the verdict is in

Our sweet pea does not like peas.


Either that, or it's his first taste of vegetables and he's not sure what to think. And he demonstrates that uncertainty by making faces (which are absolutely hilarious) and gagging noises (um...not so hilarious).

So, on the recommendation of his doctor, Garrett's a solid food man. Or baby. Whatever. It's been a bumpy road, full of experimentation as we've tried to find a balance between solving the reflux problem without inducing the constipation problem. Now we thicken half of his bottles with rice cereal (because he likes it, even though it plugs him up) and the other half with barley (he's not a big fan, but the fiber has changed him from One Who Keeps It In to One Who Poops Freely). We also spoon feed him something once a day. Up until this afternoon it was just rice or barley cereal prepared with pear juice, but we decided that today would be as nice as any to venture into the world of vegetables. Garrett disagreed, wholeheartedly, but if we left the decision of his diet totally up to him, he'd be eating nothing but pear juice, sips of ice water, and licks of chocolate ice cream.

This last week I also broke down and filled his Zantac prescription. He was hurting, and I needed a break from the screaming. And oh my, can I just say -- he is a changed man. Or baby. Whatever. I like Zantac Garrett much better than Heartburn Garrett.

I think we'll try the peas again tomorrow, see how it goes. After that, I'm not totally sure what to do. Does he by nature just dislike peas? Or is he like his Mama and just resistant to new things?

***

And now for two other noteworthy, though otherwise totally unrelated, items of business:

1. They turned on our radiators today. Hooray for warm apartments! We celebrated (or perhaps it was just a case of coincidental timing) by inviting some friends from our ward over to eat apples dipped in caramel fondue. Delicious.

2. Garrett's laughing has moved to a new level. Today during nursery he was sitting on my lap as the nursery kids were gathering for singing time. Garrett was watching them pretty intently, and then all of a sudden he started laughing. Just on his own. Laughing and laughing. It was so funny. I know our nursery kids are pretty silly sometimes, but I didn't think that Garrett had caught on to that fact yet.