Dex in action

Here's our little rolodex mastering his new skill.

Diet dos and donts

To less discerning bystanders, Dexter's diet might seem lacking in variety (oh boy, breastmilk again!), but apparently there are subtle variations in flavour. Who knew? So far I've discovered that he is not a big fan of:
- Thai-flavoured breastmilk
- Cajun-flavoured breastmilk
- Mexican-flavoured breastmilk
- curry-flavoured breastmilk (Indian, Japanese or otherwise)
- chocolate-flavoured breastmilk.

Oh, and I have to be careful with mango. To any nursing mothers out there, I dare 'ya: have a nice, juicy fresh mango and let me know about your diaper-change adventure the next day!

Who's your daddy?

So he started the rice cereal and got a reaction. Then he started oatmeal and guess what? Nada. He opens that little mouth wide open and asks for more.

So as I look at my fair-haired, blue-eyed kid, I ask him: which part of you is Filipino again?

Improvising at Tita Judy's

When we visited Tita Judy, she searched around the house for a vessel large enough to bathe baby in. The result is quite entertaining.

Here's a quick little video of bath time while at Tita Judy's.

Warning: Contains images of nudity and baby being dipped in large pot.

First Bite

I finally, finally got a video posted.

Here's one for your viewing pleasure: Dex's first taste of rice cereal. (It's 1.33 minutes and about 60MB. A little on the big side, but I just don't know how to compress the file or edit it.)

After eating the cereal, he had some surface irritation on his chin, but no one seems to be concerned about it -- not the public health nurse, nor the paediatrician. The redness disappears in about 20 minutes.

And btw: it's true. Once they start cereal, they sleep much better!

Roll-o-Dex

It's official. Dex rolled!

He's been rolling from tummy to back since we got back from Alberta, but today, for the first time, he rolled from back to tummy.

This is not a figment of my imagination. I was in the park with my mommy group and he was on a blanket on the grass when he decided to just throw that right leg over and roll over on his front.

Like most of his accomplishments, he was more startled than I was, especially since I started clapping and screaming in excitement.

He kinda enjoyed the view for a while, but then he got stuck and started crying. I guess he forgot that he can also roll from front to back.

**Update: link to video of Dex rolling is on August 29 post.

Growing pains and gains

The first time Dex recognized my face, that's when it finally hit me that we actually have a sentient being. Before that, he was just a cute doll that I fed, changed, and patted to sleep.

I've often wondered how women can stare at their children all day. Now I know why. Babies are absolutely fascinating. It is amazing how quickly they learn and develop. In very short order, Dexter went from simply staring at his toys to reaching out and trying to grab them.

Before we left for holidays, he would just stare at toys waved in front of him. Now he's doing all sorts of fun things. He's clutching at them and bringing them straight to his mouth. Of course (he's teething, you see).

He screams in delight when I tickle and play with him. He can now roll over one way, from tummy down position to his back (where he would get stuck thereby prompting his upturned turtle imitation, arms and legs flailing in the air). He can amuse himself staring at his hands or watching his mobile.

The clutching is entertaining. If I hold out a toy just beyond his reach, it's fun to watch him will his hands to grasp it. He'd stare at the toy while his little fingers do random independent movements, inching slowly closer to the object. Franken-grabbing as Jon calls it.

Rice cereal

Dex had his first mouthful of non-breastmilk today. Well, actually, that's not really true... we diluted the rice cereal with breastmilk so it was more breastmilk consistency than porridge. We have a video, but it's not posted anwhere yet. I need a place to park it since I can't add a video on this version of blogger.

He's only five months and one week old, a little earlier than the recommended start for cereal (they now say six months to start solids), but he was ready for it. We can tell because for the last week or so, he's been very interested in our food as we ate.