Our little eater

I forgot to give an update after the six month check-up Landon had last Monday. The doctor said that he seems to be healthy and thriving. He said that Landon has eczema so he told me to use some hydrocortisone cream to get it under control and told me some creams etc. that would help. The worst patch of irritated skin that I've noticed is on his face. I always have to keep his nails short or else he'll scratch it up. It must itch.

He also checked out his eyes and ears since he had been sick. His eyes are still goopy, but he said they are not infected. His ears looked great.

Here are his stats:
Height: 26.5 inches (50th percentile)
Weight: 15 lbs. 13 oz. (25th percentile)

I was a little surprised that he didn't weigh more than this. It stressed me out a little. The doctor said that continuing to add in more solids to his diet should help and that Landon will let me know if he wants to eat more often. The doctor didn't seem too worried, but he basically said that we don't want to see him fall any further in the growth chart percentiles (he was in the 75th % at 2 months, then 50th % at 4 months). For my own peace of mind I've decided to make some changes to Landon's routine (I follow a pretty flexible routine, but it helps me know generally what to plan on). This week I've tightened his schedule back up to eating every 3- 3.5 hours during the day instead of every 3.5- 4 hours. That way I can fit his usual five feedings into my waking hours (instead of one in the middle of the night). Since I've done that he's slept through the night a few times which has been nice. The reason I had let his feedings spread out in the first place was because it seemed like it fit better with his naps and sleeping patterns, and he didn't seem to mind. And it seemed like once I started letting him take longer naps he learned how to sleep for longer periods of time, including nighttime. But now it seems like the new routine is working just fine with his current sleeping patterns. I guess babies are always changing, right?! So I'm trying to not beat myself up too much for his slow weight gain, but I'm going to keep feeding him at least 5 times per day (more if he seems hungry) until his 9 month check-up to see if that helps. Anyway, sorry to bore ya'll with trivial details. I'm good at that!

We added sweet potatoes and baby oatmeal to Landon's diet this week. He loved both of them! I think sweet potatoes seem to be his favorite so far. I'm a little confused...do you feed the solids before you nurse or do you wait until after? Any pointers and advice would be great!

Oh, I was wondering if anyone elses babies do this...the last month or so Landon reaches up and plays with my mouth, nose, face, neck, jewelry, hair, most of the time that he's nursing. It's cute and funny, but it sure makes it harder to read or study while I'm nursing:)

Here are some pictures of our kiddo's eating and playing adventures last week. He's not quite so messy now that he's had a little more practice:)

I love sweet potatoes!!
So much to look at!


His 6 month birthday dinner. I added the prunes because, well, the rice cereal alone seems to take a long time to process if you know what I mean:) I love it when he tries to help me!