Two truths and a lie

1. I will not miss pumping.
2. I am looking forward to wearing an underwire bra again.
3. I do not feel guilty about stopping breastfeeding.

Well, I made it to 6 months.  That was my goal from before I even became a mother.  Today will be the last day I schlep my pump to and from work.  I’ll pump tomorrow and then that’s it.  Our early morning breastfeeding will continue for a little while I hope, but I’m not counting on it.  I’ve got 2 bags of milk in the freezer and Curly happily takes formula.  I did very well, but now, I’m done.  It’s certainly with mixed feelings of guilt, pride, and relief.

Fun with Feet

Today was Curly’s (nearly) 6 month well-baby checkup. How is this kid 6 months old on Sunday?? Nutella and I were both able to be there, and Curly did very well. His current stats are:

16 lbs 5 oz (30th percentile)
27.5 in (85th percentile)

Does this officially make him a string bean? The doctor said he looks very healthy, and even though he still sleeps like crazy (around 16 hours a day), there are no signs of anything wrong. She showed us that his two bottom teeth look like they’re going to break through very soon. Then came the shots, and he did so well. He was playing with a toy when he got the first shot, and just as he was going into cry-mode, the second shot was done and it was over. He cried for maybe 30 seconds, then we gave him a bottle and he was fine. Such a good boy! Our next visit will be at 9 months and there will be no shots, hooray!

In other news, Curly has found his feet and loves grabbing them. He is still trying hard to crawl but usually only manages to move himself backwards. The few times we’ve seen him move forwards, he lifts his butt high into the air, standing on his tip toes, and flops forward. It’s very entertaining to watch. He’s also had 7 different types of food now (applesauce, avocado, rice cereal, peas, chick peas, banana, squash) and we’re starting to give him a little more quantity and sometimes twice a day.

Now we’re looking forward to Halloween!

This sh*t is bananas. B-A-N-A-N-A-S.

Solid food continues to be a fun adventure.  We tried banana tonight, and while Curly enjoyed eating it, we’re not entirely sure it agreed with him.  He was super cranky for about 20 minutes after eating it, fussing like he does when he’s got a big burp stuck. We wonder if perhaps it made him phlegmy or refluxy.

I got a book on Baby Led Weaning.  It was written in England where the term “weaning” refers to the introduction solids, not  the stopping of breastfeeding.  Basically, it works on the theory that babies should be able to decide the what, when, and how of food.  No purees, no spoon feeding.  You sit a baby at the family table for meals, offer a variety of foods from whatever you happen to be eating, and let the baby explore on its own.  As you might imagine, this makes a great mess, but it is supposed to allow the baby to learn how to be a good eater in terms of healthy choices and feelings of fullness.  I find the theory intriguing, but Curly is having so much fun with mushy food and the spoon.  I’m a little bit at a loss as to what to offer him to eat with his hands.  You see, I’ve pretty much bought into the more mainstream theory of food introduction, where low-allergy, easy to digest foods are offered one at a time with 3-4 day breaks in between offering something new.  BLW doesn’t really seem to do that.  I mean, if I were to offer Curly food from our plates, he’d be getting couscous and a roasted chicken breast with many spices.  We did try to offer him some larger pieces of banana (rolled in rice cereal dust) and sweet potato, but when he tried to pick them up he squished them and got upset that he couldn’t get them into his mouth. I think perhaps picking and choosing from each theory may be our choice for now.  Oh, and you can bet that our chihuahua is very happy about the possibility of more food coming her way.

For now, here’s the picture of Curly in his jumper.  He still hasn’t gotten it, but he likes it when someone else makes it jump.

Just hanging around

Jump up, jump up and get down

I’m feeling “bullet-y” today…

• Curly so far loves applesauce, sweet potato, avocado and Earth’s Best brand rice cereal (not Nabisco). He gets jealous if we are ever eating without him. And when there’s nothing more left in his bowl, Operation Distract and Remove Baby From High Chair must commence or he gets upset.
• Starting next week, the daycare situation is: my mom Mon-Wed, me working from home and watching him on Thursdays, and Nutella’s mom on Fridays. Hoping this will work out for a while.
• My mom slept over last night which allowed Nutella and I to have “date night.” Nutella’s company is having a large client dinner next week (which she is in charge of), and in return, the fancy restaurant gave Nutella a free tasting dinner for her and a companion. So that’s what we did last night- 2 different wines each, salads, entrees, and dessert in a romantic wine cellar for the cost of a nice tip. I had a huge grin on my face the whole time.
• We bought Curly a jumper (the kind you jump in, not the kind you wear). I will mention that the doorway we’re using it on is twice an average doorway size, so we don’t have to worry about him ever hitting the sides. So far he has no idea how to use it, but it’s only been a day. He likes chewing on it and just hanging around. We think he doesn’t quite know how to use his legs yet and hopefully this will help. I have to say, it looks awfully fun to me. Too bad about the 25 pound weight limit. Nutella commented that there are likely ones available in adult sizes, but you’d have to shop at a VERY different sort of store…
• Since our moms get to see Curly a lot, our fathers inevitably end up feeling less involved. So we planned a bowling outing on Sunday for everyone. Hoping everyone will have a good time. Wishing you all a good weekend!

NOM NOM NOM

Remember last week when we said Curly wasn’t quite ready for solids?  Well, things changed rather quickly right after that and we have now begun to seriously explore the world of solid food with Curly.  So far, baked sweet potato was a mild success when eaten off of our fingers, but he couldn’t figure out how to hold the piece and then get it to his mouth.  Homemade applesauce was a big hit, first off of our fingers, then from his highchair tray via his thumb, and finally, by spoon.  The spoon itself was introduced with some rice cereal mixed with breastmilk.  The cereal he didn’t much care for, but OMG, did he LOVE THE SPOON.  See evidence below.

Open wide!

My spoon!

Next up, avocado!

Working out the kinks

Today is the fourth day that my mom is watching Curly. No matter what time she left her place or our place this week, her one-way drive was always 1.5 hours. Last night she stayed over with us and slept on the couch. There’s no way we can keep this up. The thing that really sucks is that my parents had plans to sell their place and move closer to us (not just to be closer, but because they also don’t like where they live). They had a buyer in August and were all ready to go to settlement, when it turned out the buyer had lied on his taxes and no mortgage company would give him a mortgage. So it fell through and they had to put their place back up on the market. We are all hoping it will sell this month, but you know how the housing market is right now.

So what we’re trying to do is see if Nutella’s mom could possibly watch Curly twice a week when she’s able to, and I’ll be working from home once a week starting next week (my boss(es) are thankfully laid back and ok with flexible hours and WFH). On those days, I may work remotely all day long on and off (to get those 8 hours in) while taking care of Curly myself. So our daycare situation is still working itself out.

In other news, Curly now sits with us at the dinner table and has begun mimicking us when we eat. He’s like a little baby bird opening his mouth when we do, and intently staring at the movements of our forks as they go from plate to mouth. Just for fun, we finger fed him a little sweet potato and homemade applesauce this week. He seemed very confused, but kept motioning for more, and in fact, did end up swallowing tiny bits of each. It was adorable to see him with a furrowed brow and pursed lips as he sucked on the bits of food in his mouth. We’re not giving him anything else new for a while and we still don’t think he’s truly ready for solids, but the experimentation is fun.

Here are a couple pictures from the pumpkin patch the other day…

Rock-a-bye

Today was the beginning of an era in the Vermillion household.  Strawberry went back to work and her mother (GA) came over to take care of Curly.  She’ll be caring for him Monday-Thursday and then my mother (GV) comes over on Fridays (this plan may end up changing).  They each live about 45 minutes away (in opposite directions from us) when there’s no traffic.  Of course, weekday mornings and weekday evenings are heavy traffic times for our city.  Today, it took GA an hour and a half to get here and then another hour and a quarter to get home.  This is NO FUN for anyone and we are now putting some plans into effect to try and make her commute easier.  I’ll be shifting my work day a bit earlier and Strawberry will be shifting hers to start and end an hour later than before.  We may end up trading weeks on these new schedules, too. Hopefully, this will mean lighter traffic for GA.  Fingers crossed that this works out, because she and Curly had a lovely day together.

We know that we’re lucky that this type of care situation is possible for us, and yet, we both miss Curly like crazy.  Work seems so unfulfilling when we think about our boy at home.

In lighter news, Curly is picking himself up onto hands and knees and desperately wants to crawl.  So far, he manages to rock a bit and then falls back down, often several inches BEHIND where he started.  He’s certainly determined though, and we think he’ll get it pretty soon.  A thorough cataloging of our baby proofing needs will take place this coming weekend.  Here’s a little video to show his progress…

Oh, the places we’ll go!

Dear Curly,

I began staying home from work to take care of you 11 weeks ago. You were 2 months, 3 weeks old. It was a bit daunting trying to go places with you alone. You got tired very easily, and didn’t like the carseat for more than a short while. I got antsy at your first signs of getting fussy because I was afraid of meltdowns in public. But I was determined to show you new places and people and things. At that point, we mostly went on walks and out to lunch with people we knew- it was just easier. As time went on, we broadened our horizons. As you got more used to being in the car, we ventured further from home. As you began staying awake for longer periods of time while we were out and about, or you were able to fall asleep in your carrier or stroller, we were able to stay out and enjoy our surroundings.

In these 11 weeks, I have come to know you extremely well. You are observant, demanding, adorable, curious, and restless. Like most people, you have your good days and your bad. You are usually very clear with your cues, and expect them to be read immediately. You like your routines, but won’t have a schedule imposed on you. You have gone from a kicky, flaily baby that stays in place to a 5 month old mobile little boy who rolls across the floor, grabs whatever he can get his hands on and seems so frustrated that he can’t yet crawl.

My favorite moments have been arriving home from a couple hours out, and when I would take out of your carseat, you’d let your heavy head drop on my shoulder. I would carry you, all soft and cuddly to your room, where I’d give you a bottle and then lay you down for a nap. So simple, and yet so precious. I hope to hang on to the feeling of your little body hugged to mine forever. You used to wake up from those naps with a loud cry in the beginning, but now you simply begin talking to yourself or calling out to get my attention, and when I arrive to your crib, you greet me with a big open-mouthed smile. That will never get old.

It is with mixed feelings that I return to work next week. While I look forward to being back in the adult world with my own time and distractions, I know my heart will hurt with the thought of you back at home without your Eemah and I. But I want you to know that I consider those weeks with you to be invaluable, and I did my best to show you as many beautiful, interesting, and varied things as I possibly could.

I love you so much,
Mommy