Genius Baby Part 2 (First words)

I'm not going to be able to keep up with him much longer.  This has been a big week for discovery and new talents.

Umna became mamamama which quickly became mama or mumum depending on his mood, and now he just shouts "MUM!" when he wants my attention.

I felt a bit bad for Mr. Wolfman, so when he was at work, I started showing the monster a picture of him and repeating "Dad Dad Dad."  It worked a little too well.  After a day, he was saying "Dadadad" when looking at Mr. Wolfman's picture.  Yesterday, he shouted it until I put a picture of Mr. Wolfman up on the computer, then smiled and bounced up and down excitedly.  He did this every time I tried to use the computer for anything other than looking at his Dad.  He greeted Mr. Wolfman by name when he came home last night.  So there we go. Mum and Dad.

Other new developments include:

Object permanence - he has started to lift up the blanket that covers his foam play mat, to get at the edges of said mat (we put it there because he kept pulling them up and trying to eat them) - yesterday I removed an edge and put it in the closet.  When he moved the blanket and discovered it missing, he cried (he cheered up with a hug, though).

...and pulling himself to standing - he does this so easily, and has even taken a few supported steps.

To combine all of these, in case there was any doubt, today, he was sitting on his play mat and called out "Mum" when I looked up, he extended his arms toward me and again said, "Mum" and when I reached down to pick him up, he took my hands and stood.  Easy Peasy.

So now I'm trying to find stuff to cheaply childproof the house, because I really doubt we're going to make it through the summer before he becomes mobile.  Weee.

Solids!

So.  My (not-so)little monster, who has two teeth and weighs in at over 20lbs, started solids yesterday.  He was nursing every half hour, and what with the current teeth and teething again, my poor boobs needed a break.  He's been showing all the signs of being ready for a few weeks, so Mr. Wolfman and I decided it was time.

We started with carrots and it was a huge success.  The monster gobbled them up like they were going out of style, and since then, he's been eyeing (and occasionally trying to grab) everything on our plates. He's not a big fan of his sippy cup, but I guess we'll get there.

I know iron-rich foods are recommended, but the list of suggestions is just ridiculous. Eggs, which you can't puree once cooked.  Tofu.  Various grains that, while unlikely to cause an allergic reaction, if they do, it'll be a bad one.  And then there's tapioca starch in the Gerber oat cereal I found.  As in deadly-if-improperly-cooked. No thanks.  I bought Heinz oatmeal cereal, which is iron rich, but even that has milk and potentially contains wheat flour. That'll be his very-closely-watched second food, but for a few days at least, it'll just be carrots and breast milk.

Also, pumping is impossible, it takes forever, I get next to nothing, and the little monster is having a bit of trouble figuring out how to use a bottle, since he's never really had to before.  No idea what to do, because I'm not sure I can stand six more months of breastfeeding.

Oh well, not going to worry about that right this second.  We videoed his entire first-food experience and he's a super cute and happy baby, so I guess we'll focus on that for a while :)