24 weeks (5.5 months)

I wrote most of this post a week ago, but was waiting to post it until Randy could get the video ready.  But he has been VERY busy with work (and lawsuit - we settled!), so I'm going to go ahead and post.  

Hair!
We seem to be getting some hair!  It's so blonde (not to mention thin so far) as to not show up well on camera, but I'll try to get a shot with a dark background. 

SOLIDS!
My milk supply seems to be a little tenuous again, and as a result our sweet girl was cranky with hunger and hadn't grown much in the last month.  I was pretty upset when we realized what was going on (it can be hard to tell since I don't know how much she's getting when I nurse her, or what's making her upset).  The pediatrician was not worried about Charlotte's well-being, but advocated supplementing with formula.  We did that for a couple of weeks, but it seemed to be upsetting her tummy, so we decided to start on solids at 5.5 months (the current recommendation is 6 months).  Lots of folks these days are  recommending starting with vegetables rather than rice cereal, which sounded good to us, so we started with spinach, mixed with a little breast milk.  She LOVES it.  She gets so excited that her hands shake.  Randy will be posting video.  As you'll see, we're using the original Mother Nature brand spoon - Randy's finger, which seems to work a lot better than the actual spoon for getting the food actually IN her mouth.  Except for the first attempt, he and she have managed to get most of it into her each time, though we're only offering about a tablespoon.  We're adding a new food every 4 days, per guidelines.  We wanted to add foods that would combine well, and one of OUR favorite foods to eat with spinach is onion, so we tried that, convention be damned.  The first attempt did not go well, so Randy cooked it a bit differently the next time, and now she likes that, too!  We've also added sweet potatoes, which she loved.  Next up is butternut squash, and then maybe a fruit.

Major purchase
We bought a new high chair.  That may not sound like exciting news, but as many of you know, we have been trying to inherit, buy, borrow or steal (ok, not steal) only used items, in the interest of our budget and the planet.  We have bought some small items new (cloth diapers and covers, bibs, pacifiers, books in Spanish), but have yet to make any substantial new purchases.*  But as we looked around at high chair options, we decided we felt quite picky about several features (esp. ease of height adjustment and cleanup and mobility between kitchen and living room), and the only one we could find that we really wanted was a new model that would be hard to find used.  So we splurged.  And we are THRILLED with it.  Video will be posted.

Nursing
Meanwhile, my milk supply has come back for now, which makes me VERY happy.  It's really sad and frustrating not to have enough milk for one's baby.  I suspect it's emotionally something like erectile dysfunction, except (sorry, guys) more truly important, plus extra heart-wrenching because she's crying.  But now she's not crying again.  Yay!  She's still a very fidgety nurser, though; the latest is nursing yoga, where she grabs her foot and extends it out to the side or up towards my face.  She also likes to play with my hair when she's getting full and easily distracted.

Randy's on visual media duty, as usual.  Feel free to pester him if he doesn't post soon.  

*For anyone out there who is postponing having children because it's expensive, I can attest that it doesn't have to be.  Of course, it helps to have siblings and friends who are done having kids and willing to pass things along, but there are lots of ways to buy used items.  I would guess that we have spent less than $500 total, not including the hospital bill or the high chair.  Or IVF, of course, which was A LOT.  Another reason not to postpone having kids if you can help it!  Thanks again VERY much to all the dear friends and family who have given, lent or sold us stuff.  We really appreciate it!