Rice Cereal ... Yum

We made the leap into "solid" foods on Monday and it was quite a hit. Caedmon was interested from the very start because he got to wear his cool, blue plastic bib. (That was the first thing in his mouth.) Then, once the airplane of goodness came toward his mouth and between his lips, he quickly got the hang of it. Rice cereal was all over his lips, nose, and chin. Maybe I should have given him smaller spoonfuls, and used a smaller spoon (the package said for 10+ months, but Caedmon is advanced, right?) Then, in came the fingers! Soon, rice cereal was dripping from between his fingers, onto his pants and down the Bumbo seat. (Glad I moved the placemats from the table!) But, for a 5-month-old, I think he did a pretty good job keeping himself relatively clean, and he finished the entire bowl ... only 8 teaspoons worth :)

We're going to maintain this meal of rice cereal once a day for the next week and a half, and then, bearing he has no allergic reaction to rice, we'll move on to avocados ... I think. I'm excited! My plan is to begin making all of his baby food, so we'll see how that goes. (I just started reading "Super Baby Food" and it covers everything I'll need to know to make the food -- safety precautions, nutritional info, recipes, etc. -- so if I spend some good time in the book, hopefully I'll get the hang of it and become a super-baby-food-making-mama.

Video of Caed's First Meal to Come ....

Here is a picture from today's meal:

Happy 5 Months Caedmon!

Caedmon turned 5 months yesterday and I can't believe it! He's growing sooo fast! If everything goes as planned, he'll even have his first "solid" meal today at lunch. Yummy rice cereal! At 5 months, here are a few milestones that Caed has achieved:

• Rolling Over: Rolling from his stomach to his back is pretty natural for him now. Stick him on his tummy for just a few minutes and woop, he's on his back ... 1, 2, 3. He's still really wiggly on his back. He pulls his knees to his chest and rolls to one side or the other, but there's still no continuous movement to his stomach. I'm sure the day will come soon enough. (video to come)
  
  
• Increased Hand-Eye Coordination: Just starting this past week, Caed is getting more interested in grabbing for things at a distance. Like at the dinner table the other night; Caedmon was sitting in my lap and couldn't stop lunging for my napkin, then the fork, then the plate. I even gave him a french fry to hold yesterday at Zaxby's, but that ended up on the floor in no time. He's getting pretty good at reaching for his paci as well and pulling it toward his mouth. (Hopefully, this activity will turn into a saving grace for me when he decides to put it in his mouth in the middle of the night :).
  
  
• Increased Mouth-Foot Coordination: Yes, I know this sounds a little strange, but for a 5-month old it's not. Caedmon stretches his feet up to his mouth now and sucks on his toes.

• Shrieking & Other Sounds: Shrieking became one of C's favorite pasttimes in the crib a few weeks ago and thank goodness, other sounds have followed. I wasn't sure what was happening to him in his crib when I heard him shriek back in his room. I looked in the baby monitor and there he was laughing, smiling and shrieking ... instead of napping. In addition to shrieking, he's started to say deep "Ohh Ohh Ohh" sounds. It's so cute because he makes a distinct facial expression when he does it and his chin bunches up.
  

Here are some fun pictures we took yesterday to document his 5-month mark:

New Camera

Our old camera died right after Christmas, and so Brad surprised me with a new digital camera for my birthday. It's a Canon Powershot and so far it's taking really nice pictures. Here are a few that you might enjoy:Thanks Brad!!

Caedmon's 4-Month Check-Up

Caedmon turned 4 months on Christmas Day and a little less than 2 weeks from then, today, marked his 4-month check-up. (What a joy it is to only go to the pediatrician's office every 2 months instead of every 2 days. Oh how I remember those days.)

I am happy to announce that Caedmon is now in the 88th percentile for weight, 90th percentile for length (imagine that), and 75th percentile for head circumference:

• Weight: 17 pounds, 5.5 ounces
• Length: 26.5 inches
• Head Circumference: 43.6 centimeters

And as is routine for the 4-month check-up, Caed had to get 5 more vaccinations -- 1 oral and 4 combined into 2. Aside from the initial shriek though, C did really well and is now sleeping soundly in his crib allowing his baby Tylenol to do its thing.

A couple fun things we discovered at this visit is that we can begin to give Caedmon solids anytime between now and 6 months. (Some of the books say this, but others say not to start until 6 months to prevent your child from developing allergies. The pediatrician said that the American Academy of Pediatrics says that it's fine to incorporate them into the diet anywhere from 4 to 6 months.) So, I think we're going to try it. We'll probably wait until I can get my hands on the Baby Wise II book, which I've heard helps you begin using the transition into solids as a way to help baby gradually get on your breakfast, lunch, dinner schedule. We'll see how it goes. I'll keep you posted (ha, no pun intended).

And then, just as we were leaving, we discovered that Caedmon already likes cherry lollipops. On the way out of the doctor's office, Caedmon reached for "Brad's" lollipop and managed to get his lips around it. Before we knew it, he had cherry lollipop smeared on the top of his lip and had a big grin on his face. (We'll have to wait for a little bit longer before we make this a regular routine, buddy, sorry.)

The Crib is FINISHED!

Well, this happened about 3 weeks ago, but with everything that's been going on, I haven't had the chance to share the fun news.

For those of you that are just chiming in, Brad refinished my dad's old crib that both me and my brother slept in, so that Caedmon and all the Hodgson babies can sleep in it. Here are the "Before" pictures:









As you can see, the crib used to be a light oak color with cute little bunnies and fawn on the headboard and footboard. This worked for me and my brother (ha, ha), but we thought that we'd do something a little different for Caedmon. Now after many hours of love labor in the ARS warehouse, here's Caedmon's new crib:









Brad added beadboard to the headboard and footboard to modernize the crib and stained it a nice espresso to match our changing table. I'm a big fan of the color and love the bedding as well. Caedmon would agree and thoroughly enjoys starring at the dots on his bumper pad.

Great work Brad, furniture-restaining extraordinaire!

Ohio Trip

We drove up to Ohio 2 weeks ago for my Grandpa's funeral and it turned out to be a pretty good trip despite the circumstance. It's usually about an 8+ hour drive and with the stops we needed to make for Caedmon, it took us about 10 hours. Luckily though, he was a great traveler: He ate, played and slept at all his scheduled times and was a great baby! Praise the Lord!

We got up to Ohio late Wednesday night and had a great time catching up with all my aunts. David and Jon didn't arrive until Friday evening. This was the first time, with the exception of my cousin Andrew, that everyone had met Caedmon, so that was a lot of fun and he definitely brought a lot of joy to the house -- especially for Grandma Courtney!

The service for my Grandpa that Saturday was really special. It was tough because it was an open-casket service -- the first one I've been too -- but it was good to see him one last time and I think it brought about good closure. And he looked really good! He was dressed in the tweed blazer that he wore so often and then we put the matching tweed hat that he wore just as much on his chest.

There was a portion of the service that was dedicated for reflection and it was really nice to hear all the great stories about Grandpa -- stories about his childhood as he raised the best and biggest potato crop in Medina county, stories about how he taught his daughters positive work ethic as they plowed the fields and occasionally ran over the little pine trees and tried to tape them back together, stories about how he danced with his grand-daughter (me), stories about how he dearly loved his wife (the Queen of Manor Care), stories of the legacy that he has left behind in OB/GYN practices and care, and the list goes on. We laughed, cried and grinned ear to ear as we heard about the life Grandpa had lived and that memory will live on with me forever, as will the stories and special memories that I had with him! I love you Grandpa!

Here are some other fun pictures from the trip:

Happy Thanksgiving!

We celebrated Thanksgiving this year in Charlotte with Brad's family and my mom. Here are some fun pictures from the weekend.