Exciting Times

Hayden is on the verge of walking. He is cruising the furniture and walls, transfers between furniture easily, and stands by himself for 5-10 seconds. He has even attempted a couple steps on his own a few times. I think it's just a matter of confidence now. He's ready!

Mealtimes have also been really exciting. He is trying all kinds of foods and finally graduating from the pureed baby foods. Yesterday he ate Trader Joe's Banana Waffles with raspberry/pear puree as the "syrup". For lunch he had some fish topped with artichoke tapenade, orzo pasta, and a blend of steamed corn, peas and carrots. For dinner he ate pureed avocado with black beans, chicken, and rice and some bits of flour tortilla (Phil and I were having fajitas). And this is just an example of his menu! The only things he can't have are any nuts, dairy, shellfish, or choking hazards. I'm still also adhering to the 4-day wait rule so I am not introducing new foods to him sooner than every 4 days. That way we can monitor any allergic reactions. Other examples of foods he loves are:

Zucchini tomato frittata (no cheese)
Blueberry pancakes (blueberry/pear puree instead of syrup)
French Toast (with apple puree instead of syrup)
Pasta with tomato and meat sauce
Naan with Hummus
Plain soy yogurt with pureed avocado and mango chunks
Veggie Booty

He even likes steamed bite-sized veggies like broccoli, green beans, cauliflower. There are only a few things he doesn't really like. Plain scrambled eggs were not a hit. Also doesn't really like oatmeal. He'll eat a few bites, but turn away before finishing it all. Most foods he eats everything. That's all I can really think of, though.

I have Annabel Karmel's First Meals cookbook but a lot of the recipes seem overly complicated or call for a dairy product. It's good for ideas, but mainly I just try to make a version of whatever Phil and I are eating for Hayden.

He drinks about 16-18 oz of milk a day. Since he can't have cow's milk yet, he is getting a 50/50 mix of special non-dairy formula called Nutramagen, and pumped breast milk (I am pumping 2x day). He drinks it from a cup through a straw or straight from the side of the cup, with our help. He occasionally gets a bottle if the day's schedule gets off or he doesn't eat a lot for a meal. But I'd say only about 3-4 times a week, if that.

We are attempting to eliminate the pacifier. Ever since he was about 7 months old, we limited the pacifier to just sleep times. Now we decided since he's one and has 11 teeth already, it's probably a good idea to get him off it completely. He's been doing OK with night sleep, but really struggling to fall asleep without it at nap times.

He is babbling non-stop. It has been cute to listen to him on the monitor as he's trying to fall asleep now without the pacifier, he just talks and talks! Everything he likes he calls "Ba". Coincidentally, a lot of the things he likes start with "ba" - "Balloon", "Ball", "Bottle", ceiling fans (ok that last one we think he might interpret as a "balloon" because of the round light in the center and the dangling cord). He says Dada and Mama, waves Bye-Bye, and does sign language for "cookie". He understands sign language for a lot of words, but doesn't really do them consistently/intentionally - "more", "milk", "water", "all done", "eat", "diaper".

I'll post some photos soon. Maybe even some video of Hayden's first steps, if I'm lucky enough to catch it on camera!