Six Month Doctor Visit and Progress with Solids

We finally got to the pediatrician this week. She tried to really push mushy food on us, but other than incorporating oatmeal into our baby-led weaning, we're sticking with our plan. We won't serve them anything mushy unless we'd eat it the same way (mashed potatoes, soups, oatmeal, etc). So this week they tried chicken and rice soup. Indigo was all over it; Periwinkle just looked offended.

I was getting the feeling that she didn't like spoons at all, as she'd rejected yogurt previously, but tonight we tried natural applesauce. The spoon finally clicked for her, and she got very excited about it. She definitely got some down. I committed a BLW faux pas by holding the spoon for her, but by the time I got to Indigo I got with the program. I fed him one spoonful so he knew what was going on. Then I put the spoon in his hand and guided it to his mouth. The next spoonful I loaded up for him and handed him the spoon. He exuberantly aimed it toward his mouth and missed spectacularly. I helped him out, then placed his hand closer to the spoon end to help with his aim. He then went for it again and made it into his mouth, but way too far in. Cue gag reflex. The next spoonful he seemed to get right. I would say applesauce was a hit for both of them.

Tomorrow we will try some oatmeal (from plain oats, not the sugared up packets I enjoy). We're focusing on the spoon foods for a few days because I'd like daycare to give them solids at at least one meal a day, and I highly doubt they'd feel comfortable giving a hunk of meat or cheese to the babies, which I understand. So we'll let them deal with the mushy solids and we'll keep trying with the solid solids at home.

Indigo is getting two teeth in, so I'm hopeful he'll get the hang of biting off a bit and chewing soon. Periwinkle seems to be lagging behind him a bit, although she did enjoy sucking on an orange slice this morning.

But the great thing with BLW is there's no rush. The motto is "Food is fun until 1!" Then we'll start worrying about making sure they are getting certain amounts of solids. Until then, it's about learning how to deal with the solid foods they are presented with, and letting them feed themselves. Indigo is obviously going to do just fine with that, even with the spoon! I was really very impressed with his hand-eye coordination at his first meal with a spoon!

So the rest of the doctor's appointment went better than the solids discussion. Indigo is 27 inches long (65th percentile) and weighs 16lbs14oz (35th). His head circumference seemed a bit more in line although I can't remember what the exact number was. His percentile went down so he's more average now.

Periwinkle is 25 inches long and weighs 15lb 4oz. She's my little lady. She enjoyed rolling around on the table while waiting for the doctor, which is something she's been doing like crazy this week. She even slept most of last night on her stomach, although she did eventually cry for us to come turn her over. I'm confident she'll figure out rolling the other direction soon enough. She even scootched forward a bit on the table in a pseudo-crawling motion! Crazy!

So she's rocking the movement, and Indigo is rocking the eating, and we're just so excited to see their progress.

I've also begun trying sign language. The kids have really started noticing our cats, so I try to sign the word for cat when I can get their attention during their cat-baby staring contests. I also try to sign "mommy" when I am holding them, "all done" when they seem ready stop playing with whatever they are playing with or when the bottle or applesauce is gone, "more?" between bites of solids, and my made-up sign for "bedtime" that might actually be the real sign but I'm not sure. I also want to start signing "diaper" but as that sign happens at the waist it's hard to do it when I'm holding them. It'll take several months but soon they will understand what I'm signing and soon be able to sign back, hopefully eliminating some communication frustration before they learn to speak.

So lots of fun stuff going on here! Here are some cute pictures from the past week or so:

Twin Interaction

I just love the age these two are at right now. They are starting to really notice each other. It's obvious that Periwinkle just adores Indigo. She watches his every move and often reaches out for him.

Indigo is a bit more oblivious, or more of a "tough guy," and likes to do things more his own way. Apparently yesterday at daycare they were lying down together and Periwinkle was trying to hold hands and Indigo got upset. They ended up separating them. I felt sad for Peri.

When I got them home I put them down for some tummy time. Periwinkle was SO close to rolling over again. And then Indigo reached out his hand as if offering support and encouragement. It was so sweet! Maybe he just doesn't like to hold hands in public.

Time for a pep talk. Day 90 Project 365.

"You can do it!"

"Mom does he have cooties?"

And then they went to bed at 7:15 because they were both in bad moods due to insufficient naptime at daycare. They slept until 5am and pretty much went right back to sleep. Success! I hate that I barely see them, but we try to take advantage of the hour or so between getting home and bedtime for more active play now, when they used to nap a bit. So we're making it work.