First-time blogger

Hi moms! Congratulations on your beautiful babies.

Thanks for the invite to join--and as a first time blogger, I guess I didn't realize I should've created a pseudonym. Ah well. My boy Nico is just turning 6 months old and he's quite a handful. I've been off from teaching--and pretty much everything--this quarter. I really didn't know it would be quite so hard. (Nico is crying himself down to his nap right now, which always breaks my heart, despite the fact that he's completely exhausted.)

The last couple of weeks have been amazing. Nico's tearing through milestones, and I wish he would slow down a bit. I don't feel ready. I went in to get him out of his crib two weeks ago and found him up on his hands and knees (he had turned over) and having sprouted his first two bottom teeth. Now he won't stay on his back and is dying to crawl.

I had a very bad cold several weeks ago and shared it with Nico, but was encouraged by the doctor to keep breastfeeding--you do in fact share your antibodies with the baby. The other hard part about being sick with a baby is that you don't get much chance to rest and take care of yourself. For me, it was pretty important that my hubby took over most baby duties (besides breastfeeding) so I could rest and recover quickly.

Nico just started tasting solids and loves pretty much everything we've given him. Main nutrition comes from breastmilk, but he was grabbing at our food and mimicking chewing, so I figured it was time. We started with tastes of apple and banana, and now he's had carrots and sweet potato too. Since it mainly supplements breastmilk, feeding is fairly irregular, and we do it to introduce yet another new experience to Nico-man, who can't seem to get enough. Last couple of days we've tried whole grain rice cereal. Initially I was reluctant because I was afraid of constipation, esp. given his intestinal surgery when first born. But he's actually had some diarrhea. Hopefully it'll pass, but we do tend to worry when it comes to this stuff.

I'm having trouble posting pics, but when I do I'll put up Nico as a cowboy for Halloween. I had lots of fun dressing him up--I'm not sure how much he enjoyed it.

By the way, I'd love to start a support group where we physically meet--even if monthly. Any interest? I could host first before the holidays, or after if it's better. I want to talk to you guys about teaching with a little one. I may have an appointment after all for the winter and I'm not sure what to do. . . . We could invite any other new mom grad students you'd like. I'm a bit out of the loop.