Chew Toys

The New Hampshire branch of the family is carrying on, buoyed by a visit from Alex over the weekend.

Brynna's main purpose in life continues to be grabbing things and shoving them in her mouth. Our apartment is going to require childproofing in short order, as she is becoming more mobile by the day. She has moved on from the corkscrew maneuver to a sort of backwards commando scootch. We think she's trying to go forward, but it isn't working out for her yet. She can move remarkably quickly this way, however. I was working at my desk the other day and turned around to find that she had rolled off the mattress (which is on the floor) and struck out across the hardwood, where she was grasping the lamp cord in both little fists, mouth poised to dive in on her prey. Bad Mommy! (No teeth yet, thank goodness, but on principle I don't think she should be chewing on electrical cords.)

Today, Dad and I were both sitting in the living room, and Brynna was gymini-ing away on the floor, when Dad looked up to see Brynna in mid-chomp on Jasper's lobster chew toy (which has never been attacked so aggressively). I quickly supplied some nice breastmilk antibodies and attempted to explain to Brynna that the jungle animals were for her, and the crustaceans were for Jasper. We'll see if that sinks in.

(We pay attention to her! A lot! Really! She just moves REALLY FAST now and it is unexpected!)

Pretty soon we will have no more excuses, as Brynna is going to be crawling any day. In between chomping on inappropriate items, she pushes up onto her hands and knees and rocks back and forth vigorously. Today came the new modification, the combination knee-lift-and-nose-dive.

I am also trying to provide some more appropriate outlets for our little Jaws. The other night, she was sitting in the kitchen as I was cooking dinner, and as I was explaining to her that broccoli was green and looks like a little tree, I realized that there was no reason that the broccoli itself couldn't be a perfectly good chew toy. It was too thick to snap into dangerously tiny pieces, and she has no teeth to strip off such pieces, either. Brynna was a fan:



Since Christmastime, when Brynna had her first taste of pears, she's been having little bits of mashed up pear on occasion, maybe once a week. Or once every other week. (Breastfeeding is so convenient...solid foods aren't!) She's also had very liquidy applesauce, made with love by Aunt Katherine from local Minnesota apples.

Yesterday was a big step, though: Brynna's first go at rice cereal. This is the traditional first food for babies, mainly because it comes enriched with iron, which is something that babies start to need an extra source of around 6 months of age. It can also be mixed with breastmilk, which makes it very appetizing. Brynna agreed—she absolutely loved it!


She likes to take the spoon herself and stick it in her mouth, mainly so she can gum it with her nonexistent molars. It gets the job done, though!

Here she is afterward, with cereal all over her face...and bib...and hands...


We're not going to rush things with the food. She's thriving on breastmilk, and in fact, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends exclusive breastfeeding until 6 months. (Brynna, however, at just shy of this age, has been showing all the signs of being ready for solid foods for several weeks now: she sits independently, she turns her head away from breast or bottle to show that she is done, she looks very interested when we are eating, she's started to want to nurse more often, and so on.) The vast majority of her calories will continue to come from my milk for several more months. We're just playing around, providing a little iron, and taking cute pictures.

Brynna and Jasper have clearly worked out a deal about the food, as she has already started tossing her spoons down to him.

Perhaps that's why he just vomited all over the rug. Arrgh! Twice!