Paperwork is finished!!

I'm so happy to be done with all of the paperwork of getting Eric his passport. Last Monday we braved the rain and hail to make it to our appointment at the US consolate in Valencia. I'm so glad we were able to do everything there. I was happy that they accepted the passport photo that I had taken myself, too, without any problems. The people there were amazingly friendly, especially the cosul, and it was a good experience overall. I liked it so much better than the impersonal embassy in Madrid. The week before I had spent most of the week, basically all of my free time, getting all of the paperwork finished, and checking and re-checking it. That was after already having spent numerous hours on the project. So, you can imagine I'm very happy to be finished with all of that!! When I have some free time, I may just have to take them up on their request for comments about the estimated time burden of the paperwork. Whomever came up with the estimations, obviously never had to fill out the paperwork him/herself.
"(PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT (PRA) STATEMENT
Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 30 minutes per response, including time required for searching existing data sources, gathering the necessary documentation, providing the information and/or documents required, and reviewing the final collection. You do not have to supply this information unless this collection displays a currently valid OMB control number. If you have comments on the accuracy of this burden estimate and/or recommendations for reducing it, please send them to: A/GIS/DIR, Room 2400 SA-22, U.S. Department of State, Washington, DC 20522-2202.)"
That is, of course, unless they actually mean 30 minutes per question- when they say 30 minutes per response. Then, it may actually work out to be about accurate.

After Monday, the weather has greatly improved again, and I've been able to get Eric outside a lot to get in some sun-time, and a good dose of vitamin D. The doctor recommended having him outside in the sun for at least 20 minutes a day to keep his levels up. With all of the rain and cold we were having, it wasn't easy, but lately it's been fun to do. He likes me bringing him around to show him all of the trees in the garden, and plays with the leaves of the trees.
What else is new?

Well, I've been starting to try to get Eric used to some solid foods. Since our regular doctor seems so concerned with Eric being so low in the percentile charts for weight, and I can't seem to keep enough breastmilk in him, (She recommended I give him more and more often, but all that seems to get me is a wet baby who drenches himself in his spit-up) I have decided to try to get him accostumed to some new foods. He's been sitting up by himself (propped up, of course) for quite some time now, and does show a bit of interest in new foods. I also "met" a new 6 and a half month baby the other day who has been exclusively breastfed directly from the breast, and who now refuses breastmilk in a bottle, anything else in a bottle, and definitely anything in a spoon. Lastly, I had read that a lot of people with the same problems with spitting up babies who had less of a problem after introducing some solids, so I figured giving it a try wouldn't be such a bad idea. Eric is already four and a half months, and although I had planned on exclusively breastfeeding until 6 months of age, I decided that the circumstances warranted changing my plans. I only plan on introducing them to him, seeing how things go, and keeping it to one small feeding for awhile. I know that it is important that breastfeeding still be the main component of his diet, especially since he is so young still.
Anyways, after doing extensive internet research on the subject, I decided that Eric's first foods would be bananas and avocadoes. They can be eaten raw and mashed up. The banana is supposed to be a food that is liked by babies who have been breastfed, and are used to the sweeter taste of breastmilk. Avocadoes are supposed to be a "perfect" food for babies in the sense that they are versatile, easy to prepare, have lots of fat and calories, potassium..., they can be used with fruits or meats or cereals as you start to introduce new foods...
After giving a few spoonfulls a day for the last few days, today I gave Eric a mix of bananas and avocadoes, which he couldn't seem to get enough of!! He kept wanting more!! I had only mixed up a couple of tiny spoonfuls worth, and he started to cry when it was finished!! So, I had to rush to make more. I have to admit, it was quite good, and I had a spoonful or two (or three) myself!!
Eric is also quite a bit more active every day, and he seems to want to try to move and do things all of the time. Mauri taught him to roll over from his tummy to his back, and after showing him to do it one time, Eric did it right away by himself! He still isn't a big fan of tummy time, but he does handle it better than before, and he's now able to keep his head lifted for long periods of time.

My only real complaint lately is that sometimes it seems like he sleeps less and less all of the time. It's hard to get him to sleep for longer than 10-15 minutes during the day at any given time, and he wakes up much earlier at night than he used to. I read that sprees of less sleep could go hand-in-hand with times when babies are learning new skills because they want to try practicing their new skills all of the time. Knowing the baby's daddy, I wouldn't be surprised if that's what's been happening lately.

After writing that two days ago, and not having posted it because I was working on the bath video for you..., the last two days Eric has napped very well several times a day. Maybe he's advancing quicker than I thought, has been reading my blog, and wants to make mommy happy!