On Monday, Eric turned 6 months old already, and he had his 6 month doctor's appointment. He is still on the lower side of the curve weight-wise, but is following along his weight curve as should be expected. The poor little guy got two new shots, and started to scream. Once the ordeal was over, we talked about introducing him to solids. I had already started, of course, but I listened to what the doctor had to say. I found it interesting that our doctor, that had so strictly followed the guidelines about not wanting to introduce solids until 6 months, was now suggesting getting right to 2 meals a day, and said that although the handouts she was giving me said to introduce foods one at a time, that it wasn't really true, and that it wouldn't make for an interesting meal to give one vegetable at a time. I have to admit that I thought that was a little strange. I prefer to go slowly and give new foods one at a time, and don't find it strange to just eat one vegetable at a time. Eric has already tried, and likes, sweet potatoes, and those can be easily combined with other veges. Seeing zuchini on the list, I said that I was going to make myself a zuchini puree/soup, and that I could give him some. She said that was fine, but "Don't just give him zuchini!! He needs potatoes!"
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| Eric eats outside with the rest of the guys on San José day |
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So, I'm supposed to feel guilty about giving him a few spoonfuls of fruit before he turns 6 months, and on the very day he turns 6 months, I'm supposed to give him multiple meals of vegetables and fruits all at once? (Mauri, of course, is sick of me always questioning our doctor, and always tells me to do what I want to- "you're his mother." Of course he knows that I spend constant hours researching it all online.) Anyways, only because I've already been giving him one small meal of solids daily, I decided to move to 2, now larger, meals of solids a day, but to keep with my plan of introducing foods one at a time. I have a head start already anyways, and Eric has already had a bit of a reaction to pumpkin squash. I wanted to ask the doctor about it, but decided that I didn't want to deal with her after admiting that Eric had already tried more than apples and bananas, so I never did. That will have to wait until his 9 month appointment.
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| Eric eating outside during fallas week. |
I've also found it interesting that on most US sites, one of the main recommended first foods for babies is avocadoes, which Eric loves, and they make all other foods mixed with them creamier, whether sweet or savory. Here, though, people look at you like you are crazy if you say that you feed your baby avocadoes!! Even with the list my doctor gave me, avocadoes are nowhere to be found. I think that's sad. It gives babies a fruit that isn't too sweet, introduces fats and potassium, and, like I said earlier, is a great texture for mixing with pretty much anything.
Other things that I found interesting, that differed with what I've seen elsewhere, is that they recommend almost all fruits, with the exception of peaches and strawberries, right away. Most places I've read online, though, have said to wait with citrus fruits until a year of age, but here they want to introduce oranges and orange juice right away. On the other hand, peaches, which I've seen as a first food most places, are considered to be prone to cause allergies here, and aren't recommended for before 6 months of age.
Well, as Mauri says...I'll do what I think is best which means that I'll probably hold off on the citrus fruits, just in case, at least for a little while longer. Since Eric seems to be more prone to spitting up (still), I think it's best to be cautious with acidic foods.
Eric seems to really enjoy his solids, and I like to give him mixes of several of the fruits he's eaten up to this point. He really likes bananas mashed with avocado for a quick meal, but sometimes I add some plums and pears. I have a small stash of frozen pureed fruits that I've made him to make the mixes easier.
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| Eric wearing his blusón. |
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| Eric's espardeñas |
Other than that, all is well. Last week was fallas week here in Denia, and we dressed up Eric like a little fallero. The first days, he wore a "blusón," a shirt worn by some of the more casual fallas, and often worn by the members of the various fallas when they don't want to get fully dressed in their more formal outfits (especially the girls when they don't want to wear their dresses). Mauri's mom bought him a pair of "espardeñas," the sandals typically worn by the falleros.
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| Eric sitting on our falla |
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On the day before San José, we were invited to go on the "chiquí-tren" to go see the fallas. The chiquí-tren is a small "train" that, while it looks like a train, has wheels and rides on the streets rather than on a track. It's usually used for tourism, but during fallas it gets used by the nursery school that I have on occasion worked at, to take the kids to see some of the fallas. I knew Eric would enjoy the ride because he loves looking at other kids, likes going for rides in the car, and likes to be held.
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| Eric and I on the chiquí-tren |
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We basically just drove by a few of the fallas, but we did stop at two of them, and got out to take a look at them. Eric seemed to enjoy himself, but, by the end of the trip, I could tell he was getting tired. When there were about 10 minutes left of the ride, Eric fell asleep in my arms.
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Eric falls asleep on the chiquí-tren
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During fallas week, we also ate outside with the people of the barrio several days. One of the days, one of the neighbors asked me if I'd be interested in dressing up Eric in a saragüell, one of the fallero outfits that most people like the most. She had one from when her son was a baby.
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| Eric wearing the saragüell |
I, of course, jumped at the offer, but was sad to see that the outfit was pretty big for Eric. The shirt looked like it would be best suited for him a year from now, but everything else seemed like, while big, would fit him OK now. So, I decided to see if the white shirt that he wore for his baptism would still fit, which it did, and decided to use that shirt instead. It ended up working out rather well, and Eric looked very cute dressed up in his saragüell.
We were lucky, and, although the rest of the week had been cold and rainy, we had a very nice weather on San José, the day that they burn the fallas. We walked around the city with Eric all dressed up, and took a look at the fallas which were exceptionally small this year due to the economic crisis. We had a good time, though.
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| We stayed up to see "our falla" burn, but went home before they burned the "real fallas." |
Other than that, there isn't much new to tell. We moved Eric's crib into our room, and took one of the sides off of the crib so that it is flush with our matress. That lets me still have easy access to feed him at night, but also gives us some more room in bed.
Little by little, Eric is also getting stronger, and he can sit up by himself, when he wants to, for a little while. He usually doesn't want to sit still long enough, though. He's very active, and still is happiest in the bouncer chair, where he now jumps up and down faster than ever!!
I'm looking forward to the nicer weather coming soon. I'll be able to go outside more with Eric, which he seems to love, and we'll be able to do more fun things together.
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