Solid food has only just become acceptable to the Moo Boy. After a few days of breastmilk only ‘cos he had a tummy bug he decided that a bit of banana would be a good idea. There I was, loaded spoon poised behind the squeaky duck, ready to grab the moment when he smiled to slip it into his mouth, fully expecting a ‘bleaugh’ and lips sealed shut. My ‘this will not become an issue’ smile was pasted onto my face but it wasn’t needed as he surprised me by grabbing the spoon and shoving it into his mouth himself. He’s now on 2 inches of banana a day but is still resolutly ‘bleaugh’ about anything else, unless its a rice cake and can be chewed and spat out in soggy lumps that stick to every available surface including the cat. We now have a timetable with something to do every day if we want to. Water Babies has got even more nervewracking, what with the teacher thowing the babies into the water to be caught, but Moo Boy really loves the water. He is not too convinced that being underneath it is a good idea but gets excited to almost exploding point with the splashing and kicking bits. I think the expense is justified if I have a child that is comfortable and confident in water. Sing and Sign is good fun too. I have been signing ‘milk’ and ‘more’ with him for a couple of months now and he has just started to sign ‘more’. It took me some time to work out that ‘more’ doesn’t mean the same thing to an 8 month old. It can mean ‘more less of something’, such as ‘more stopping wiping my nose’ or ‘more not trying to sneak sweet potato into my mouth again’. I think generally he means ‘I liked what happened last’, so it’s more of an applause than an encore but it’s a start. It did dawn on me that this is the start of two sided conversations with him. I am so used to doing both sides of the chatter now, and in town without the baby I have caught myself saying ‘look at the nice dog’, or ‘there’s a big lorry’. The rest of the week is taken up with various playgroups where I am now in a breastfeeing minority. I simper quietly as formula mums tell me that I should stop boobing him but I have no intention of giving him formula. I wouldn’t drink it, why would I give it to him? But I don’t want to hurt their feelings. Funny I feel this way because they tend to be free with their opinions. Because of this I went to a La Leche League breastfeeding support group meeting where people were boobing 3 year olds and I didn’t feel like an alien anymore.
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