Taste the World

As the title suggests, Patrick has now reached that stage in his development where he wants to experience the world through his mouth. As soon as he gets something in his hand (and sometimes before), his instant reaction is to bring it to his mouth. It's so cute to watch. He'll suck on his hand or thumb just about any time now, even if I'm in the middle of feeding him solid food. He has started hugging his burp rags like a blankie and pulling them to his mouth often too. I love it! Not only does it calm him down some when he's crying, but it's also neat to watch his reaction as he tastes everything.

We've had two developments in his consumption of solids too. We decided to start adding flavor to his diet, so he now eats rice cereal with bananas around lunchtime. He really seems to like its taste. In the next few days, I'll probably start him on the normal Gerber baby food too. Any suggestions what few flavors I should try next? Obviously I'm new at this whole thing, so I'm open to what worked for other people's kids. We've also started feeding him twice a day as of last night. Based on his reaction, he was ready for another solid meal. I'm also hoping he stays full longer this way and starts putting on more weight again.

I know everyone's curious how the first night without the apnea monitor went. Surprisingly it was normal, except for not sticking the leads to his chest before putting him to bed. I think I can manage without that one extra step in his bedtime routine. Patrick acted like nothing had changed and slept just as well. I slept the same too, not even feeling the need to get up and check on him at all. I kind of thought I would check on him, as this was the first time I didn't have the monitor to tell me he was doing fine. But it dawned on me that if he never had a problem with the monitor on, then why should he have a problem the first time he didn't have it on? The odds of that happening are incredibly small. The monitor didn't prevent problems; it just let us know if one might be happening. That thought calmed me well enough that I slept fine.

And please be praying for me. I think I may be getting yet another breast infection. I have the sore spot and lump, but fortunately the fever and aches are staying away so far. If I can take care of the sore spot before the other symptoms hit, I won't have to call the doctor and go on antibiotics this time. That's what I'm hoping for. I hate having to keep up with such a rigorous medication schedule, especially when I have to remember Patrick's meds too. That's just too much for my failing memory.