Max’s First Meal

I’ve been anxious to give Max something other than milk or formula for a while now, but George and our doctor wanted to wait until he was 6 months old.  I did sneak a grain of rice and later a tiny piece of bread into his mouth, but for the most part they got their way.  Lately Max has been very curious about our food and drink, so last night George finally relented – time for rice cereal!

George made the cereal very runny, the idea being that his little stomach couldn’t handle too much at first.  I tried a bit on my finger and thought it tasted awfully sweet.  “That’s made with breast milk you know,” George informed me.  Ah.

Anyway, what did Max think?  At first he wasn’t quite sure how to deal with food entering his mouth via something other than a nipple.  Mostly it dribbled out while he tried his usual sucking motion.  Still, some made its way to the back of his mouth and he got a little taste.

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He loved it!  It was like a light went on in his head and he suddenly realized what this strange substance in the bowl was for.  He was very excited and immediately wanted more.

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Unsatisfied with the speed of our spooning, he took matters into his own hands.  He grabbed the bowl, gnawing at the edge.

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It took a bit of convincing, but he stopped sucking on the bowl long enough to try the spoon again.  Of course, he maintained a firm grip on the bowl just in case.

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This kid clearly likes rice cereal.

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I’d say he got about 20% into his mouth, and the rest was on his clothes, hands, high chair, and on the floor.  Still, a promising start!

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The full gallery is here.

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Pumpkin Patch

Last Saturday we went to the Pierce College Pumpkin Patch in the valley. It was a really fun afternoon and Max had a fun time looking at the massive orange pumpkins. We walked through a corn maze, something we’ve never done before, but finally found our way out (thank you Los Angeles sun!) I took him on his first merry-go-round ride and we also went on a “hay” ride. There was no hay though! The pictures from the day are here and here.

Here is one of my favorites that I’d added some PhotoShop effects to, for the fun colors of the merry-go-round.

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Max will be 6 months in 10 days. It’s amazing how quickly the time has flown by. He’s curious about everything and his hand dexterity is improving. He picks up toys and moves them from hand to hand. If one of his toys is out of reach, he’ll really try and move towards it. He’s also got an opinion – especially when it comes to sleeping. Every night we put him on his back in his crib, but within a few minutes he’ll let out a cry as he moves over onto his tummy. He really does not like sleeping on his back. Before we go to bed, we check on him and flip him over. But by morning, he’s on his tummy again!

Being back at work is hard and fun. Hard because I miss Max terribly, but fun, because I enjoy my work. But it means that when the weekend rolls around, we devote our time to Max, each other and fun things like the Pumpkin Patch.

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