What If…..

I took a walk today with Jackson. Usually we go about 2 miles which takes approx  30 – 40 minutes. Today I wanted to walk to my work about a mile past where we usually stop. I had a card to drop off to a coworker and it was nice out and Jack seemed to be in good spirits. We had enough time to do the walk and get home in time for nap time.  I made it about 2 blocks from my office when Jack started fussing and wouldn’t stop.I took him out of the stroller thinking that maybe he had grown tired of being confined to his stroller which helped for a minute but he still fussed. I tried to continue on and it only got worse. So I turned the stroller around and proceeded to head home as fast as my flip flops could carry me. He cried / fussed most of the way back.

 It’s funny on the way to the office when Jack was happy and smiling every one wanted to say hi and smile at him. On the way back when he was cranky and screaming people wouldn’t even make eye contact with me, even when I smiled at them. So I got him home and he seemed to be happy to be back in the house.

 I tried giving him a small amount of water today in his bottle. He seemed very unsure about it. He drank a little but I couldn’t tell if he liked it or not. He seemed to enjoy it after the walk. I thought he was probably thirsty since it was pretty warm out. He took a couple of nips from the bottle and then seemed to lose interest. The doctor said it was ok to offer him some water and to get him used to the taste. I really don’t want to give him juice. There really isn’t any nutritional value in it and I would like him to drink water. It’s just something I feel strongly about because we never drank juice or soda growing up and I still don’t drink it now. John loves juice which annoys me because it is expensive and he can drink a whole bottle in a day. I just think juice is a waste of money. 

  I keep reading in my books that at 6 months you can start a sippy cup. I can’t imagine him drinking from a sippy but my MIL bought Jack one so I thought I would try it out with a little bit of water in it.  He played with the cup and one time he bought it to his mouth but I don’t think it was on purpose. Who knows? I still think he’s too young for the sippy but that’s just my opinion. The sippy cup is one of the items on my mile long list of questions for Jackson’s pediatrician. The list includes questions about starting swimming lessons, starting solids, starting finger foods, are spices and flavor ok for him or is bland best, should I be brushing his 2 lone teeth, and my all important question about naps. I think I may actually bring a pen and paper to write down the answers. Sometimes I start reading baby books and I feel really overwhelmed. All the talk about things I should be doing to stimulate him and what milestones he should be reaching and what foods he should be eating. I read about transitioning to solids and transitioning from a bottle to a cup and about eating finger foods. I wonder how I will figure it all out. How will he figure it all out? What if he doesn’t want to give up the bottle or if he hates solid food or what if I’m doing it all wrong. What if I’m not talking to him enough or what if I’m not giving him enough time on his tummy or enough time to sit up. Too many what ifs. I love having a book for a guide but some days it’s just all too much.