Jakson's First Experience with Food!

Jakson is 24 weeks today and we've marked this exciting date with something extra special: Jakson's first taste of solid food.  This first food came in the form of lightly steamed carrots as I'm trying something called 'baby led weaning'.  BLW is a method of feeding that let's Jakson feed himself from the very start of weaning, instead of giving him 'baby food' in the form of purees and mush.  I'm a big fan of giving Jakson food and letting him explore it on his own so he will get used to the various textures, tastes and the idea of eating much more easily.  However, I'm not set in stone on it and am thinking i will probably do a combination of finger foods and purees for the little man.  I just won't introduce the purees until he's at least 6 months (or another 2 weeks).  So for now I'll play with Carrots, raw cucumber and maybe some toast fingers?  Who knows, we'll see!

So, here it is in all it's glory, Jakson's first experience with Carrots!!

Do you want a carrot???

Hmmm...ok...let me see what this is all about?

It feels pretty weird and I'm not sure about the taste?

Now a few caveats on the video: yes I realise he's in a nappy AND sitting on the floor.  Don't worry, the floor is clean and we don't have a high chair yet.  But who needs a high chair when this little man was happy as anyone experimenting down low :)  We are waiting for the highchair to arrive as we ordered it over the internet so soon enough he'll be riding high!  And the nappy is just in case things got messy.  Why get an outfit (or a bib?) dirty when he's so happy to be sans clothes?

Another exciting event that happened today was Jakson attended his first 'sing and sign' class - which was awesome!  The class is basically designed to teach babies how to sign basic words/ideas through singing.  He LOVED it.  He was a bit fussy when the class started but as soon as the teacher started singing with her lovely voice he immediately tuned into her.  We learned signs for home, more, milk, duck, horse, and a few others.  And although jakson won't be able to sign these immediately the teacher said the earlier you start the earlier they are able to learn the signs.  So we're hoping it won't be long before Jakson can sign what he wants.  How cool will that be?

Portugal

We've just returned from baby Boo's first international adventure and it was certainly one to remember!  I know my last couple of posts have been a bit depressing so it makes me very happy to report that our little man was an angel while on holiday.  Not only did he sleep well throughout the trip, he also had a ton of fun.  He went swimming, to the beach, ate out at (or visited, since he's not yet on solids) some awesome restaurants and the most exciting of all: started to sit up all by himself!!  He really enjoyed spending time with his fabulous Daddy, Nanny, Grandad, Auntie Clare and the Costas.   Here are some of the most memorable photos from the trip:

Sunbathing baby!!
(Note: no babies were tanned in the shooting of this photo)

Out for dinner in Fuzeta.

Ready for more fun in the sun!

Chillin in my sun tent.

Family Photo.  I love this pic!!

Pool time!

Happy man at the beach.

There are lots more photos of our adventure on facebook, they can be accessed here:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150446232094619.454061.675059618&l=515b0ff031&type=1

As mentioned above, Jakson has started sitting up by himself for short period of time.  He's still a bit unsteady but i can put pillows around him and he will certainly sit up for a minute or two on his own.  It's great and he loves being a bit more independent.   The trip also may have helped with the sleeping issues we were facing for so long.  Not sure if it was the change in scenery or potentially the introduction of one bottle of formula before bed but he slept pretty well on the trip and since we've been back he's been sleeping much better.  Most nights he sleeps until 2 or 3 am before waking up.  Now the challenge is to keep him from wanting to feed when he wakes up as I am slowly weening Jakson from breastfeeding and moving him onto formula.  I want to do this before we introduce solids which will only be a few short weeks.  It's been bittersweet for me.  I like having some of my freedom back but I also miss the closeness and cuddle time breastfeeding has given us.  I'm certainly trying to enjoy the last few weeks of this special time with my boo.

It's also exciting to report that Jakson now weighs 15 lbs and 7 ozs which puts him near the 25th percentile!  So he's gone from a wee 6 lbs and 6 ozs in the 9th percentile all the way up to the 25th!  Crazy, eh?  Our little man is certainly growing up!!!  Something else that's bittersweet, that's for sure!

Times are Tough

It's been a very long couple of weeks in the Boo house.  Jakson just hasn't been himself lately.  We think it's teething but it could also be a million other things!  Let's see...what has gone on:

1. I mentioned the sleep issues in my last post, well he's completely stopped sleeping at night.  He's gone from a great routine to waking every hour.  It's so bad and has lasted so long that we're actually bringing him into our bed to sleep with us.  This is the only way he actually sleeps.  Last night Rob slept on the sofa and Jakson and I slept in the bed so we could all get some sleep. 
2. He's had a fever off/on for the past couple of days.  Nothing major but it's on the edge of 99/100F which is quite scary. 
3. Today he had a rash on his back and chest.  We were so worried we rang the NHS hotline to find out if we should do anything but they didn't seem concerned about the rash.  They were more concerned about the fever so we are watching it very closely.
4. He's not pooping.  This isn't as alarming as you might think as he's always had a long wait for a poo - since he was born really.  He usually goes once a week and the farts get stinkier and stinkier as the days go by.  Today is day 6 and he's still not gone, but we've had a couple of dirty farts so I think it's in the cards for tomorrow.  I hope.  But again the NHS nurse said this is quite normal and nothing to worry about.
5. We tried to give him formula last night - this is the first time since he was born.  I'm pretty sure he hated it b/c he would only drink an ounce and kept pushing the bottle out with his tongue.  But he happily fed off the breast five minute later.  Moving him to formula may be a bit of challenge.

With all of the above going on you'd think he'd be a miserable little boo but he's actually been quite happy the last couple of days.  Go figure, eh?  I think the fact that he's pretty happy during the day is what's keeping us sane and preventing us from rushing him to the A&E.  Just wish he'd return to a lovely sleeping boo in the night...one day...maybe???

Here are some pics and vids of our lovely little boo lately. 

Do you remember when he didn't fit in the swing?
Now he can wiggle his way out of it!!

Happy boo posing with daddy.

Heading out for some fun in the sun.

Chillin in our new sun tent.

And some recent videos.  Jakson LOVES the new ball his great Nanna Rose got him. He loves it so much he wants to eat it...

And here is Rob and Jakson enjoying what is likely our last day of summer here in England. 



And here is how we get Jakson to giggle these days.  This little piggy...