Six months old, and sleeping better

I think this teething thing is going to be a long slog. Does he really get twenty-something more baby teeth??? Oy.

In any case, Andrew has seemed cheerier the past couple of days, although he's still waking up at least once in the middle of the night. Last night, he woke just before midnight. I did my usual routine of letting him make noise for a while, but he didn't manage to put himself back to sleep, so I ended up having to go in and nurse him back down at about 12. He did, however, go back to sleep until about 5:30, at which point he made noise right about the time my alarm clock was going off, but then he immediately fell back asleep and didn't actually get up until 6:45, when I had to wake him in time to nurse, get dressed, and get out of the house on time.

It's interesting -- the flip side of your baby sleeping longer is that you have to time your morning differently. For instance, I'd really rather shower after I nurse him -- otherwise there's not much point in getting clean, only to have milk spray everywhere as I'm toweling off (warm showers do it every time). He's pretty good-natured about sitting in the bouncy seat in the bathroom while I shower, especially if there's a cat or dog in there with us.

So yes, our boy turned six months old on Wednesday. He's REALLY good at sitting up all by himself now; he's been doing it for weeks. He hasn't figured out how to push himself to a sitting position from lying down or anything, though, and although he's really interested in crawling, there hasn't really been a major breakthrough there, either. He just kind of pivots on his belly button. It's cute. I'm enjoying it while it lasts -- crawling is going to open up a whole new world of Baby Dangers. Sigh. Am thinking of getting a series of gate thingies to make a play yard in the living room...or I could just use the Pack and Play if I need to "park" him temporarily. Already bought 2 toilet locks for when he's walking; must also think about electrical outlets, corners of furniture, stashing chokables, securing bookcases... I'm scared.

Tonight my coworker D and I went to a local nursery and she helped me pick out some flowers for my planters (she's, like, WICKED good at this stuff). I'm psyched to plant them tomorrow. Will try and remember to take pictures. I really should take pics of the outside of the house, since the rhododendrons are blooming right now and are gorgeous. My house actually looks almost presentable. Well, the front yard, anyway.

I'm having a couple other mommies and kids from Andrew's class over for brunch on Sunday morning. It's potluck and should be fun and relaxing (I've already told them my house isn't spotless and that I don't particularly care). Must remember to throw together a quiche with the spinach and mushrooms that are lurking in the fridge tomorrow night. I heart quiche.

Oh, I forgot to mention that when I had him at the doctor's office the other day, the nurse weighed him in case they had to prescribe anything: 19 lbs, 14 ounces (clothed and diapered). He is such a big boy!

Healthy, but not sleeping well...

I took Andrew to the doctor this afternoon -- he'd been pulling on his ears and acting fussy, plus he has this cough (again). But it turns out his ears are clear, his lungs are clear, and he had no fever at the doctor's office. While the pediatrician couldn't explain the ear-pulling (is it my imagination??), he did say that there's a "spring cough" thing going around, and that it could be exacerbated by the gushing amounts of drool that Andrew is producing. Are there more teeth in our near future?

Anyway, I gave him Infant Motrin before bed (we skipped the bath tonight; I don't think he would have tolerated it), and he seems to be doing OK sleeping for now. He didn't sleep well all weekend, though, and he took crappy naps at daycare today. Alas, I made the mistake of hoping against hope that the couple of times he slept through the night were a trend. I was sadly, sadly mistaken. He was up at 1:00 this morning to nurse, and he was up for the day at 4:30 a.m.

Oh, and on Saturday he developed pinkeye, and of course we were in PA visiting Nan, so I had to call the pediatrician and have her call in a prescription for eye drops to the nearest pharmacy. Thank god for modern medicine: by bedtime that very same day, his eyes were almost clear!

I can't believe he'll be 6 months old tomorrow.

In my old age

I think motherhood is making a softie out of me. Tonight, a young lady knocked on my door with a petition for the Working Families Party of CT, which has sponsored legislation that would mandate 6.5 paid sick days per year for all employees in CT who work in a company of 50 or more employees.

6.5 days is not a lot of sick time. And I agreed with her that I'd rather see employees out on sick leave than spreading germs in the workplace. In my younger, more hot-headed days, I wouldn't have even had a conversation with this young woman, much less invite her into my home (which I did) while I finished the supper dishes. I also told her that this country needs much better laws for maternity leave, similar to those in Canada and many European countries.

What the hell happened to me and my Libertarian ideals? They're still in there, somewhere, I know. But then I had a baby, and the desire to make the world a better, nicer place for him took full precedence. Don't get me wrong -- I'm all for individual responsibility, and I want the government out of my business as much as the next gal, but I now feel that we have at least some responsibility for one another. Or maybe I'm just selfish and don't want some poor sick restaurant employee passing strep throat to me and my son. Oh, and the poor girl was out in the rain canvassing for signatures -- how much does that suck? I couldn't let her just be stuck out in the storm. Plus she was sweet to my dog. She reminded me of a 20-year-old me. Idealistic, optimistic, and skinnier than I am now.

Andrew's started on apples now. And I sent him to daycare with a 2.5 oz jar of peas, plus 2 tablespoons of rice cereal to mix in, thinking surely he'd at least come home with an unused bottle. But no, he drank all three bottles AND ate all of the peas. And the cereal. Plus, tonight he ate a 2.5 oz jar of bananas with 2 tablespoons of cereal, plus almost half a 4 oz jar of sweet potatoes (still his favorite), also with cereal mixed in. Oink! Let's see how the sleeping goes.

He's reeeeeeallly starting to want to crawl, but alas, he still just manages to slink backwards. At least he's been more good-natured about tummy time these past couple of days. I'm getting nervous about baby-proofing the house, since when he starts to crawl it'll be impossible just to "park" him on a quilt on the floor, etc. anymore without worrying if there's a) a stray piece of dog food, b) a cat toy, or c) something else choke-able on the floor. This totally freaks me out.

OH. I've been meaning to post this: I do, in fact, currently have bite marks on my right nipple. I reacted strongly when Andrew bit me, and then of course he immediately puckered up, and out went the bottom lip, and my heart broke a little. I cannot stand to see that little boy sad. But I also value my boobs. It was a tough situation, to say the least.

Wednesday is My "Short Day"

I've rearranged my work schedule so that I can leave at 1:00 on Wednesdays, instead of 4:00 (I work later the other 4 days). This allows me to schedule doctor's appointments, get an oil change, get chores done around the house, and maybe even spend a little time on myself (yeah, right...) Here's what I accomplished this afternoon:

1. Pumped for the second time today.
2. Ate lunch.
3. Collected the garbage/recycling and took it out to the breezeway so it's ready for the garbage men tomorrow morning. Went through a lot of junk mail, cleaned litterboxes, cleaned out the refrigerator etc.
4. Cut up and froze the fresh rhubarb in the fridge (we're taking it to a friend's for lunch, in the form of strawberry-rhubarb pie, in a couple of weeks).
5. 2 loads of laundry.
6. Organized and put away the baby food flats that arrived from diapers.com yesterday.
7. Played with the dog.
8. Washed the dishes that were in the sink.
9. Prepared the coffeemaker for tomorrow morning.

Now I'm getting ready to pump for the third, and final, time today. This morning, I had a workshop at a local university, and there was nowhere private to pump. It was the first time I had to pump in a bathroom. Gross. Here's what ended up happening:

1. I had to sit on the floor of the handicap stall. Fortunately, the floor looked relatively clean, and I'd brought lots of clean towels for just this eventuality.
2. I realized too late that I'd brought only 8 AA batteries for the battery pack. The battery pack takes 10 AA batteries. So I had to try the manual attachment for the first time.
3. As soon as I took off my top to pump, milk sprayed everywhere, including on my freshly-washed work pants.
4. Just as I was getting the hang of the manual pump, which doesn't do too shabby a job, actually, the lights went out. Yes, that's right, there's an occupancy sensor in the ladies' room. I tried flailing my arm under the stall door, to no avail. So I had to try and pump by the light of my cell phone. It was pathetic. I was sad. I only got about 2 ounces before giving up, but at least I didn't become engorged.

How silly of me to attempt to attend a real, actual, grownup workshop related to my job! And I'm totally skeeved out about pumping in the bathroom, even though I was careful not to touch ANYTHING. I'm so freaking tired of pumping. I sent Andrew to daycare with 3 bottles PLUS a jar of peas and some cereal today. I'm going to see how he does on 2 meals a day (one at daycare and one at home), instead of just one at home. Given his current pattern, even if he cuts down to two bottles per day at daycare, he'll still be getting breastmilk (from breast or bottle) at least 5 times a day: once or twice before leaving in the morning, twice at daycare, and twice in the evening.

One of these Wednesdays, I'm just going to stop at a nursery, buy some nice flowers, and plant them in the planters in my backyard, dammit. I want to do something fun.

Off to pump again, then pick up Roo...

Lovely weekend; Baby food

We had a great weekend with the girls (my friends from high school). We did our usual thing of hanging out, eating a LOT (barbecue lunch plus lasagna dinner plus waffles/quiche brunch...oh my!), watching movies, playing games, and shooting the shit.

Andy-Roo enjoyed our barbecue -- Daddy brought his high chair outside so he could join in the fun:



Is that ridiculously cute or what? And we learned that cucumber slices are great for teething :-)

Speaking of food, before I forget I should document what Roo's first foods have been, in order (observing the 4-day-wait between foods, of course, to rule out any reactions):

1. Brown rice cereal, mixed with breast milk
2. Sweet potatoes
3. Bananas
4. Avocado
5. Pears
6. Peas

I mix #2-6 with cereal too, of course. We're looking forward to the following soon: Oatmeal, apples, carrots, and maybe even some yogurt. I'm debating which other cereals to look into (millet, barley, etc.), and trying to decide when to start lean meats (fish, turkey, chicken). Some say 6 months, others say 8. He's pretty robust, so there doesn't seem to be a need for protein quite yet, although since he IS so robust, he can probably handle meat. Then again, I've read that their fluid intake needs to be increased if they're taking in a lot of protein, and he hasn't quite mastered the sippy cup yet (he's been practicing getting a teaspoon or so of water with his supper each night).

This age is SO fun. I love the look on his little face when he tries a new food, and I think it's adorable how he gets so messy and smooshy. Everything is new to him -- who knew there were so many foods? Think of all the fruits and veggies that I can instill a love of in him!



Peas!!!

First Mother's Day; First Tooth

Andrew cut his first tooth on Mother's Day weekend -- awwwww. It's the bottom right incisor. He didn't seem particularly fussy leading up to it, even though he'd also had another round of vaccines on Thursday (he did sleep through the night on Thursday, though, which is unusual for him: 7:30 p.m. to 4:30 a.m., that is). Alas, when I took him in for his shots I asked if a pediatrician could stop in (it was supposed to be a nurse-only visit) and check his ears and lungs. He'd had a cough for about a week after his bad cold, and when I picked him up on Thursday I noticed he was pulling on his ears. Sure enough, although his lungs were clear, his right ear is infected, so he's on the grody pink amoxicillin crap that is IMPOSSIBLE to get into him. Well, it was impossible before I figured out that if I stick my finger in his mouth, it serves two purposes: One, it pries his vice-like little jaws open; and two, it gives him something to suck on, thereby getting the medicine down his stubborn little throat, rather than down his chubby little chin. Only 6 more days of that damned syringe and sticky pink crud.

Tonight, like a little champ, he at two whole tablespoons of rice cereal, mixed with an entire 2.5 ounce jar of sweet potatoes (Earth's Best organic!), and even then he seemed hungry, so I gave him a "dessert" of half a jar of pears, which he'd never tried before but loved. I'm a big fan of Earth's Best. I've tried everything Andrew's eaten so far, and it tastes like real food. Not "baby food." Whatever that is.

While we were waiting for the nurse to come in and give Andrew his shots, I snuck him on the scale: 18 lbs, 7 oz with a onesie and a diaper on. Big boy!

We had a lovely Mother's Day weekend in Boston: I got a cake, two beautiful bouquets of roses, lovely gifts, several cards, a fabulous dinner out (thank you, Aunt K, for babysitting!!!), a nap on Saturday afternoon, two yummy brunches, and MDad is going to spring for one or two maid visits to my house (as soon as I get it in good enough order...) When Roo and I got home from Boston on Sunday evening, Mom came over and made me dinner; she'd also brought a cake and a card. We exchanged cards and played with Roo, gave him his bath, etc. In all, a perfectly lovely weekend -- I feel so special! I'm just sorry that MDad was sick -- damn sinuses and lungs!

I had my first parent-teacher conference with Roo's teacher this morning. It's kind of a joke -- it's not like I don't see this woman every single day. But I guess, for accreditation's sake, they have to fill out the progress reports and have us sign them. The only area she suggested we work on with Roo is his "self-soothing" abilities (i.e., she thinks if you're not paying constant attention to him, he gets upset, and that's a bad thing...I'm not so sure that's accurate, since he DOES entertain himself for reasonable stretches at home, and for Christ's sake, he's a BABY and NEEDS attention!). It's not like I'm carrying him around all the time -- my back can't take it. But I do respond when he needs me, although usually not right away. I do give him the opportunity to calm himself down. Again, I think it's more of an issue with Miss S. than it is with Andrew. Her coworkers C and L, who are there when I pick Roo up in the afternoon, have made it clear to me that S doesn't necessarily like to cuddle and comfort babies like they do. And S has made it clear to me that daycare "isn't what I went to school for." It's not that she's hostile or anything; it's just that she's a little more tough-love than the others. Plus, I think I've mentioned that she's not a mom yet, and I do think that that has at least something to do with it. Anyway...

Roo's consistently rolling over...although not when anyone's looking! He seems to forget how to roll from his back to his belly, though, when it's naptime at daycare, which presents a conundrum: They're not supposed to put babies to sleep on their bellies, but that's the only way Roo gets good rest anymore. I think he's going to have to tough it out or figure it out; I'm not going to expect his teachers to break the rules for him.

This week he had a diaper rash, I think from the teething. Or the bananas. Or the amoxicillin. Or all three. And I hope he's not getting constipated from all the solids...

Some new favorite toys: My stainless steel Williams-Sonoma measuring spoons, and my spring-loaded nut chopper. They're both favorites of mine, too! The nut chopper is a "with supervision only" toy, since it has a glass cup and sharp metal blades inside (although I can't see how he could possibly ever get it open, but still). He laughs out loud when I push the plunger down on the nut chopper. What a strange and funny little boy.

Andrew also loves to laugh at the dogs and cats. He's learning how to pet them. Bob is such a good boy -- he doesn't mind when Andrew gets a handful of fur. And I know that hurts -- he gets handfuls of MY fur sometimes, too!

I need to go to bed now; it's way past my bedtime. Just wanted to post all these updates while they're fresh in my mind. Here's hoping the gobs of food he ate for "supper" bode well for a good night's sleep...

23 Weeks Old

Andrew's recovering from his illness last week, although he still has a bit of a lingering cough, which bugs me. But it's much better than it was.

This morning, I learned that his compatriot Sean at daycare can't even really sit up at all on his own...Roo, on the other hand, can sit up unassisted quite nicely, for many seconds in a row!

This has been a tiring week. He's still not sleeping through the night, although he's usually only up once to eat (around 1 or 2 in the morning), but he then only goes back to sleep until about 5 a.m. I wish he would sleep until 6. And no, I can't put him to bed later, because he becomes cranky bear monster by 7:30 p.m.

Tonight we tried avocados! I had some with my dinner (a two-day-late celebration of Cinco de Mayo, thanks to Hamburger Helper...blech, by the way). I smooshed some avocado and he ate it off my finger. So cute. He had a green moustache and green blobs on his forehead. So -- so far the sum total of his diet has consisted of breast milk, rice cereal, sweet potatoes and avocado. Good boy!

Tomorrow afternoon he's due for more shots, courtesy of our spread-out vaccination schedule. I hope they don't bother him, especially since his immune system has been down this past week.

Last night I made 7-layer bars for Teacher Appreciation Week; parents are supposed to bring in a dessert tomorrow. Yesterday the kids brought in drawings of apples that "they" had decorated for their teachers (but of course, really the mommies and daddies decorated them). Here is Andrew's:



See the itty bitty "Roo" on the apple?

gDiapers review

Since we were home sick today, and since the starter kit arrived from diapers.com yesterday, we decided to try gDiapers.

So far, we've had one poopy gDiaper and one wet one. And we're 2 for 2 -- I like them. No leaks.

Pros:
1. Much better for the environment. The refills, which are the only part of the diapering system that are not reusable, are flushable (in most toilets), compostable (just wet ones, not poopies, for obvious reasons), or tossable. Even in landfills, they biodegrade in 50-100 days (not 500 years, like regular disposable diapers).
2. The diaper covers are made of a nice, breathable cloth.
3. They are super-cute, and come in all sorts of colors.
4. The tabs face backwards, instead of frontwards like disposables do, so they're harder for babies to take off. Andrew's not at that stage yet -- but he will be someday.

Cons:
1. They're expensive -- about 42 cents per refill, whereas disposables (we're currently using Pampers Cruisers, Size 3) are about 21 cents each. So, gDiapers are twice the price per diaper change.
2. They're slightly more work. Once you've removed the dirty diaper (the cover should stay clean, but the snap-out vinyl liner and, of course, the disposable refill, get dirty), you need to rip up the refill and flush it down the toilet, and the vinyl liner needs to be washed in the sink. The good news is that it takes about 10 minutes for the liner to air-dry. They sent me 4 vinyl liners with the 2 diaper covers, so there's always a dry, clean liner ready. Anyway, after you've changed the baby and disposed of the refill, you should re-assemble another gDiaper to be ready for the next diaper change. So that's about 15 seconds more work.
3. The refills still contain sodium polyacrylate, a key ingredient in disposable diapers. There's some debate out there about whether this substance is completely safe against babies' skin.
4. They're probably less convenient than disposable diapers while traveling.
5. I don't know if daycare would be willing to use them. They're not willing to use cloth diapers, I know that much.

I haven't tried gDiapers overnight, but the website advises using 2 liners -- one in the regular "full length" position, and one extra folded up and placed in front for boys, or in the middle for girls. Since I'm getting ready to throw Andrew's crib sheet in the washer this weekend, I'll try a gDiaper tonight so it won't be too annoying if there's a leak.

Sick Baby

Andrew has a whopper of a cold. When I picked him up from daycare on Tuesday afternoon, he was cranky and felt warm. He was breathing fast and shallow (probably due to the fever). Tuesday night was one of the worst nights of sleep he's ever had -- up every couple of hours crying, etc. The only thing that would comfort him was nursing (again, thank GOD for breastfeeding), and basically the only way he could fall asleep and stay asleep was on my shoulder.

I kept him home yesterday, since his temp was hovering around 102 (it got close to 103 at one point). I finally called the pediatrician after he'd been whining constantly for many hours -- the Tylenol didn't seem to be cutting it, and I wondered if maybe he had an ear infection or something. Turns out his ears and lungs are clear, thank goodness, but that he just has a bad cold.

Last night he went to bed at his usual time of 7:30 after a bath and a nursing session, but he was up at 9:30 and 11:00 p.m. I figured we were in for another horrible night's sleep, and I gave him his dose of Tylenol at the 11:00 waking...and he slept until 4:40! I changed him, took his temp (100.5 at the time), and fed him, and called daycare and work, since I knew we'd be out for another day. He seemed to be feeling much better, and even enjoyed some time in his exersaucer and on his play mat. Then, around 6:30 a.m. he got fussy again. I figured he was still tired since, in total, he really only got about 8 hours of sleep last night, which for a baby is not a lot, so I put him down in his crib. But he was having none of that; it wasn't until I swaddled him (including his arms, which we hardly ever do anymore) and put him in the bed next to me that he calmed down enough to sleep, as I lay next to him stroking his hair and shhhh-ing him. My poor sick little babykins.

He slept until about 9:15 a.m., at which point I fed him, changed him, and took his temp: 101.9. Yikes! Here's hoping the fever breaks soon. I now know there are few things more pleasing to a mother than the feel of her baby's forehead, cool and fever-free, against her cheek...