So last Saturday we started Saoirse on solid food (she will be 6 months in 1 week). That is to say the baby rice or cereal as they call it here. It is a fine powder which you mix with the normal formula or breast milk and it produces a porridge like food which will help the baby get used to the eating rather than drinking action for her tongue and mouth. I had been holding off till she was closer to 6 months even though everyone we meet tells us how enormous she is. We video’ed the first efforts and were well rewarded when she positively snapped at the spoon and slurped the food off! I have to say I suffered the most, as I found it really hard to see the mess all over her face, on her clothes and hands and chair etc.!! That was 5 days ago and she is still loving her food and her mouth is open in anticipation, but I have managed a system where she is less messy. I know that is pathetic, but it really is more for my sanity. Please don’t write to me and say I am causing all types of cleanliness neuroses.

JC recently did a 2 day raw food course and subsequently we have bought a juicer and are “drinking” our breakfasts and lunches. (Sinead, you will have you give us some recipes). We have just signed up with an online ethical co-op where we can get all of our organic fruits and veggies delivered. The prices are cheaper than where we normally buy our groceries so that is good news. Next week JC will start Soairse on the first of the real foods. I believe the food group is the yellow vegetable one, i.e. carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes, squashes and pumpkins. I want to do the veggies first and leave the sweeter fruits till later, otherwise I gather it is hard to get them to eat the vegetables. Any ideas, experiences or exciting baby recipes are more then welcome! Also not sure when I am supposed to be feeding her the solids. She feeds 4 times a day, 7am, noon, 4pm and again at 7pm. I have been feeding her the baby rice at the 4pm feed, but not sure when to introduce the real food? And I have been warned by several people that her poo will be the colour of whatever it is she is eating!

Another question, when we arrived in South Africa, I put her onto the SMA 1 as they did not sell the Aptimal she was on in Ireland. I am now progressing her on to another Aspen product called S26 Promil Gold, but am wondering if this is the correct follow on formula, as there seems to be another Aspen 6 month + product. Any SMA users who can advise me???

Otherwise Saoirse continues to be a good natured and sweet little soul, although her amazing sleep through the night routines seem to be changing a little and over the past week I have had to get up often to calm her down from crying. Not sure if one so young can have nightmares or night terrors. That is what they seem to be like – she whimpers and sounds almost scared! The other thing I have noticed which could become a big problem, is that sometimes her crying at night is related to her soother (pacifier) having fallen out and she can not find it (she has generally rolled over it and it is stuck to some part of her body!). The problem is that we do not want to get into the habit of jumping out of bed everytime she cries because she wants her soother. One friend warned me about that. Any suggestions or is it a phase they grow out of?

Her legs were always very sturdy (I used to call her Tina Turner because of her “thunder thighs”) and I am amazed that she is able to stand for up to 90 seconds supporting herself only by holding on with her hands to her baby gym/play mat. She shows no interest, however in crawling, and I have a feeling she will be one of those babies that walks before they crawl. She also sits unaided for long spells at a time, but try as she will, she can not sit herself up, although her stomach muscles must be better than mine as she spend most of her time trying to sit up doing stomach crunches!

Oh, and some good news is that JC’s sister, DD, is expecting a baby in September, so Saoirse will have a little cousin Stateside to play with.