Day 23

 

Day 23

Today was a pretty good day... Gus had a great day and I decided to try the new spoons that I bought at Target yesterday. Guess what? I don't know if it was from the spoons, or just the timing, or maybe both, but he ate an entire container of vanilla YoBaby! yogurt! It made me very happy... and he had a teething cookie and he loved it too!

I decided to go with the advice that my wise SIL Heather gave me... not only will Gus figure out eating eventually, and the first year is just for exploring and having fun, BUT... if it takes him a little longer to "get it" than so what? All babies have their own individual timelines. If he's still on formula at 13 or 14 months... so what? As long as he's developing and is healthy, who is to say what is "normal" for him? She also said to trust my gut and let him tell me what he wants. If he's hungry and keeps eating... keep feeding him. He'll let me know when he's not hungry anymore (so true).

So, I feel like I've turned over a new leaf and have a new outlook and perspective on this whole eating thing. Gus is a wonderful baby and is growing, developing, chatting, and exploring each day and that's what matters. He is loved and gets kisses, hugs, and attention all day and it's more than some babies get.

Wendy got home this evening and I can't wait to see her (I hope tomorrow). It's been more than a week since I last saw her and I miss her!!! I can't wait to hear about her trip to Texas and to see the girls!

Here are some fun pictures that I took this morning of Gus:

 

Tonight for dinner, I made BBQ chicken and made the BBQ sauce from scratch (holy smokes... remind me to just use store-bought next time), and then baked beans, and potato salad that I made from scratch (it had crumbled bacon that I fried, and then corn that was cooked in the bacon grease, buttermilk, mayo, onions, celery, and some spices). It was all very delicious! Here's a picture of my gourmet meal...

 

Lastly, I want to say how awesomely Gus is doing with using the sippy cup. I read a few different parenting magazines, and one of them for February had a whole thing about timelines and when the prime time is for introducing various things to a baby/child. One of the items was introducing a sippy cup. It said that between seven and nine months is the prime time to get the best results. I couldn't agree more because Gus is a champ! 

Taking away the pacifier should be done at 6 months if you want it to be as easy as possible, but the magic window is 12-23 months. I absolutely hate seeing older children walking around with a pacifier in their mouth. I am so glad that Gus doesn't use one anymore and hasn't since he was about four-months-old!

It also said that you shouldn't potty-train before 2.5 years because most children are not mentally ready for it, and will have accident after accident. It said that you might go a few times without an accident, and then experience set-backs that can be difficult on the parents and the child. It said 2 1/2 years to 3 years is the optimal time to start trying to potty-train. It's also the magic window time for transitioning from the crib to a bed. I'm glad I have a while before I have to worry about that!

Before I end this post, I forgot to mention that our social worker called tonight to schedule our final post-placement visit for Gus's adoption! He'll be coming on Thursday (yes... THIS Thursday) at 5 and then once that visit is complete, he'll send in the paperwork to MI (probably to our attorney) for our finalization to begin!!! I have NO idea how long that'll take, but it's pretty exciting!!

Until tomorrow!
>^..^<