At Mary-Brenna's last doctors visit, she was given the a-okay to try some rice cereal! I was considering trying to make my own rice cereal, since I am planning on making my own baby food. But throughout my research I learned that making your own rice cereal doesn't give your baby a good balance of nutrition that boxed rice cereal does. So I picked up Organic Brown Rice Cereal by Gerber for her first food. Mary-Brenna's first food experience was hilarious! She had no idea what to do with the spoon or what was on it. Mom and I made the cereal really thin, so it wouldn't be quite so different. She choked a bit while eating the first time. But has gotten really good at it.
I tried to introduce her to another new food this past week, but she wasn't having it. I tried avocados, research said that they would be a good first food for babies, since they are mild in flavor, and have a lot of great nutrients in them. Mary-Brenna was having nothing to do with them however, the face she made was priceless, I cannot believe I didn't have my camera with me when I was feeding her. I then tried mixing it with some rice cereal, but that made her even more mad. I tainted her perfectly good rice cereal.
I have had to give Mary-Brenna some prunes with her rice cereal the past couple days so we can keep her digestion regular. It seems to really help, and she gobbles it up!
Mary-Brenna has had a cold since we got back from our trip up to Fairbanks for the UAF Graduation. She is coughing, has a snuffly nose (which she hates me getting cleaned up), and a fever. Poor baby! She hasn't been eating that much rice cereal these past couple days, but I am sure when she is feeling better she will be back to her usually self and gobble it all up!
Recently, Mom and I were given a tip on getting babies through their teething process. We decided to check it out and found a few extra things about it as well.
These hazelwood necklaces are designed to help babies get through their teething process as well as other things. These include: heartburn, gastric reflux, skin problems (psoriasis, acne, eczema), arthritis, osteoarthritis, migraines, cavities, "tummy troubles", or any aliment associated with surplus acid. The hazelwood on these necklaces draws the surplus acid from our bodies through the contact with our skin. There have been many testimonies on how well these work, and I am excited to see if they work well for our family. These necklaces and bracelets come in a variety of colors, and need to be replaced fairly regularly due to the fact that the beads fill up. Once they are full, they no longer are effective.
Mom, Dad, Mary-Brenna and I all got necklaces and bracelets from Pur Noisetier.
Hopefully these will help Mom and Dad with their arthritis issues and help Mary-Brenna get through the teething process with a little bit less fussiness that is normal for an infant.
Here are my necklace and bracelet. I ordered the white and Amethyst set.
My sweet little girl is growing up so fast, it is hard to imagine that she is already 4 1/2 months old. She is doing so many different things now. She absolutely loves to jump around in her jumper (thanks again Angela for passing this down to us). She has rolled over from her back to her front. She is reaching for things and gaining a lot of control over her arm movements. She can successfully put her pacifier in her mouth and leave it there. Mary-Brenna has a favorite toy right now, it is her little giraffe, Sophie, that her Great Gran gave her for Christmas. This giraffe goes everywhere with us. Mary-Brenna is also drooling a ton! She can polish off at least 6 bibs in the course of a day with how much she is drooling. We went to see her pediatrician yesterday and she said that Mary-Brenna's gums looked like they were getting swollen. I am afraid that it looks like teeth are on their way soon. Mary-Brenna is still sleeping really well (thank you baby girl), and she can always make me smile. She laughs all the time and has a great smile that she loves to share. Mary-Brenna has started to chatter a whole bunch. We have decided that we aren't going to sit in the downstairs service with her at church because she would try and compete with our pastor. Very cute but not all that great when you are trying to listen to the sermon. I love seeing all these changes in her, it is a whole lot of fun to see what she will do next.
Mary-Brenna and Sophie
Two weeks ago, we had Mary-Brenna's 4 month well baby visit and vaccinations. On that visit my sweet baby girl had to get poked, but she was a trooper! We also learned that she dropped from the 70th percentile in weight to the 40th percentile. Her pediatrician really wanted to nip that in the bud and see if we could get her gain some more weight. On that visit she weighed in at 13 pounds 5 ounces. In these past two weeks I have been taking Fenugreek, and herbal supplement to help increase my milk supply. We have also been giving Mary-Brenna some supplemental formula for when I can't give her enough. She has been having anywhere from 4-10 extra ounces of formula a day. Her pediatrician didn't want us to add in any solid food yet due to the fact that Mary-Brenna has a few eczema patches. Apparently starting solid foods to early when they are showing signs of eczema can have children develop food allergies that they otherwise would not get.
Mary-Brenna in the bonnet that Marie gave her!
So we went back to the pediatrician to have her weighed in again and see how she was doing. My sweet baby girl weighed in at 14 pounds 8 ounces! She gained 1 pound and 3 ounces in two weeks! I was amazed, I knew she had been feeling heavier but I didn't know it was that much! Mary-Brenna's pediatrician told me that the average baby her age gains about 15-25 grams per day. When she broke down what Mary-Brenna gained, it turned out to be around 40 grams per day! My little girl is a growing machine! Her doctor was very happy with this amount of growth and really wants us to keep it up! She will go back in for another check up and another round of shots in the first part of May. I hope she has just as good of a report then as she does now.
Mary-Brenna playing with Reese and Jordan Sande.
Mary-Brenna with Angela, Aiden and Nathan.
At Mary-Brenna's last doctors visit, she was given the a-okay to try some rice cereal! I was considering trying to make my own rice cereal, since I am planning on making my own baby food. But throughout my research I learned that making your own rice cereal doesn't give your baby a good balance of nutrition that boxed rice cereal does. So I picked up Organic Brown Rice Cereal by Gerber for her first food. Mary-Brenna's first food experience was hilarious! She had no idea what to do with the spoon or what was on it. Mom and I made the cereal really thin, so it wouldn't be quite so different. She choked a bit while eating the first time. But has gotten really good at it.
I tried to introduce her to another new food this past week, but she wasn't having it. I tried avocados, research said that they would be a good first food for babies, since they are mild in flavor, and have a lot of great nutrients in them. Mary-Brenna was having nothing to do with them however, the face she made was priceless, I cannot believe I didn't have my camera with me when I was feeding her. I then tried mixing it with some rice cereal, but that made her even more mad. I tainted her perfectly good rice cereal.
I have had to give Mary-Brenna some prunes with her rice cereal the past couple days so we can keep her digestion regular. It seems to really help, and she gobbles it up!
Mary-Brenna has had a cold since we got back from our trip up to Fairbanks for the UAF Graduation. She is coughing, has a snuffly nose (which she hates me getting cleaned up), and a fever. Poor baby! She hasn't been eating that much rice cereal these past couple days, but I am sure when she is feeling better she will be back to her usually self and gobble it all up!
