Moving On Up

At Eli's doctor's appointment last week Dr. W encouraged me to start trying Eli on some finger/table food to get him used to the texture and to improve his fine motor skills. We have been doing puffs some at dinner with him, but we hadn't tried much else until this past weekend. Eli loves his baby food green beans and Dr. W said it is a great first finger food to start with. So, I tried a FEW green bean bites with him on Saturday but was very hesitant since Eli didn't chew it so well (and was gagging some!). On Sunday, I left for the grocery store and gave Marc the task of attempting some green beans again with Eli. He took these pictures during his dinner (which he clearly had been enjoying since it was all over his face! :) )

Eli, meet green beans.

A look of uncertainty...

And it's a success! Hopefully, Eli will start getting some teeth over the next month or two (we REALLY think he is finally teething) which will help him out with the biting/chewing thing. Isn't it funny how big the smallest task can be when you do it for the first time???

I have noticed lately at work that I have been enjoying seeing first time moms with their babies so much more since having Eli. I never really understood ALL the questions and concerns parents have until having a baby myself. No one teaches you in school about all the simple questions that come with babies, (my baby sneezes all the time... why does my baby hiccup so much... my baby didn't poop today... etc. etc.) but it feels great now to be able to relate more to my patients because of my own experiences. There is just so much learning to be done in the first year of life for baby and parent (and Baby 411 is a wonderful book for first time parents)!

I brought home a measuring tape yesterday from work to re-check Eli's height from his visit last week. They told me he was measuring 29 1/2 inches and in the 90th percentile for height which seemed a little off for my 50th percentile baby! Marc and I wrestled him to the ground last night and re-measured him. Wouldn't you know he had shrunk a whole inch from Friday! So, he is actually 28 1/2 inches and measures right at 60th percentile for his height. I always tell my dad he is "average" when I call to give them his stats because he is always around 50th percentiles, but he quickly states that his grandson is not "average" at all... he is just perfect. And that he is. :)