddy Love

Playing With Daddy

Fun With Daddy

Dave & Jack have a lot of fun playing together. Here they are blowing raspberries at each other.

Jack Rolls!!

This morning when I went to get Jack up after his morning nap, I found him laying on his tummy. He rolled over!! He looked like he couldn't figure out what he just did, but I was very excited!

Reflections of Week 17

Things have been going pretty smoothly. There haven't really been any major changes or events. I feel like things have finally become "normal".

Sleeping
Jack has continued to sleep well and he has even been sleeping through til 7am, which has been good. During the week I have been cutting down on his dreamfeed. As the feed got shorter, he would wake up and want to keep feeding, but I would take him off and put him back to bed. He wasn't very happy about that, but once he found his thumb, he settled - I love the thumb! Last night, I dropped the dreamfeed completely and he slept through! I didn't hear him wake up at all. I think that having his thumb has been a real benefit (I may not be thinking that later!).

Jack's day naps are going well. Over the last few days, he has consistently had a 2 - 2 1/2 hour nap in the morning, but his other naps are shorter.

Wake Time
A few times I've extended his wake time to 2 hours and he's coped well with it. He's a real joy to play with. More and more when we play with him he giggles and makes lots of excited noises. He's going really well on his tummy. Every now and then he'll lift his bum off the floor. He's still rolling on to his side, but he hasn't rolled over completely yet. His coordination is getting better. He's grabbing toys (and hands) and putting them in his mouth.

Over the last couple of days, he's not been himself. He doesn't seem as happy when he's awake. He doesn't smile and laugh as much as he usually does. He just doesn't seem to be happy, which makes it harder to entertain him. I'm hoping this is just a phase and he'll return to normal soon. He had his 4 month immunisations last week, so maybe they're affecting him. Who knows?

He's stopped blowing his raspberries now. Instead, he's sucking his lips in. He looks really funny when he does it.

On his play mat he has a mirror attached to one of the arches. A couple of times we saw him talking to his reflection. He was having a very interesting conversation with this "other" baby in the mirror - very cute.

Routine
I've continued with the same routine, although I've had to adjust it slightly once Jack started having the 2 hour naps in the morning.

Outings
We've been out and about a lot. We've been to the shops a few times doing Christmas shopping and he has been great each time. I've gone out at night with him a couple of times. Sometimes he's been really settled, other times, not so settled. I think being in a familiar place helps.

My sister and her family are back in Australia, so it's been great for Jack to meet his cousins. I think he has been a bit overwhelmed by all the new faces, but he's slowly getting used to it. Sophie, Bethany and Matthew seem to really love him. He's getting lots of cuddles from the girls. I've enjoyed spending time with the kids as well.

Becoming a Best Friend in Marriage

During the week I met up with my friend Claire. I had a great morning chatting with her & being able to spend time to share with each other. What was really valuable, though, was reading & reflecting on God's word together. We read Ephesians 4:1-16 and discussed the following questions:

1. How has God called me to walk in my marriage?
2. What gifts do I see that God has given my husband?
3. What gifts do I have that contribute to the marriage?
4. Today I will begin to thank God for one special quality He has given my husband. Each day continue with a different thanksgiving.

We spent a lot of time discussing question 2. I found this really helpful as it really forced me to think about the wonderful gifts that God has given my husband. It's so easy to focus on the negatives in people and get annoyed with people's failings, rather than focus on the good things. I was able to spend time appreciating the great qualities in Dave - he loves God, he is level-headed (which counteracts my irrationality), he is thoughtful, he is sensitive, he is loving, he has integrity, he has a great sense of humour, he is humble, he is so easy to get along with, he is committed to our relationship and he loves Jack and me so much. There are more qualities that I'm sure I've left out. In thinking about these qualities, it helped me to see how well suited Dave and I are. God certainly new what he was doing!

What gifts do you see that God has given your husband?