b e n j a m i n f a l k e n b e r g

His 9-month wellness check with his pediatrician is on Thursday.

Where does the time go?

And this time it’s peas… Zachary’s first ‘real’ solid food not counting rice cereal.

It went really well; he really enjoyed the peas, happily smacking his lips with each spoonful. His reaction to the first taste was more like “hey, what IS that, I don’t know that!”, but he had already recovered by his very next bite.

We’ll do peas for a few more days (4 days per food starting out, according to the pediatrician, to stay on top of any possible allergic reactions), and then switch it up a bit with some sweet potatoes or something.

And in case you’ve forgotten or are trying to remember, Benjamin’s first real food was peas, too…

And yes, Zachary is six months old today, too. Where does the time go?

…his first rice cereal!

It wasn’t much earlier tonight, but it was enough. About a tablespoon of dry rice cereal, mixed with breastmilk, fairly thinly. For his first time, it probably seemed like a lot to him! He wasn’t quite as adept as Benjamin was at taking it in his first time, but he did a pretty good job for his first time.

Benjamin started rice cereal right around five months, too. And yeah, our pediatrician told us at four months to start, with both kids, but we waited both times because we’ve read solids shouldn’t start until at least six months, or later. Both were (and Zachary continues to be) breastfed, so we feel fine with it all.

Anyway, we’re pretty excited to be moving into Zachary’s next big phase of existence.

That really says it all. Everyone’s sick with cold or flu or both, who knows. It’s terrible. Had a rash scare with Zachary that turned out not to be what they thought it might be (ITP). Birthday pics for Benjamin were rescheduled, too.

Rough week. Looking to reschedule party to a date a couple weeks from now. More on that when we figure it out…

For now, Benjamin’s party this weekend is still a ‘go’, but neither of the little ones are feeling well at all.

Croup for Benjamin for sure, and a cold for Zachary as well (along with Zachary’s ‘mystery rash’). They both seem pretty miserable, and Dad’s not much better. Not much the pediatrician could do for them, either.

We had planned to get some pictures done this week, but that’s been rescheduled for now.

If the party date/time changes, we’ll certainly let you know, but for now, that, at least, is still on schedule. Hopefully they’ll be cleared up by then.

Benjamin had his 18-month pediatrician wellness visit on 8/30/2007. He’s growing fine and healthy. :)

Stats:

• height: 33″ inches tall
• weight: 25 pounds, 9 ounces
• head: 19″

He went from “well above average” in height to “above average”, and from “below average” in weight to “just below average”.

No Hep-A shot like we should have gotten this visit; they were (and have been for some time) out of the shot… I guess we’ll get it this winter when he gets his flu shot, or at his 2-yr. appointment..?

We asked about a recent issue Benjamin’s having with hummus. He’s had it twice now, and it occasionally gets smeared on his cheeks and around his mouth. He tends to get really red and bumpy around his mouth within a half hour or less of contact. We think it might be an allergy, but we’re not sure. His doctor isn’t sure either, but suspects it could possibly be an allergic reaction. To what in the hummus, we have no idea. He eats everything, and has never had any sort of reaction with any other food, although there are some foods he still can’t have (nuts, shellfish, eggs) until he’s older.

So we’re keeping an eye out. I’d hate-hate-hate for it to be a legume thing, and spill over into peanuts or something. :(