After bananas (good!), avocado (not so good, unless it's mixed with banana), and sweet potato (good!), the latest food to reach John's little palate has been green beans. And I'm pleased to say, he thinks they are pretty tasty! If I am completely honest with myself, I'll admit I was a little nervous about introducing them. People will tell you that you should give a baby vegetables before fruits because otherwise they'll develop a sweet tooth. And though I tend to believe that is largely myth... well, I am just glad I won't have to hear "I told you so".
Green beans were also our first foray into baby food from a jar. Call me ignorant (because I am) but I was surprised by the texture -- very thin, kind of soupy actually. All the food I've been making for John so far has been somewhat thicker, more what I'd describe as creamy. For a minute I wondered if I've been doing it wrong and he's supposed to be getting super thin, practically liquid. Then I smacked myself. If he's eating the stuff, isn't that the important thing? In fact I think the different textures are probably good for him. Who decided that babies will only eat super-soupy purees? Ugh. It's hard being a first-time parent. You want to do everything right, but when you try to find out what "right" is you'll find as many different opinions as people to ask. What I really need to do is relax. I'm feeding him real fruits and vegetables (even if I did burn the sweet potatoes the other day) and not over-processed crap, so I think we're off to a good start!
He's at such a fun age right now. Have I mentioned that before? It's so true. Today we had a pretty long day, most of it spent out doing things, play group, shopping, going out for dinner. And John was just a little ray of sunshine the whole day. Smiling, playing, laughing at us. He is just so darn CUTE.
Someone pointed out to me today that his hair is really coming in. I hadn't noticed, but it does seem to be getting thicker. Or longer. Or darker? I don't know. I was wrong about his teeth too. He definitely has three on the bottom now, but I made the mistake of assuming that the teeth would come in pairs the way they're "supposed to". Apparently no one told his teeth about this though. So, as I said, he in fact has three teeth on the bottom, and then the other day I noticed one of his top front teeth is just starting to poke through. I wonder if those will come in as a pair.
According to our scale, John is up to 15 pounds now! That means he's officially outgrown his bassinet (which he hasn't slept in since May anyway). Inexplicably he doesn't seem to be growing out of his 3-6 months size clothes. Which is fine! I just think it's funny that his pants still hang off him. (Then again, I remind myself, at 15 pounds he is still holding steady below the 15th percentile for weight. Clothing makers are assuming much fatter babies. With much longer legs too, apparently. Or maybe the pants just seem too long because they keep falling down.)
The only thing that's not going well lately is sleep. But that is a subject for another time... because I need to get some sleep. :-)