Five Month Foodie

For Nathan's 5 month birthday, I decided to have him try some sweet potato. So, I cut a small piece off of a raw sweet potato, steamed it, mashed it, and fed it to him for lunch. Wasn't interested. Then, later on that night, I cooked some mild chicken curry and I added the rest of the sweet potato from earlier that day. As we were eating dinner, Nathan showed a particular interest in eating. He was even mimicking us by putting the spoon into his mouth. So, I decided to mash up some of the sweet potato from the curry and tried to feed it to him. He loved it! He was even able to swallow the food and not push it out with his tongue. We tried a spoonful and waited. After a few seconds, he fussed and banged his fists against the tray, as if he wanted more. So we tried one more spoonful. He grabbed the spoon and was pulling the curried sweet potato mash into his mouth. I'm so proud of him. I guess he prefers spiced sweet potato as opposed to plain. Yay! I've given birth to a foodie!

Nathan is now also able to sit up for a few seconds on his own. I was able to focus the camera and snapped a few shots before he toppled over. Here's the best one. 

To help encourage sitting, Nathan's cousin lent him a bumbo chair. He kind of likes it, but doesn't like sitting in it for too long. He gets squirmy, but I'm sure he likes to look around from a new perspective. 

Remember a few weeks ago, when he used to stand on a couple of CD drives in order to play in the exersaucer? Well, this boy has grown and no longer needs the extra boost. Check it! 

Recently, I feel like I've had several knock on wood moments. I guess that's what I get when I get a little braggy about the little guy. Here are some examples:

1. We are sitting in the car and I notice how quiet Nathan is being, so I say to Steve, "He's such a good boy right now, he's sitting so quietly back there." And a second later, we start to hear whinny cries. 
2. One night I had just put Nathan down into his crib and went downstairs. I tell Steve, "Wow! we're getting good at this. No cries, no tears!" And a second later...
3. I'm telling other moms in my walking group about Nathan's sleep patterns. The conversation went something like this:
    Me:  "Well, he's doing pretty good and sleeping for a 5 hour stretch followed by a 3 hour stretch." Fellow mom: "Wow, that's awesome."
   Of course that night, and the subsequent nights, Nathan gives me 3 hour stretches. 
4. We went out for brunch one morning and were enjoying our meal as Nathan was sitting contently in his car seat on top of a sling. I thought to myself, "Wow, it's nice to be able to enjoy a hands-free eating session. I'd better not say this out loud since Nathan will probably..." And the boy starts to squirm and whimper. 

So, not only can I not say it out loud, I better not think it either, apparently. Or, I should just carry a piece of 2 by 4 with me wherever I go and remember to knock on it. 

At 5 months, we are still breastfeeding. I have started to feel like my supply was getting a little low, so I started up with the fenugreek herbs again and I have seen an improvement on Nathan's feeding patterns.  He is able to go longer stretches in between and feed more efficiently when he does get hungry. I really wish I understood a bit more about how a woman's body produces milk because my body isn't really following what all the books say as far as supply meeting demand. Before I was taking the supplements, Nathan often got very frustrated as he suckled without reward and was still hungry. Now, feedings are shorter (about 15-30 minutes) and he is happy afterwards. I think I will continue to encourage my supply by taking them for about 2-3 days a week. 

He is also welcoming a bottle now. I switched to a faster flow nipple and am able to give him an additional 2 oz. of expressed milk at the 10 pm dream feed. He is now consistently sleeping from 10:30ish to 2:30. I've been letting him cry it out for a bit before I go in and feed him at 3:00. I'm trying to get him to sleep 5 hours before waking up. I think once he is able to sleep from his dream feed to 3:00 am consistently, I'm going to start moving his dream feed earlier, and gradually take away extra milk. Hopefully, I will wean him off of the dream feed by 7 months, and then the 3 am feed by 9.  Or should I wean him off of the 3 am feed first, before I wean him off of the dream feed?  I still have time to think about this and we'll see what works.