Something for the belly....

Collin's first taste of cereal came about a week after he turned 5 months. We were ambivalent about starting cereal because after reading a bunch we learned that giving infants cereal before 6 months doesn't provide any nutritional value. Their little systems aren't developed enough to digest the cereal, so it just goes right through them without absorbing any of the nutrients. However, babies do need to learn how to manipulate their tongues and swallow with something a bit more solid in their mouths. Plus we were interested to see if the "sleeping through the night" as a result of cereal phenomenon held up to the wives tales. So we gave it a try. Here are our results:

I'm ready for food in my new highchair!

First bite. hmmm... what is this stuff mom?

Going in the mouth....

Can I just chew on the spoon?

Another bite.

Daddy's turn. Mmmm. I think I like this stuff.

I want more! Daddy wasn't getting it to Collin fast enough so he started to whine. It was rather funny to see him anticipate the cereal.

Chomping on the spoon.

Samson wanted to join the mix too, so he wedged himself between my legs and the highchair.

Overall, Collin really like the cereal and every night since then he's enjoyed the cereal and is really getting the hang of eating. The first night the cereal didn't help with sleeping at all, in fact, Collin was up earlier than normal (at about 2:00 a.m.) but on the second night he slept until 5:00 a.m., which is an hour later than his regular wake-up for feeding time. We'll see tonight which trend continues as we test the effects of cereal consumption.

Who Goes there?

Collin is getting ready for winter with his uber-cute owl hat from TinyTangerines at www.etsy.com. Isn't he absolutely adorable!

5 months!

Really, has it been five months? When I scrolled back in this blog to what I was doing last year at this time (we were about 11 weeks pregnant) its hard to believe I was spending my time trying to keep my food down and existing as a zombie- since I was sleeping something like 15 hours a day. Now, here we are a year later and Collin is 5 months! He's gotten so big and it's be such an adventure to see his little personality blossom. This month he's starting to sit up on his own and a little tiny tooth is trying desperately to make its way through his gums, resulting in lots of drooling, chewing and a little bit of fussiness. Collin has started putting lots of emphasis behind his little voice making it seem as though he's very very excited when happy, or is telling us off when mad. Its fairly comical to see him be so determined to use his voice. You can really see his personality coming out in the photos.
This shirt tastes delicious! I love to chew on everything!

Hilarious! You are so funny daddy!

5 whole months!

Happy Baby!

Telling daddy how it is.

Collin's stink eye.

While we were taking his 5 months photo we tried to use the red-eye reduction function on our camera. Its an extra little light that blinks rapidly before the flash. While it helped with red-eye, it also made Collin look like a confused deer in the headlights. Here are a few of those shots for your amusement.

space cadet

This month I traveled for work the first time since Collin's been born. I had to go to Albuqurque, New Mexico for almost a week. While I was away Drew's parents, Collin's grandma and grandpa Hollman came to help out, but while they were busy taking care of Collin they forgot to take lots of pictures- so while there is no evidence of their stay Collin had a great time while they were here. Collin wants to say
"Grandma and Grandpa Hollman,Thank you so much
for taking care of such good care of me!"
I missed my family terribly, but its nice to know that Collin does just fine while I am away.
So, happy 5 months Collin! We can hardly believe how fast the time flies. We look forward to many many more months in the future.