Yum, Paste... or Rice Cereal

The doctor mentioned at his 4 month exam that I could start feeding him rice cereal. I had it in the back of my mind that I would entertain the idea more in a few weeks only because he sticks out his tongue quiet a bit and I thought it might easier if he could actually sit. Our doctor told me that if in a few weeks the bottles don't seem to satisfy him, then I could try the cereal to tie him over. I thought, perfect. I'll see how it goes.

Well, tonight (3 days later) we tried rice cereal. He started sucking his 5 ounce bottles dry on Saturday so I bumped him up an ounce which he gladly took. A couple of times over the weekend he ate the whole 6 ounces and seemed to want more. So I thought maybe we'll give cereal a try.

Part of my hesitation comes from my sister, Joanna's, experiences with her daughter, Lena. Let's just say rice cereal didn't work for miss Lena Loo, but Brooks took it like a champ. Keep in mind the first feeding we tried, he'd been awake for 2 hours and was fussy because he was tired. It did cross my mind that I should have waited until he was a bit more manageable, but we went with it anyway. Brooks actually ate 7-10 half spoonfulls of cereal. I thought he did really well, for something that tastes like paste.

I tried a second round of rice cereal after he took his 8pm bottle. Again, he sucked down his 6 ounce bottle and went straight for his hands. This time, I made a teaspon of cereal and he ate all of it... and, this time with a smile. :)

Sprawled

I'm anxiously waiting for Brooks to start rolling over so he can sleep on his stomach. Right now we put him to sleep on his back. He does pretty well, but I think he will seelp more soundly on his stomach. I've decided to wait on putting him down on his tummy until he can roll over to that position. Well, I better start praying for a wife who doesn't need a lot of room in bed.

4 Month Birthday

Brooks turned four months old on Friday (August 20th). I felt like I needed to throw a party. The day before we went to the doctor's for his 2nd round of immunizations. I love how they make you strip down the kid before sticking him on the scale... don't they realize he's a boy? I mean, I'm frantically trying to hover my hand over his lower region for any shooters, hoping he doesn't spray everything. (Note: He's not much of a shooter right now... even in the bath tub.) Anyway, here are his stats:

Weight: 14.12

Height: 25 inches

Head: 42 cm (I'm assuming cm, because inches would mean he's got problems.)

Compared to other babies, he's right in the middle. 50% across the board. I was relieved to hear this because he was a bit on the short side during his 2 month exam. We may have a wing man instead of a point guard. :)

The immunizations went well. He started crying after the first shot and the second shot just made him plain mad. His face turned red and he did the silent cry before finally taking a breath. Definately more crying than his 2 month check up.

The 2 hours at the appoint timed out well b/c by the time we left he was ready for a nap. As you can tell in the picture, he had enough for the day.

Almost Laughing

As usual, just before I started video taping Brooks, he cackled out loud for the first time. For weeks, he came so close to laughing and you could tell he just needed a little push to make him crack up. While this isn't a hearty laugh it is cute to see him smile at me blowing in his face.

Say Cheese

I don't have any stories that go with these pictures, but I thought you might enjoy seeing the many faces of Brooks.

Skinny Face

Pout Face

Back Seat Smiles

No Head

Sitting Up

Heads Up

Brooks isn't a fan of tummy time, but we try to get him on his stomach a few minutes each day. For some reason, he doesn't quite get that if you put your arms by your head you can use them to push up. Instead, he puts them to his side and looks more like super baby. This is a little video of his heads up pose just moments before he threw a fit because he was soooooooo over it.

Feel the Love

I've posted before Brooks' love afair with inanimate objects. He learned how to lift his butt in the air and scooch along the floor. This is video of him making his way up Mr. Giraffe and giving him some kisses.

Beach Bum

Brooks took his first trip to the beach recently. I realize he's now four months old and my sister questioned why we waited so long to make the visit. My answer: it's 90 something degrees with a head index. We didn't want a baby cookie. We finally realized that we could go in the evening, when it's still excessively hot, but at least the heat warning has expired.

The trip went super well. I mean, it's hard to tell if he "loved" it, but he didn't cry so that's always a measure of success. I took a few pictures and a short video to document the baptizing in the ocean.