Teething/ Eating

This whole month can basically be summed up by the above. Harper's been working hard to make some top teeth. It takes a lot of fussing to make good ones and Ethan and I are anxious to see the result of all of this. Every day I rub her gums hoping to feel a jagged edge. Nothing poking through yet, but it has so be soon, right?

All of the teething has disrupted our girl's good sleeping. I used to feel so proud that Harper was a good sleeper, and every night I fell alseep assured that I'd have at least one (if not two) four hour block of solid, uninterrupted sleep. Not so anymore. She wakes about every hour and a half, and is usually hungry and needs nursing to fall back asleep. I took this as a cue that maybe the girl needs some solid food these days. The books say that babies' nutritional needs change around 6 months and they need more iron than the breastmilk supplies. So, I tried the traditional first foods: mushy bananas, rice cereal, oatmeal cereal. Over many attempts, Harper actually showed signs that she might like the taste the other night and consumed more than ever before: about a tablespoon's worth of cereal mixed with breastmilk and a bit of banana. I was excited and hopeful since it had seemed she'd never take to it and I'd be nursing her exclusively forever.

However, the experiment didn't go as well as I initially thought. She hasn't pooped since. This feeding was two nights ago and for some babies, it is normal to go this long between poos. Harper is a much more frequent pooer, however, so I'm beginning to worry. Books say the poo problem will work itself out and it's not uncommon for the introduction of solid foods to cause constipation. I gave her some prunes last night. In the meantime, I can't wait for Harper to do some doods!