The baby food diaries

Mmmmm... butternut squash.

Zach started baby veggies a few weeks ago and although the jars are fairly cheap (less than 50 cents per jar), it’s still cheaper to make it yourself and freeze it in ice cube trays.

I found an awesome website (www.wholesomebabyfood.com) with tons of recipes and went to town.

Other than going on hiatus until we figure out whether this cheek rash thing is gone, it's going well so far. Zach hasn’t rejected any of mommy’s cooking! I even attempt to keep a neutral or happy face when feeding him the icky veggie — like sweet potatoes. They say babies can pick up on your attitude toward a certain food, so I'm trying to remain open... for Zach's sake.

Assuming his cheeks remain clear, we'll start introducing the foods again this weekend. I think he misses them. He stares and leans toward us whenever we're eating. 

Real boys wear pink ... on their cheeks.

 This is what I consider a mid-level pink cheek

A couple weeks ago, Jamer’s mom informed me that Zach has a food allergy. I shrugged it off, but it’s been bothering me ever since.

Since Zach was two months old, he’s had a couple of small pink patches on his cheeks that come and go. I assumed it was dry skin. A few weeks ago those small patches got big and red — I mean fire engine red. That’s when I was told he has a food allergy. A few days later, the patches went away.

Last weekend, the bright red blotches were back.

I’m not convinced he’s allergic to solid food because the patches existed before he started eating solids. I am convinced, however, that his formula is triggering eczema.

Since Zach was two months old (and I went back to work), he’s been on a mixture of breast milk and formula. Most bottles consisted of 4oz breast milk and 2oz formula. I think that’s why his patches were so small and only pink. On the weekends, when I was home all day, he was exclusively breast fed, allowing his cheeks to heal.

Recently, Zach’s been weaned. I think that’s why his cheeks are now red and dry.

Over the weekend we decided to take him off everything and give him the remaining breast milk we had stored in the freezer. Within 12 hours of doing that, the red faded to pink and his cheeks started to heal.

A nurse with Zach’s doctor’s office said it’s unlikely he’s allergic to formula if he never had a problem with breast milk. That’s different information than what I read in articles — but I’m not a health care professional.

The articles I’ve read said it’s very uncommon for kids to be allergic to their mother’s milk, but not unlikely for cow’s milk — the base of most formula — to trigger eczema, which is what we suspect Zach has.

One of the suggestions was to switch him to a soy-based formula. We started that yesterday and it seems to be working — but now we’re being told we shouldn’t switch him without seeing the doctor first.

The problem is, after the weekend of breast milk, the rash has significantly lightened... making a doctor’s visit almost pointless.

I guess we’ll continue to monitor it and go from there. Luckily, other than the red cheeks, nothing about it seems to be bothering Zach. He has no other symptoms that we’ve noticed.

Baby's best friend

This is how Zach spends most of his waking hours.

Zach's obsession with Annie is growing deeper. He loves to watch her. When I hold him, he watches Annie. When I walk across the room, he keeps his eyes on Annie. When I turn, he repositions himself to look passed me -- so he can see Annie. Annie is also warming up to Zach. She's finally realized that (now that he's eating solid foods and making a mess) he usually tastes like rice cereal or veggies. If she puts up with the touching, she usually gets a tasty treat in the form of baby fingers or baby face.

This is what happens when Zach gets licked in the face.

In other news, Zach's fifth tooth poked through a couple days ago. As a celebration, I bought some Mum Mum crackers so he could start practicing the very difficult skill of feeding himself. It's quite the mess (they basically instantly dissolve in his mouth), but he seems to enjoy gnawing on them.

Zach has also graduated to his toddler bath tub (thanks Amanda!). He's played in it a few times (fully clothed and without water) but tonight was the first bath in it. He wasn't too impressed with the tub, but he loved splashing and playing with the bath toys!

Zach's first big boy bath.

And then there were three... make that four.

Exactly a week ago I was blogging about Zach's two baby teeth. Well, on Tuesday his third tooth (the top left tooth) finally broke through. I told Zach it was just a matter of time before that other top tooth would break through... little did I know there was a bottom tooth coming. This afternoon - just a day after that third tooth broke through, Zach's fourth made an appearance. I didn't even know that one was coming!

At this rate, I'm going to have an infant with a full mouth of teeth!!

For all of you waiting to see how Zach did with his veggies, he did awesome. The books say that babies will only eat 1-2 bites the first time they try a new food. In Zach's case he ate 1/3 of the jar. And if it were up to him, he would've continued. He was PISSED when I put it away. Apparently my baby likes his veggies.

 

For those of you wondering... Yes. Zach has about 7 of 

these onesies in varying colors. They fit him the best.

My weekly e-mail update

 Silly baby updates... Here's what I got this week:

"The appearance of your baby's first tooth can be an exciting but trying time. Even before they emerge, teeth can make your baby's gums swollen and painful, causing crankiness and night waking. Teething can also cause excess drooling. Some babies are barely affected by teething, while others are fretful for days or weeks at a time."

What? The appearance of the first tooth? Check out Zach's photo above. Does it look like we're waiting for the appearance of his first tooth? Try third - and quite possibly the fourth. Silly baby update.

Something is going on in that mouth of his. Zach's always been a drooly baby, but this week the waterworks really started going again. He has a constant waterfall flowing from his mouth. The good news is, with all that saliva he's been swallowing, feedings usually last longer.

Speaking of feedings, I bought jars of squash, sweet potatoes (ew!) and green beans today. I can't wait to see Zach's face when those are introduced!

Chunky monkey

Merry Christmas from Zachary, the cutest Christmas elf

Zach had his 6 month appointment last week. He was a trooper even though the doctor made him wait about 45 minutes before she came in to see him. Normally this wouldn't be that big of a deal, but I'd imagine that when you're sitting in a room naked and hungry, you can't help but feel upset.

The good news is Zachers is starting to even out. He officially weighs 19.2 pounds (79.38%) and measures 27.25 inches (78.63%).

Zach also got a flu shot, which means he had a total of four shots - two in each leg. Poor little guy.

In other news, Zach's third tooth is coming in -- that means baby is NOT a happy camper. We've switched to #2 nipples on the bottles after having a couple rough feedings and he seems to handle the increased flow pretty well.

Zach is mastering his rice cereal (although he still makes a huge mess). He now officially closes his mouth around the spoon and will even lean in for a bite. Dr. Groves says he should be able to move onto fruit and veggies as early as next week!

Zach's 6 month session

My big boy is growing up! I can't believe how quickly time flies! Here's a sneak peek. We're still waiting on the finished gallery.