4 Months Old!!

We went to our 4 month old checkup today! Zoe and Val are growing like crazy! Zoe weighs 12 lbs, 3 oz and Valentina comes in at 12lbs 13 oz! They are both 25 inches tall! That puts them in the 10th and 25th respectively for weight, and 75th percentile for height. Maybe they'll be tall like their grandmama and aunties :). I predict they'll at least be taller than me for sure.

 They also got their next round of shots which was hard on everyone. I nearly started crying myself! It was so sad to watch my babies in pain! They cried longer than last time, and tonight they have a bit of a high temperature. Poor babies!

The doctor told us that it's also time to start solid foods! I've been SO excited for this. They are going to be total foodie babies. I know a thing or two about food and making it from scratch, and I don't really plan on buying any baby foods.

I don't want to feed my babies "baby food", I want to feed them real foods prepared baby style. I'll never feed them anything that I don't find appealing myself, I think that's only fair.

I asked the pediatrician some questions that caught her a little off guard, like if I could use spices like cinnamon and nutmeg and if I needed special oatmeal for babies. I did not really like her answers ("lets hold off for now" and "yes"). I don't think she really understood that I'm on a mission to be a babyfood chef extraordinaire, and that I've already researched this stuff on my own. Turns out you can make "baby" oatmeal by pulverizing oatmeal in a blender before cooking, and cinnamon and other spices should be ok for babies if you introduce them slowly. I think in these matters, I can trust my mommy instincts and my own research.

So, I've started getting everything prepared for their first "meal". I've ordered high chairs from amazon so we can feed them in the dining area like proper, civilized people. I'm waiting for the weekend when I won't get any work distractions and their high chairs will arrive.

The only ingredients I have to work with at first are oats, brown rice, and milk (and when I say 'milk' I'm always referring to breast milk, no cows milk till age one(ish)). These bland cereals I'm supposed to give really sound boring. After a few days of that, I really might try a dash of cinnamon or something, just a little and observe closely how they do...I mean, why not? With careful observation for negative reactions, I don't see the harm. The pediatrician recommended to do two weeks of oatmeal/rice cereal before introducing the awesome stuff like bananas, carrots, sweet potatoes and avocados and such. She mentioned some "first stage" Gerber nonsense, but I have some books that specify what produce is good in the beginning. So with the grains, fruits, veggies, and spices, it's going to be really fun!