Here and there

My baby isn't looking so newborn-y these days. Things are going well and I feel like I'm getting into the swing of two kids, but I'm a little perturbed over how fast it's going. He's already a month old! After a month, I think I've finally decided on a blog nickname for him. I shot own MB's first suggestion and he shot down mine, and then he suggested Eli, a name I'd pitched and been denied for both kids. I always thought having an Elliott would be nice, with Eli for a nickname, so I think that's what he'll be when I write about him here. Baby E!



We went back to see the lactation consultant again the day after my last post. It had been a really hard week prior to that, and I was not feeling good about how things were going. The time I was spending pumping and washing bottles was not balancing out well against the time I was spending holding the baby and taking care of Nico. I was tired, stressed out, and fairly miserable. The lactation consultant, awesomely, sat me down and the first words out of her mouth were, "Tell me what you want to do." There was no pressure, no hard sell. I did almost tear up and start crying (haaaaaate) but managed to hold my shit together and tell her that as much as I'd love to say I'm all in like I was with Nico, the 8 - 12 times a day pumping plan was not working for me. She assured me that doing whatever I could handle was the best plan. I went home with a new plan - pump at least six times a day, nurse on demand, see what happens. I had already started supplementing him with formula, and as much as it's not what I hoped for it's also not that big a deal so far. I dreaded it, but then when I gave him the first bottle of formula, it just wasn't as big a blow as I expected. I think it helped that it happened while we had friends over to celebrate my birthday and I didn't have time to get all emo about it. For now we're nursing as much as we can, I'm trying to get six pumpings per day, and we're rolling along. Elliott is up to 10 pounds 13 ounces, so I figure it's working for him.



I always wished I did a series of stuffed-animal-for-scale monthly pics with Nico, so I'm going to try to stay on top of doing it for Eli.

I suppose I've technically been cheating on my weight restriction, but sitting at home for six weeks with both kids was just not an option and it's gone okay. My parents have been great and have been taking Nico to preschool and then to their house to play afterward on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It has helped so much with his cabin fever and has also given me some much-appreciated time to snuggle up with the baby on the couch. Over the last two weeks I managed to get both kids out to Nico's playgroup twice, the library once, and a Spring Break / Easter party. Because Elliott is such a good sleeper, he's been pretty portable. He falls asleep in his carseat and then stays asleep in his stroller for up to several hours. For the Easter party I knew the stroller wasn't a good option and carrying him very far in the carseat is still officially not allowed. I decided to try wearing him in our hand-me-down Snugli and it went great. We did that again at the library today and he snoozed through Nico's toddler craft program in it. I never wore Nico because we only had a pouch sling that I didn't feel confident using and he clearly hated. I spent most of my time at home with him anyway, so it was never really an issue. I tried wearing Elliott in a Moby wrap a few weeks back and while it went okay, he was quite skeptical. At the time my incision wasn't quite healed well enough for me to wear him anyway, so the experience left me feeling a little overwhelmed and unsure. Turns out E tolerates the Snugli much better and I'm healed enough now that I carried him around for two hours at the party with only a little twinge from my incision. Progress!



not a Moby fan



thinks maybe this isn't so bad

Elliott also had his first bath and seemed completely unfazed. Afterward his hair was all soft and standing straight up from his head like dandelion fluff. Recommend!





Nico has two egg hunts under his belt already. The first one was at his preschool class party on the 21st. It was very sweet…his teacher herded the class of five little three-year-old boys into the courtyard and told them they'd each get to find eight eggs. Once released to hunt, Nico ran down the path, spotted an egg, shouted "There's an Easter egg!" and kept going. His teacher had to remind him to pick it up and put it into his little basket. He remembered what he was doing for the egg hunt at this week's party. He was given a spot in the roped-off little kids' area of the yard but promptly hopped the rope and took off in search of eggs elsewhere. The best part of the whole party, though, was Nico chasing bubbles and shouting, "I'm gonna POP YOU!" I feel pretty confident that he's ready for the big family egg hunt with his cousins on Sunday.





I said, "Hold up your basket!" So he did.









One more Nico story, just because it's such a perfect encapsulation of how he is right now. I had to take him to get blood drawn for a follow-up allergy screening after his class Easter party. I think he remembered the first one and was rightfully nervous, but he tried SO HARD to be brave. My mom went with us since I was worried if I tried lone wolfing it the baby would need something and start screaming right in the middle of things. She ended up carrying Nico back to the blood draw area from the waiting room and holding him for the procedure. As she carried him, I saw his little face and he was trying so hard not to cry. It was heartbreaking. He did cry but he wasn't over the top about it and had nearly stopped by the time it was over. And then the second, literally the very second, the nurse took the needle out of his arm, he chirped "Thank you, doctor!" in the brightest, most cheerful voice. It was among the cutest things ever. Since then, he's also been taking pieces of string or the pull strings on toys and holding them as if connected to trucks and saying "The doctor is taking out some of his blood!" Oh, kid.



Apparently party + blood draw was way too much excitement for one day.