Adventures in Solids

We started MJ on solid food at the end of January, when he was 4 1/2 months old. Because of the history of allergies in my family, I was hoping to wait until he was 5 months old. But his great sleep pattern was changing again, and he was getting up earlier than usual. He also seemed really, really interested in when we were eating: he would stare intently at us and he would make smacking noises with his lips.

So on January 30, we gave him a bit of organic rice cereal with mom's milk. It was just a couple of baby spoonfuls on rice cereal, but he seemed to like it. The expression on his face was hilarious as he explored the taste and texture, but he was into it.

Oh yeah, to get him going, Maki sat next to me and started eating his apple. That gave MJ the idea and it worked! Good old Maki!

Over the next few weeks, we gradually increased the amount we give him and the frequency.

MJ is now nearly 6 months old and he's getting rice cereal 3 times a day: mid morning, early evening and right before bedtime. He's nursing 3 times a day: first thing when he gets up, when I get home around 6 and before bedtime around 9 or 9:30pm. He also gets 2 bottles a day: at noon and 3pm. So far, so good. In the next couple of weeks, we'll start him on baby food. We started CJ on veggies at first, so I think we'll do the same with MJ.