Bonding through feeding

Now that the Babe and I have gotten over our latching issues, are not cluster feeding and have settled into a bit more of a routine, I'm enjoying breastfeeding immensely. There are no words to describe the feeling when that tiny hand rests on your chest while your baby is feeding. It is calming; it feels like home to me, to quote a song from Dawson's Creek.

Though sometimes, as noted in a previous post, the feedings can happen in less than appealing locations, I'm sure breastfeeding in the back of the car is easier than finding somewhere to pull over and mix up a bottle of formula. And when we're at home, feedings give me a chance to silence my mind for a few minutes. To concentrate completely on my child and the nourishment I am providing for her is a blessing and I am happy to do it. I can understand why many moms are sad when it's time to wean their babies. I also love the connection I feel with the Babe when she's feeding - that mental and physical closeness we share at those moments.

However, it will be nice to have a few glasses of wine in succession again ;)

~ H

The first swim

Or should I say, the first swim from hell. Today was the Babe's first session of Starfish swimming lessons. In an attempt to enhance father-daughter bonding time, I asked my husband if he would do the class with her. He agreed, and after some more conversation, the entire mom group I am part of all enrolled their husbands as well. Friday nights between 6:15-6:45 is now Daddy & Daughter Swim Time (we all have girls coincidentally).
At 3:30pm this afternoon I knew we were in for trouble. The Babe was fussing something fierce, was sleeping sporadically and wouldn't take her bottle. Fast forward to 6:20pm and she is the only baby in the pool having a full-on meltdown. We took her out, she calmed down. He went back in with her and she freaked out. I ran her to the women's change room, breastfed her and took her back out, only to have her scream the majority of the rest of the lesson.

We took our screaming demon to the change room, only to find there were no family change rooms free. When one became available, her screams became hysterical and I'm sure one woman thought we were harming her. We pretty much ran out of the building, not even saying goodbye to anyone.

After a silent car ride home, we agreed that next week will be different. A good nap, a good feed and perhaps maybe, in turn, a good second lesson.

~ H

Photo credit: Juli Kolby

Cold season

The Babe has her first cold, along with myself and my husband. It's dreadful. She wakes up in the middle of the night screaming, presumably because she's congested and can't breath well. And now when she sneezes, well, stuff comes out. I feel terrible, because we exposed her to this and now she has it. We can't give her anything except saline drops to clear out her congestion, and while my husband can load up on Neocitran and cold medicine, I have to stay clean because I'm breastfeeding.

The only side benefit is that the Babe and I are hanging out spending lots of time in bed trying to rest and get healthy. Which means lots of cuddles and tickles and general silliness.

~ H

Switching to cloth

Are we nuts? We have gone this long using disposables and NOW we choose to go to cloth? The reason is because we had always wanted to use cloth, but thought we would wait until the Babe was making a significantly less amount of number 2's. Then we realized, she may not do that for awhile and we decided to wait until she was sleeping through the night. But she's still not doing that either. So we ordered the disposable liners and at 2pm today there was liftoff! So long land-filling disposable diapers! Except for at nighttime and when we're going out, because realistically, me remembering a wet bag of diapers in my diaper bag is not going to happen and will result in too many cloth diapers headed for the trash. I'm eco-friendly, but I'm also forgetful.

I'm not so high and mighty to say that this is the end all, be all for us. I know there is a chance we may throw in the towel and say it's not for us. But I want to try, to at least give it a chance, because I do value the planet and my impact on it.

So we've done the research and chosen to go the wet diaper pail route. It seems kind of gross, having all that standing water full of poopy diapers, but it also seems like the best way to avoid stains. A friend bought us special soap for washing the diapers and I've chosen to put them in the dryer, because again, I'm realistic about the space I have to hang-dry diapers.

I will keep you posted on our successes, challenges and impressions along the way.

~ H

Made in the USA

Today a friend and I made the trek down south the Bellis Fair for a little Target and Costco madness with our babies. While both babies had meltdowns during the 30-minute wait at the crossing heading down there, Her 2-month-old slept the majority of the rest of the time while the Babe, now 4 months, screamed bloody murder most of the time she was in her carseat. And she can scream. I enjoy a good States shopping trip as much as the next girl, but today's excursion showed me those trips may become fewer and far between the older the Babe gets.

She just gets bored, and I don't anticipate that lessening any time soon. Plus, to go with two babies and two moms means little to no room for groceries if we had brought both strollers. So since the Babe is enjoying her Ergo now, I opted to leave the stroller at home, which meant I was carrying the 15-pounder for quite some time. And I know she's only going to get bigger (read: heavier).

So I relished in the cheap dairy, bought two cases of my pop rather than one, and opted to take advantage of the Benefit Brow Bar at Macy's and let Sarah groom my bushy mom brows back into stylish arches (best $20 I spent today). I finished off the day with a gigantic Costco ice cream bar and treated my friend to one too. Those things are dangerous at $1.50 each! Because I don't know when I'll be back again.

~ H

One mans trash

I can't recall who first introduced me to the Cloverdale Kids Swap Meet. But man, am I glad they did. The swap is this coming Saturday. This huge swap meet happens once a month and it's crazy! Crazy because of the deals I have gotten, $10 for 5 pairs of baby shoes, and crazy because the attendees are usually on a mission and you have to be able to hold your own in a crowd. Luckily, I have navigated the Chinese subway system at rush hour so I feel adept at handling these crowds.

There are two buildings filled with vendors, mostly selling used baby and kid clothes, toys, supplies and more, and there are also some tables of new items such as hair accessories, tutu ls, personalized books and other items. Bring small bills and lots of them. My first time I brought a singular $100 bill and ended up having to beg money off my sister because no one could give me change, not even the ladies at the front doors. They have an ATM but it is an independent one so it has higher than average service fees. Also, bring your own reusable bags as only some vendors provide bags and they aren't too sturdy.

Expect to pay $1-$4 per piece of clothing, but come ready to negotiate. Most vendors are local moms just looking to part with their stuff for a decent price. Of course, better deals can be had if you buy more items, and some vendors will let you leave big stuff you have purchased at their tables so you can keep shopping. But you can always leave and come back in at no charge for the day.

The swap opens at 9am but the seasoned shoppers get there around 8:30-8:45 to line up because the good and big stuff goes quick. I showed up to the January swap at 8:50 and as I got to the front of the line I saw a guy walking out with a gorgeous wooden rocking horse. It definitely pays to be early.

Admission is $5 and parking is free. The swap is held on the Cloverdale fairgrounds and there are signs as you get close. Maybe I'll see you there - I'll be the one with the blue Ergo elbowing other moms out of the way so I can pick up a change table pad and some sun hats for the babe.

~ H

Feeding when you have to

An ill-timed day has resulted in this post coming to you from the backseat of my car, parked in an semi-filled parking lot, while I breastfeed the babe. Our early morning wake-up resulted in an earlier nap, which lead to a longer playtime, which then lead to a 2-hour nap (hurray) which ended when we had to leave for the dentist. The appointment was so quick I thought we could make it home to feed, but 10 minutes into driving I knew I was kidding myself. And here we are. Strangely, I'm becoming more and more okay with this, as I realize it's just a part of having a baby.

Let's just hope I don't get a ticket for indecent exposure!