7 Months Old!

Two days late, but meh. Mr. Man is 7 months old! He is getting bigger by the second it seems. He is sitting like a pro and reaching to get toys, even getting on his tummy to get something he really wants. He's been known to get stuck on his tummy, which he doesn't seem to mind much anymore. Crawling is still a long way off I think. He has no interest in getting on hands and knees and he doesn't stand on my lap for long without buckling at the knees. He has finally figured out how to jump in his jolly jumper and it's now one of his favourite activities.

The question everyone seems to be asking is, "how is solids going?" The answer? Not well. We had success at first with bananas and squash, but then something changed. Over

Christmas, Matthew cut 4 teeth, yes 4 TEETH, all at once! AND he got a pretty bad cold that sent us running to emerge at 1 am after a high fever and vomiting. Needless to say, the poor boy didn't feel well. He began to refuse solids, and then he started eating less and less milk. He had trouble nursing because he couldn't breath well. He even started drinking less milk from a bottle and we had to offer him 1/2 oz at a time every 15 minutes, or whenever he made a peep. It was a long and rough Christmas for us, but Matthew got better and was back to his normal self (almost) in short order.

Once he started feeling better, I started offering him solids again. This did not go so well. I would heat up some of my lovely homemade food and what would I get? A closed mouth and turned head and crying. I kept offering, and he kept refusing. I offered him bits of peas and carrots on his tray, Baby Mum Mums, and even resorted to tricking him by letting him chew on a spoon, then shoveling in some food when I saw an open mouthed opportunity. I managed to occasionally shovel in some peaches, or sweet potatoes, or squash, but it was a struggle and neither one of us was happy.

And THEN Matthew got what I thought was a teething rash. It started on his face and progressed to his chest, then his back, arms and legs. Wait a minute, this doesn't sound like just a teething rash. After talking to my sister in law, and watching Matthew rub his face like crazy and cry in pain from the itch, I decided to take him to the nearest walk in clinic. The doctor quickly agreed that it was not a teething rash. He immediately thought it is likely an allergic reaction to something he ate, or something I ate. Since I haven't changed my diet, and he's been breastfed for 7 months, we narrowed it down to something he ate. The doctor prescribed some mild cortisone cream and told me to give him some Benadryl and apply the cream and stop all food until the rash has cleared.

So that's where we are with solids. We've stopped all solids for a while and are diligently applying the cream twice a day. The rash is slowly clearing and Matthew is much happier without the constant itching. We hope to start Matthew on solids soon, from the beginning, and this time I will be keeping a journal of everything he eats, and how he reacts to it. I hope by the time we try again, he is a willing participant in the adventure.

I've read that sometimes kids with allergies refuse solids. Perhaps they instinctively know something. Perhaps this is why Matthew suddenly stopped eating. Or perhaps he stopped eating because his poor mouth hurt so much from cutting 4 teeth at once. We'll probably never know why he refused to eat solid food, but I hope he changes his mind soon. He is a growing boy after all. But you'd never know he is a 7 month old who isn't eating solids from the look of him. I mean LOOK at him! He's a big boy for sure. I love my big boy!