Progress

It's been a little over a week since Kira's 6-month doctor's appointment.  Here is where we are so far:

1. Eating solids - C - Kira is not a huge fan of the rice cereal.  She often cringes, spits, and fusses.  The doctor says we can start apples and sweet potatoes after the rice cereal, but we haven't actually done it yet.  And, a friend of mine says her daughter never liked the rice cereal, but she loves oatmeal cereal.  So we have lots to try and we need to get on it ASAP.

2. Using a sippy cup - B+ - Kira is pretty good with a sippy cup.  She sometimes remembers that there is yummy juice inside.  Sometimes she forgets and by chance will suck on the spout and then there is a look of surprise on her face!  It's so funny.  I give her a B+ on this one because sometimes she uses her sippy cup as a tambourine or a chew toy.

3. Sleep training - B - A few days ago, I would have given Kira a D- on this one.  But to my great surprise, she fell asleep tonight on her own!  Trevor is reminding me that it only took 15 minutes!  This very morning she woke up at 5 am after feeding at 4 am.  Although 5 am is officially morning, based on Kira's sleeping schedule, it's practically the middle of the night, and I knew she was not ready to wake up.  So, Trevor and I left her, and she cried for over an hour!  By the time she was really ready to wake up for the day, her eyes were all swollen!  Anyways, we need to wait and see on this one.

4. Vitamins with iron - F - My fault on this one...I haven't bought the vitamins yet!

5. Eczema - A - I've been diligently applying hydrocortisone 1% cream on Kira's eczema every morning, after bath, and every night.  Her rash is 90% gone!  The discoloration has completely disappeared.  She still has a bit of dryness.  I'm going to continue using the cream until the eczema has 100% cleared up.

6. Weaning - B- - Weaning has been rough on me.  I've had a lot of engorgement and now an infection.  At first, Kira did not like her formula, and that was stressing me out, too.  She started with Similac's Alimentum because I had a free sample from the doctor.  She really did not like the taste of it.  Then we received notification that our health insurance would cover the cost of Enfamil's Nutramigen.  She is much more accepting of the Nutramigen than the Alimentum.  Although it took extra effort to get approval for coverage (our doctor had to write a letter explaining the medical need to our insurer), I'm very glad that it worked out, and even more glad that Kira doesn't mind it.

So, it looks like we're doing okay.  One thing that I'm learning is that everyday has the potential to be completely different from the one before.  When Kira refused formula for the first time, I had a sinking feeling it would take an extra long time to wean.  But today she had three feedings out of eight that were bottle-fed formula and not nursed breastmilk.  A few days ago and even this morning, I truly felt that Kira would cry herself through the next few weeks.  But here I am typing away and she's sleeping soundly.  It just amazes me...