Eating and sleeping

During our last checkup with Dr. Dameron he said Olivia may be ready for rice cereal at 3 1/2 months. He suggested practicing with formula on a spoon to get the mechanical skills down. The other day I picked up a box of random bottles from Craigslist and in it was a bottle with a spoon attachment; the milk flows from the bottle through the handle to the spoon. So I tried formula with that, but Olivia was hungry so she wasn't having anything to do with a spoon. And then I forgot about it for a few days.

Today I tried again with a bowl and regular spoon, mixing in a little rice cereal for texture. I put Livi in the Johnny Jumper because it had a tray, holding it still with my knees underneath. She opened her mouth just fine, but most of it just soaked right into her bib and she wanted to bounce instead of eat.

So I got the highchair and a bucket bib out of the basement, put Olivia in a slight recline to let gravity help, and fed her some more. This time she wasn't starving but was tired and most of it went into the bib, but at least we got some nom-nom practice.

Olivia has a hard time sleeping while I'm on the go, even when she's tired. She's used to darkness, swaddling, and white noise and sometimes sleeps in the car, but anywhere else it's a challenge (i.e. at the store or in the nursery). We've successfully put her down, swaddled, while at friends' houses, but otherwise she won't sleep on the go. Today it's dreary so I left the shade up and noise off for her nap. Still swaddled, but honestly I think we're going to be swaddling her until kindergarten because if even one arm gets free she cries and won't go back to sleep. Sometimes I put her in a sleep sack just to try it, and it's fitful. But for now she's sleeping which means I need to go take a shower!