Solids and Sleep!

Bennett is slowly but surely getting the hang of solid foods. He likes the yellow and orange veggies alot! He inhaled his carrots tonight. Not so much of a fan of the green veggies, but we'll work on that...I usually make all my own baby food but I'm paranoid to do that just yet since I can't seem to get it 100% pureed, so it still has a bit of texture to it. Also, time is an issue right now. But I think he will like the greens better when I make them. Lets face it - jarred baby food is a little gross. I had been giving him the veggies mixed with rice cereal, but I don't think he likes it that way, so I am now giving him the veggies alone and he seems better with that. As for the cereal, I've been mixing it with a tad of apple juice and he LOVES it! This is why I'm going to hold off for a while on introducing him to fruit - I am afraid he will get one taste of the sweetness and refuse veggies for life! This kid is opinionated...

Oh! And he LOVES those biter biscuits!! He's been teething like a mad man lately, so these must be sweet relief for him - no pun intended. He will gnaw away at it - we just have to make sure he doesn't gag himself on it!

So the bittersweet byproduct of his big boy eating is that when he eats a substantial amount, he sleeps through the night. He has been waking around 11-12 to eat, but then sleeps on until morning. Well, he DOES wake, I hear him fuss, so I get the bottle, but by the time I get there, he is conked out again. Thats wonderful you say? Not so much when 1. I still have to get up in the middle of the night to pump in order to maintain my milk supply and 2. he doesn't drink enough during the day so he NEEDS at least one bottle at night. So, I have to wake him up to eat, which kills me b/c I just hate waking a sleeping baby.....

Now the trick is to figure out a way to get him to eat at least 24 ounces during the DAY (and ideally 28-30 ounces if we ever want him to grow....) so that he can sleep through the night!