Is there a Doctor in the House?

A pediatrician.

In my mind, a compassionate professional there to give medical attention, advice and a smile.

That doesn't sound unreasonable, does it?

We had our third visit today and it still doesn't feel right. I've learned to navigate her thick accent but the problem seems to go deeper.

She's there to take measurements and track progress but thats about it. My questions are answered with few words and I feel like I need to lead her to get the details I want.

I told her we started solids and was hoping for some guidance about it's progression but got nothing.

When the issue of teething came up she couldn't get Hannah to open her mouth so she didn't bother looking inside.

And our number one problem - sleep - was basically a white or black answer of crying it out with no grey areas for teething. I think she was even confused when I brought up Ferber's name.

So I think it's time for a change.

Do you agree?

I'd love to hear about your pediatrician's interactions with you and your little ones. Am I expecting too much?

On a happy note, I'm proud to report a 15.5 lbs., 26 inch very strong and healthy 6 month old!

Battle of the Brands

Rice cereal take two.

With a background in marketing, I wouldn never be swayed by sleek packaging or catchy taglines, right? Granted the hand drawn animals on the organic baby rice cereal box were so cute, I picked up the first box I could find without the "just add water" tagline. But Hannah is the decision maker in this case and this cereal just didn't make the solids cut.

Maybe the brown rice wasn't as yummy as a first solids treat. Maybe the timing just wasn't right.

So on a quest for a natural, breast milk-friendly cereal, I took the voice of experience (my sister's) and picked up a box of Beech Nut rice cereal while in the States.

Well, she may have grimaced at first but then, mouth-wide open and all smiles, she managed to devour an entire teaspoon serving.

If day two goes as well we'll be moving on to Barley in no time. Good thing I had the foresight to pick up a box at the same time.

So, fancy box, bright colours and organic claims just didn't do the trick. It may not have been the Pepsi Challenge but in Hannah's rice cereal challenge we found a definite winner.

Rice-A-Roni

We started rice cereal this morning.

Not because since quitting Ferber she's been up every 2 hours at night. Although I wish solids helped in that department. But because every time I bring a piece of food or a cup of water to my mouth, it is intercepted by her hand.

After doing my reading I headed to the mall to find the perfect cereal for a girl whose had nothing but breastmilk (and Pediavit) for the past 5 months. But when I started reading the packages that said "just add water" and included oil in the ingredients I knew this was not the route I wanted to take.

So we headed over to our health food store and discovered Healthy Times brown rice organic baby cereal. Fortified with all the vitamins and minerals she needs, I felt much better giving her a product that could be mixed with my milk and whose ingredient list was all natural.

So did she like it?

The expression on her face was worth a thousand words. What is this stuff?!

She definitely didn't hate it. But she did love holding the spoon and feeling it in her mouth.

We'll try again tomorrow morning and I'm sure little by little mommy and Hannah will be sitting side by side eating cereal for breakfast.