Justice at 4 months!

Justice 3 months First feeding

April 17, 2009

Justice's first feedings;
Justice had his very first baby food yesterday evening. He is only 3 months old. Usually that is kind of early to start solid foods. I have had a real personal debate over this. Most doctors recommend starting solids at 4 months. Hippie super moms swear by waiting until the 5th or 6th month. What to expect and a few other sources online say to look for the signs that my baby is ready to start solid foods and go with my instincts. There is all kinds of research, facts, and opinions from all over the place to support and negate all of these suggestions. What is a mom to do?
I ended up going with my gut and his behaviors. I decided to get some rice cereal and some sweet potatoes and give them a try and if he rejected them that it was a sign that it was too soon. I actually expected him to reject the solid food. Here are some of the signs, according to What to Expect, that your baby is ready to eat solid food; 1) he can hold his head steady (Justice can do that)
2) He shows an interest in food (Justice has been watching me eat lately)
3) The tongue thrust reflex is gone (this is the reflex that causes baby to thrust his tongue forward and push out anything that is put into his mouth)
I mixed some breast milk in with some rice cereal and a bit of warm water until I got the consistency that I wanted, and strapped him into his new highchair, and gave him the first bite. He took to eating solids right away. When I started Griffin and Keira on solids, it took some practice on both our parts, but not Justice. He sucked down several bites of food, and then went on to eat an entire jar of sweet potatoes. I couldn't believe it. I was afraid he might get sick, but after he was through he nursed and went to bed without a complaint. Here are some pictures of his first dinner.
Today I fed him a lunch of a jar of squash and a few bites of pureed banana before his nap time, and he is, at this very moment, taking his first real nap. He has been quiet for half an hour now!!!! This is very exciting!!!! More on that later. I just wanted to share our somewhat unconventional first feedings story because I am sure there are other mothers out there with some of the same questions that I had. So far nothing about our little guys has been inside the lines. By the way, we have decided to feed him all organic, since we have gone mostly organic. It makes me feel good.

Easter 2009

Hi everyone! Here are some new photos of the family from Easter 09'. We had a great day and hope you did too! We had lunch at Carrabbas. Justice enjoyed his first Easter basket. Noah came over, and we all went to the park. It was the perfect day, weather wise. It just seems like Easter is an "outside" day. Here are the latest photos. Let me know that you are looking at this blog, so I will know to keep posting photos and blurbs!

I don't even have time to say much about how things have been lately, so I will give you a quick list

1) Justice smiles all the time and is the happiest little angel ever!

2) I'm still just working hard and trying to save up for a new car

3) Chris started school and is going to be a CNA. Hurray for Mister Christerpher!!!!

4) I was delighted to get to talk to my cousin. She's one of my fave people on this Earth

4) Justice rolled over onto his back from his tummy! The Doc said that's really impressive for his age

5) He is still nursing and gaining weight. He is a big boy! 60-68th percentile height and weight

6) I continue to try to mend broken family ties and will hopefully have good new soon on that.

God Bless you all!

Lets treat each other with love and kindness. Deal?

Here are some new pictures of Justice Ignatius:

New photos, 3/22/09

Boys being boys

Biting Mom!

and fussy face!

Especially for Baby Ultimate Sleep Positioner

Chris and I walked into the local Babies 'R' Us store to register. We decided that our little one deserved only the best when it came to a sleep positioner. We looked over all of the different products available. There were some as cheap as a few dollars and simple as 2 foam pieces that Velcro together, and some a little more expensive that included fancy air flow systems and wedges and blah blah blah. We settled on the most expensive one they had. The "Especially for Baby Ultimate Sleep Positioner". This one is made from memory foam like those temper pedic mattresses that no one can afford, and had several adjustable parts, special breathable all temperature cover and even a built in sound maker that beats like a heart until baby is soothed to sleep. When it come to the sleep positioner, we were willing to spend more because of all of the studies that suggest that a good sleeping position plays a big role in the prevention of SIDS. There is not much that is scarier than SIDS when baby is tiny. I think it's the first major worry after bringing baby home. This particular sleep positioner sells for as much as $39.99. I ordered mine new from ebay. I think I paid about $34.00 for it.

We got home from the hospital that first day and I had the bassinet and the positioner all set up and ready for baby. I'm thinking, "this is going to be the best of all of the baby products that I bought". It seemed like anything that cost that much must be magical.....

I placed him, swaddled, oh so carefully on it, and came back five minutes later and he had wiggled almost all of the way off of it. I carefully readjusted him, walked away and came back and he had wiggled most of the way off of it again! Every time i laid him on this thing it was only a matter of a few minutes before he had wiggled off of it. I never even got to use the little heart beat sound maker. Eventually I gave up on the positioner and the bassinet and we came up with a sleep routine and arrangement that works for us. He sleeps in bed with me! We actually put some of those net bed rails, like you would use for a toddler bed, on our bed and kind of turned our bed into a crib. Justice sleeps between me and the bed net. It works really well for us. Once or twice a night we get up and change his diaper and switch sides so he can nurse when he wants to and we can switch breasts midway through the night. My baby never wakes up at night! I wake him up for a diaper change and to nurse.

So...... The fancy "Especially for Baby Ultimate Sleep Positioner" goes on my list of totally unnecessary baby products. Save your money Mom's and Dads!!

After I wrote this I looked up some other reviews to see what other moms though of it. I was disturbed. There is a note of humor in my review, but a lot of women were really upset by this product. I actually read several reviews where women said they felt it should be taken off the shelves. It seems that almost everyone experienced the same thing that I did with the baby wiggling off of it. However, some women said that baby's head would flop over the side, and that it is actually a suffocation hazzerd. Other's said it's flimsy and flattens out under babies weight, baby outgrows it really quickly. I can see the truth in that. It almost seemed like Justice was almost too long for it when he was just a few days old (at about 20").

All in all it seems like I'm not the only one who felt this product was pricey and maybe even unsafe.

These were taken today in Daddy's lap. I just love the early smiles! He was all wails yesterday, but all smiles today!