Lately.

Hmmm.... So it's really become harder and harder to post consistently. I think it's because I'm becoming more of a Momma and less of a survivor. I hope this makes sense. I feel like I'm starting to enjoy being a mother instead of just trying to eke out an existence as one.

Every day he's making his requests known more clearly. I'm finally able to distinguish between his cries. Plus, when something makes him happy, he lets us know! I know it sounds selfish and a little narcissistic, but it's SUCH A RELIEF! I'm remembering now hearing that 6 months old is a "fun age" and it's so true.

Being a first time mom is so hard. But, man... lately I've really had to watch how tightly I squeeze him ;)

Butternut Squash Breast Milk

James has officially entered into the wild and wonderful world of solid food. Real people food. Delicious food that I can't wait to introduce to him. Food is, by far, one of God's greatest gifts. If I were in a different socioeconomic bracket, I may even be considered a "foodie". I'm really hoping that James will develop an adventurous and healthy palate.

Since my Crohn's has returned, I can't keep on weight, yada, yada, yada, we decided that it would indeed be best to wean James. The only problem with this is that he REFUSES to take a bottle. It baffles me. Up until about a month or so ago, he took one just fine and now you'd think we were offering him something evil. SO frustrating.

We really have tried everything: replacing his least favorite feeding with the bottle (although, he really loves them all), waiting until he's really hungry, different bottle nipples, Jim only feeds him so he doesn't smell Momma, etc. So we decided to take a different, more gentle approach. I'll keep nursing, but introduce solids so that he'll need it fewer times during the day. I'm confident that my body can handle 4-5 feedings a day.

And, we knew he was ready. He gets really quiet and intent when we're eating as he watches the silverware go from plate to mouth. Even when he sits on my lap and I'm eating, he'll watch the food go to my mouth, craning his neck to see over his shoulder. We'd started rice cereal here and there but it didn't touch his appetite. He still ate at Mom's about every 3 - 3 1/2 hours.

Which brings us to yesterday. A butternut squash was baked, pureed, and fed to the little prince and he LOVED it! His arms were a-flappin' and he issued many happy monkey noises. It really was a blast.

Okay, so the funniest part about all of this is that I couldn't find my ice cube trays ANYWHERE, so I used my breast milk storage bags. But actually, I think it'll work fairly well, because it's easy to thaw them out in the sink and takes up less space than frozen cubes. I ended up with 12 servings of butternut squash!

I don't have a video of him eating the squash, but you'll get the idea of how excited he is to eat. Here's rice cereal: