Finding our stride

I am soon to complete my second week at home with Mister Curly, and I believe we have found a pretty good stride. At nearly 3 months old, he is better at sharing cues for being hungry, sleepy, happy, bored, etc, and I am better at picking up on them. I’ve been marking down his natural patterns and found that things are very manageable as long as he gets lots and lots of sleep and naps.

Speaking of sleep, we had nearly a two-week run of the boy sleeping 6-9 solid hour stretches at a time, waking up for a change and feed, and then sleeping another 3 hours. Last night’s sleep wasn’t so good, and he was cluster feeding in the afternoon, leading us to believe this is a temporary growth spurt. We have undeniably been thrilled about getting so much lovely sleep these days.

Curly and I have been on a few adventures together- to a couple parks, the mall, out to lunch with Nutella and then grandma, strolling the streets of a historic town, and even to a play group. At this point, he’s just as happy staring up at a tree in our backyard as he would be looking at trees at the zoo (and not noticing the animals), so while these activities are more for me right now than for him, I do notice he loves being out and about and hope it’s broadening his horizons.

As for changes in him…he’s gotten very chatty these days. It started out with lots of low “oh” sounds and today has changed to small shrieks and other high-pitched noises. He’s constantly sucking on his hands and fingers, though he does not always realize he can’t eat and do that at the same time. He can roll over from his tummy to his back, but still couldn’t care less about grabbing toys, though he will stare at them (but prefers faces).

So, we’re having a pretty good time these days. And the highlight? Picking out which outfit he will wear in the morning. I never shared this before, but I have a slight obession with baby clothes (totally out of character for me). I’m especially glad we had a boy because the selection of girl clothes out there kind of makes me want to vomit, but as long as I steer clear of sports and trucks in the boy section, I have tons of fun shopping for him. So I present to you a mini fashion show of some of my favorites, complete with matching facial expressions:

9 months in solitary

Puppy dog eyes

Binoculars explorer

I run on green energy

Big deal

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You’ve got to grind, grind, at that grindstone

Monday was my first day back at work and Strawberry’s first day home alone with Curly.  I’m not going to sugar coat it.  It’s hard.  Can’t wait for the weekend. Bullets below discuss my feelings.

• Work- I like my job, but I don’t love it.  I’m well paid, and I have a short commute. I’m lucky to have a very supportive team and boss and company.  I returned to nearly 200 emails, and several must do now tasks.  Oh, and my mid-year review is next week.  One of my team members was let go 2 week before I returned.  I think it was a performance issue, but still, a little scary.  There is a hiring freeze, so it is unlikely that we will be replacing him.  I’m at the office for most of the hours a day that Curly is awake, and I really, truly miss him.  In the mornings I feed him when he wakes up and then put him back down to sleep while I get ready and then go.  When I get home in the evenings it’s a rush to nurse him, eat dinner, play a little and then nurse him and put him to bed.  And the early evening is his crankiest time of day.   So I ‘m really only with him for about 2 hours while he’s awake. I miss all the lazy hours I used to have with my smiley chatty boy.
• Pumping- Hate it.  It’s a pain in the ass.  Yes, I’m grateful that so far I am able to keep up with Curly’s milk needs.  And again, my workplace is supportive.  There’s even a designated “Mother’s Room”  that will be ready in the next week or so, complete with 2 gliders and stools, tables, decorations, and a mini fridge.  And it’s on my floor!  But the actual pumping?  So not fun.  I’m using a Medela Pump in Style and I’ve rigged a mostly hands free setup with hair bands.  I say “mostly” because the way my bre@sts are shaped means I have to lean over to get the milk to flow down as opposed to back towards me.  Still, I am able to read for the 15 minutes that I’m pumping.  I store my pump parts in a container in the fridge between pumping sessions so I only have to wash them once a day at home.  But I really do feel like a cow.  And it makes me doubt my supply.  When Curly is nursing, I have no idea how much he’s eating.  But to see my milk measured out in bags and bottles and to worry if I’ve got enough is a complete and total mindfuck.

The silver lining to this is that Curly and Strawberry are finally getting time together alone.  They are learning each other’s cues and falling into a rythm.  And I am so very happy that he is loved and cared for by his moms in these early months.  I feel for all of the parents out there that must leave their infants and head back to work.

New adventures

Today marks the beginning of a transition…one of many we’ve already been through or have yet to experience. Nutella is back at work today and I’m at home for the next 11 weeks (FMLA gives me 12, but I took off a week for our beach vacation). Nutella is very sad to have to go back to work, but we decided a while ago it was the right plan for us at this time. We need our two incomes to live comfortably, and I’m not sure either of us is cut out to be a full-time stay-at-home-mom. We’re glad to have gotten this much time to be with Curly though, and also delighted that when I’m done, the grandmothers will be taking over.

So I sit here typing with my hiccuping boy on my lap, who just woke up for the day. I’m curious how he’ll do taking bottles half the day. I’m looking forward to documenting his patterns a bit so we can get on at least a loose schedule. And I’m looking forward to all the things we’re going to do together- trips to the park, gardens, the zoo, the pool, museums, malls, various cities to take strolls, etc. I really want to make the most out of my time with my son. But one thing is certain- we will both miss Eemah to bits.

Curly in a pepto bismol bumbo

I want a village by the sea

One of the best things about our beach vacation was staying in a house with my wonderful parents.  They love Strawberry and Curly and me, and I trust them to take care of him.  It was so amazing to have other people there that love him and can care for him when we needed a break.  It felt so wicked and indulgent to leave him in their care for 2 hours while we snuck off to a movie in the middle of the afternoon (Up! In 3D, highly recommended, bring tissues).  So peaceful to sit on the beach with him in his baby pod and know that he was sleeping soundly in the presence of his loved ones.  It makes me dream of a “village” where there are many loved ones all together and many children, of all ages, playing together.  I would love to see my son playing in the sand with your sons and daughters and for you to feel safe and happy to walk off for a while to hold your sweetie’s hand and stroll along the shore.  Or for you to serve up sandwiches at your house while I try to beat your sweetie at Scr@bble. And then, after the sun sets and the fireflies begin to twinkle, we each return to our own cozy homes and our own little families.  Strawberry and I put Curly to bed and then head off to bed ourselves, knowing that the days ahead will bring more laughter.  And when there are tears (and there are always tears) we will know, even in the dark night, that we aren’t alone.  There’s a village right outside our door and they have tears at times, too.

It is nice to have all of you out there across the great wide web. But I’m a people person and I truly would cherish having all of us physically close by.  An eternal optimist, I am. Sure, perhaps in the real world, we wouldn’t get along all that well, but I can dream it, right?

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Back to the real world

We’ve returned from our week-long beach vacation yesterday. Our weather was unbelievably perfect- not one drop of rain the whole week. Curly enjoyed the sensation of his toes in the sand and his first dip in the pool. He charmed his grandparents and they returned the favor. We were lucky enough to spend a weekend with the ladies from Looking For a Little Turtle, even enjoying a night out dancing while the grandparents looked after Curly. And Curly is now willingly taking a bottle of breastmilk once a day in preparation for my return to work.

Curly was very well-behaved on the trip, as long as he got enough naps in. We’ll definitely remember this trip fondly for years to come. Oh, and we have lots of pictures to share with you in a password-protected picture post later, so please comment if you want the p-word. For now, we’ll leave you with a teaser…

Beach baby

9 Things

Quick update on the bottle situation… There has been more screaming and more rejection, but finally we figured out something that works. He cannot be held in a breastfeeding or similar position when given a bottle…meaning, no laying down or cradling. If he is held on our lap, sitting up, with his back leaning against us, he will accept the bottle. We’ve done it like that twice today with no screaming or rejection…a little fussiness, but nothing too bad. YAY.

Without further adeiu, here is our “9 Things Meme” (9 Things that we love…and yes, originally it was 7, but I liked Insert Metaphor’s idea of 9 pictures and these go for both Nutella and I)

In no particular order, these things are:

1. Vacations
2. Gourmet food
3. Sleeping Curly
4. Theatre
5. Our chihuahua
6. Wineries
7. Friends
8. Smiling Curly
9. Each other

Thanks to the 3 blogs that tagged us…it looks like by now, pretty much everyone has done this 🙂 If you haven’t, consider yourself tagged.

Have a wonderful Independence Day if you’re in the US! See you in a week!

Bottle FAIL

Perhaps we should have recognized that previous picture as foreboding. This was going to be a light, happy post full of pictures for that 7-9 things meme that’s going around, since we’ve been tagged and all, but we’ll tackle that one tomorrow. Here’s a little about our last two evenings.

Nutella had her last physical therapy appointment yesterday, so I was at home with little Mr. Curly for an hour. The timing was such that I was going to give him a bottle of breastmilk…no big deal. He’s been taking bottles on and off for a while now, though mostly feeding from the actual breast 90% of the time. So I begin to feed him, he sucks down an ounce, and then proceeds to SCREAMOHMYGODMAKEMEDEAF. Now, Nutella told me he hadn’t napped all day so my immediate thought was: Overtired. It happens. I finally get him calm, Nutella arrives home, feeds him from the boob, and he goes to sleep.

Tonight we spy some breastmilk in the fridge that is about to expire, so we decide I will give him that before sleep and then Nutella will finish him off with the boob. As soon as the bottle goes in his mouth (and yes, the milk was room temperature and tasted fine), he proceeds to SCREAMBLOODYMURDER again. And he’s had several naps throughout the day. It’s like something just clicked in his 2-month brain and he only. wants. boob. Unfortunately, he needs to be able to take a bottle, too. We had planned on going out on our beach trip and having the g-parents give him a bottle. Not to mention Nutella is going back to work soon and there will only be bottles during the day.

So, over the next two hours, we proceeded to try and feed him the bottle, try and maintain some sense of sanity and hearing while he screamed, calm him and try the whole thing over and over and over again. He finally got so tired and so hungry, he gave up and gulped down what was in the bottle. Tomorrow we’re going to do bottles and breast every other feeding until he accepts the bottle again without a fuss. This is definitely one of those Not Fun times of parenthood. My ears are still ringing.

2 months

Today is Curly’s 2 month birthday!  To celebrate, we took our first trip on public transportation where he was fascinated by the moving lights of the train as it sped through the tunnels.  We went into the city to visit a big annual festival and met up with a few other mommy friends, one of whom I went to high school with and haven’t seen since 2005.  How would I ever have friends if it weren’t for F@cebook?

Curly typically sleeps when we are out with the stroller, but not today.  Too much to see and hear.  I had to keep the shade over him because it was very sunny and bright out, but he stayed wide awake the whole time anyway.  We nursed twice while we were out and he did quite well.  Once we got home and I had fed him, we swaddled him tightly and put him in his crib with the shade drawn because the kid NEEDED a nap.

I have to say, that the past 2 weeks or so he’s become very fun.  Smiling and laughing, engaging with people, interested in objects and sounds.  He’s holding his head up by himself 90% of the time and staring at the world in wonder.  His patterns are becoming more regular.  On Saturday we are leaving for a week at the beach with my parents and we will be introducing him to sand and to the water in the pool and ocean.  I hope he enjoys it and that it’s the beginning of a summer tradition.  Sure, he’s too young to appreciate caramel corn, boardwalk fries, putt-putt golf, skee ball, and stargazing but in the years to come we will share our love of these things with him and learn to love them anew through his eyes.

Wow, I wasn’t expecting this post to get gooey, but there you go!  How about a fun anecdote and picture in anticipation of the holiday weekend for those of us in the US?

So, the other evening Strawberry was holding Curly just before feeding time.  Being the impatient little thing that he is, he decided not to wait for me to take him.  Unfortunately for him, it doesn’t quite work that way.

Nipple confusion

Strawberry took it as a compliment, but hopes he wouldn’t try it with just anyone!