Lachlan's growing!

So many things to report. Yesterday, we took out the newborn insert of Lachlan's car seat. He looks a lot more comfy now. He has also started to make some new sounds...almost squeals.

I think we're going to be transitioning him to the Pack 'n Play bassinet tonight. The Newborn Napper is good till three months or until the baby can roll over, whichever is sooner. And today, Lachlan demonstrated that he could roll from his back to his side several times.

That Napper has been great. And he's looked so cute in it. Here's a picture I snapped this morning.

But I guess it's time. By the way, here's what it looked like outside this morning. Beautiful!

Today, we went to our friend Gideon's first birthday party. It was a lot of fun.

Gideon had an amazing cake.

And he had lots of fun eating.

Lachlan enjoyed meeting all sorts of new people who were eager to see him. He looked very cute...even though we had to change him out of his adorable Snugglesaurus suit after he had one big diaper blowout. Eee!

My parents will be arriving soon to take care of Lachlan this week. Tomorrow is the day. Back to work. Wish me luck!

Lachlan's first trip to see Santa

Lachlan did well with Santa. No crying or hysterics...that'll probably be next year.

And the weather played along. The snowflakes that are falling now are the first of the year and the first of Lachlan's life.

After some hot chocolate, we're listening to TSO, and Lachlan is now fast asleep. Ahhh, Christmastime.

My last day of maternity leave

Can you believe it? Monday it's back into the old routine...well, modified a bit. Having to constantly think about pumping will be...different. I never realized how much freedom I had as a non-parent until I became one. But I enjoy challenges. And Lachlan is worth it.

Today went by fairly quickly. Lachlan and I went to his daycare, so he could meet and greet some of the staff there. Then we stopped by the pediatrician's office to drop off paperwork for them to fill out.

When I got home, Lachlan was sleeping in his carseat, which was nice and allowed me to pump and eat lunch. But then when it was time for him to be eating (about three hours after his last meal), I got him up. At first he ate, but then he started crying and refusing the breast. I tried walking around, burping him, changing his diaper, putting him down on his own, and letting him cry it out, but nothing worked. He must have cried for at least an hour and 15 minutes or so.

I wondered if it was early teething, since he normally doesn't refuse milk when he hasn't eaten for a while. Also, I can see two small buds in his lower gums, although they don't feel too raised at this point.

Somehow, he finally calmed down, and I was able to get him to eat again. Now he's back in his bouncer, communing with his bee and putting his hands in and near his mouth.

He started to give me some smiles, and I tried to catch them on film. Here we are singing a popular Christmas song.



When I went outside to get the mail, I found two packages waiting for me. One was from Diapers.com (which I absolutely love for its next day, free, if you spend $49, shipping) with another case of Swaddlers [sorry Amanda, we're still not ready for cloth diapering yet] and some pump cleaning articles which will hopefully speed up my pumping experience in the office.

The other package contained the Baby D Drops that I ordered weeks ago. They had been backordered, so I'm glad they finally came in. Our pediatrician had said a while ago that Lachlan should take a vitamin D supplement. However, when we tried the only thing we found around here in stores, Poly-Vi-Sol, Lachlan absolutely hated it. I don't blame him. It smelled horrible. Every time we tried to give it to him, he spat it back up and gave us a look as if we had mortally betrayed him. So we stopped giving it to him.

I found out about these taste-free D Drops that you just put onto the nipple or a pacifier, and I placed an order right away. I'm so glad they finally came!

Just another hour and a half till I go pick Michael up from the train, and that will be the end of my maternity leave.

The time has gone fast. I went from going into labor and giving birth to coming home, in pain, taking care of a newborn for the first time in my life. I dealt with sleep deprivation, severe to mild discomfort from birth and breastfeeding, infant crying and screaming, having to take care of him by myself all day, driving on a regular basis for the first time in 10 years, isolation, and all the worries that go along with being a parent, new and otherwise.

I got to see Lachlan develop from a newborn whose eyes were closed most of the time to a baby who now smiles and "talks" to us in his own language. He has gone from being up all night to sleeping six hours. There is still so much development to look forward to. We haven't yet heard him laugh; he hasn't really held onto a toy; he hasn't been able to roll over, and so much more.

There are probably some firsts that the daycare will see before I do, but at this point, I am at peace with that. I will see those developments myself, and I know that he loves his mommy. At the daycare today, he couldn't keep his eyes off of me when we first went in. I have a feeling that he is an adventurer, like his parents. He needs to go out and have his own experiences. As long as he comes back, excited to share them with us because we are the most important people in his world, all is well.

Food for the poor -- one great way you can help

I've taken a hiatus for most of this year from writing my original blog, Gonna Make a Change. One of the key themes of that blog is making a difference while traveling, and that is something that we've had to put on hold for the time being.

Even though this blog is about becoming a mother, I want to bring up a project that is dear to my heart: the Mayan Families Christmas Tamale Baskets.

Last year at about this time, Michael and I went down to Guatemala to volunteer with the small non-profit Mayan Families. We joined a group of about 40 volunteers from the US and worked on various projects, such as medical and veterinary clinics, clothing and shoe distribution, Christmas parties for orphanages and women's groups, and food distribution.

Michael and I both helped with assembling and giving out Tamale Baskets. Here's what they are about:

A meal of specially prepared tamales with seasonal trimmings is the traditional Christmas dinner of indigenous Guatemalans. With many families unable to afford nutritious daily meals, enjoying the Christmas tamale meal is beyond their reach.

Mayan Families prepares and gift wraps baskets containing enough food to prepare a festive Christmas dinner. Each reusable basket contains oil, rice, a block of drinking chocolate (the traditional drink at midnight), a loaf of bread, raisins, grapes, apples, sugar, meat, tomatoes, coffee, leaves to wrap the tamales, cloves, pepper, sesame, and pumpkin seeds.

The basket feeds 10 people or more, and it costs $35 to donate one. Here are some pictures I took of people receiving their basket.

Last year, we distributed over 1000 baskets, but this year only about 350 have been donated so far.

I can tell you how important these baskets are for the families who receive them and want to receive them. Every day, we saw hundreds of people lined up for hours waiting to get their basket or hoping and praying that they would be able to receive one. Guatemala has one of the worst malnutrition rates in the world, and this year, with the global economic slow down, times are even tougher.

We had to turn people away last year, even with over 1000 donated baskets. I hate to think of how many disappointed families there will be this year.

If you're looking for a holiday cause that makes an immediate difference, please consider donating. I can personally attest to the fact that the money is put to its intended use, and you will be able to see pictures online of your money in action. Sharon, the head of Mayan Families, updates a heartwarming and heartbreaking blog of what Mayan Families is doing and the situations they encounter.

I love my Ergo...

Just took a quick photo shoot while I was on a walk in the backyard with Lachlan. I tried to get some shots while wearing him in the awesome Ergo Baby Carrier. I guess I'm maxing out on the blogging while I can.

It's going to be tough posting every day when I go back to work. I think what I'll do is try to write posts on the bus coming home. So I might not have as many photos, and the posts will probably be shorter, but I will try to have something every day.

Pumping like crazy!

I just got Lachlan to take an afternoon nap. Phew! He was crying, and I had changed his diaper; he refused to eat; he didn't want to be in his bouncer; and walking around or bouncing on the exercise ball wasn't soothing him. I figured he must be really tired -- he just didn't want to go to sleep.

So I put him in his Napper and tucked him in. I also turned on the vibrating function and the white noise. Then I decided to leave the room to see what would happen. He cried for a few minutes, and then he was quiet. I peeked in and saw his eyes were open slightly, but he was nice and calm. Excellent!

I got my pump parts together as fast as I could. And lo and behold, I was able to pump without him fussing. When I checked on him again, he was asleep.

It's been so hard to find the time to pump. Now that I absolutely have to in order to have a better shot of making my goal of having him exclusively breastfed until at least three months, I have to be creative.

Last night, I woke up at 2:30am and pumped. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to pump as much as a few weeks ago, but it was something. Unfortunately again, Lachlan woke up at 3:30am and wanted to eat. He was not happy that it took a while to get enough milk going.

I should have figured that, though. I last fed him at about 9:30pm last night, and he can now go about six hours. I was hoping he'd sleep till 5am, as usual, even though I had pushed his last feeding up.

BTW, Michael put Lachlan to bed last night, and it was interesting to see the difference in approach. I play Christmas harp music (thanks to Michael's mom) at a soft volume. He, on the other hand, played Trans Siberian Orchestra nice and loud. I was really skeptical and thought it would wind Lachlan up even more. But when I came upstairs to see what was going on, I found both of them fast asleep.

Morning dose of Lachlan

Getting ready for daycare

The time is flying! At least I got some good, quality snuggle time with Lachlan today.

I took a nap with him in the bed this morning. I only ever do that during the day and with a lamp on, so I sleep very lightly. It's just so nice to be able to totally relax when holding him and then to have his face so close to mine that I can see him even without my glasses.

We went to Walmart and the Carter's store today to get some things for daycare. I found a sturdy totebag on sale for $3, and I will use that to carry a supply of diapers (I'm thinking 40 per week should be good, but we'll see), a box of wipes, diaper cream, and a few outfits. I also got some Sharpies to write his name on everything. The other thing we'll have to bring is a photo of Michael and me for them to put in his crib.

I'm going to take Lachlan to the daycare center on Friday morning to meet the director and staff and then drop off the supplies and some remaining paperwork. Actually, now that I"m looking at the paperwork for the first time since the end of August, I realize we might not have it all ready by Friday. Looks like we've got to get the pediatrician to sign some things.

Looking on the bright side, I'm excited for Lachlan to have all sorts of new people to get to know. I want him to have lots of social interaction, and I wouldn't be able to provide him that by myself. And these are professionals who will be taking care of him. They know more about child development than I do.

If only I could find time to pump! Lately, I just haven't had time to pump during the day, since he hasn't been napping too much. So, I should pump at night, after he's asleep, but I've wanted to get my sleep. I've woken up at 2 or 3am and have contemplated pumping, but sleep won again. I guess I will just have to bite the bullet and stay up late to pump.

Here's a quick video I took this morning of Lachlan doing his "exercises."



Oh, one other thing I started doing today: teaching Lachlan what all the dishes and silverware were that I took out of and put into the dishwasher. There was lots of repetition, and we've got red, blue, and yellow Fiestaware, so maybe he'll start understanding what some colors and objects are.

It's December already?

Where has the time gone? It's now December, and it's getting cold.

Lachlan's been having a lot of fun with his bouncer lately. As I write this, he is kicking away and making it bounce. Here are some pictures from earlier today.

After kicking off his socks, he kicked off his blanket.

Lachlan's been fussier lately, but I've been able to figure out some things to calm him. He likes being held upright and walked around. Today I was also able to rock him to sleep for his morning nap.

We've been working on a three hour cycle during the day: eat, then play, then he spends time entertaining himself, then gets fussy, I calm him and he falls asleep for a bit, then repeat. He took a longer nap this afternoon, after we went to the post office to mail some packages. In that time, I was miraculously able to write out a bunch of Christmas and holiday cards.

Tonight, after we picked Michael up from the train, we went and got a Christmas tree from a lot. Given his broken rib, we decided not to go to a farm and cut one ourselves. Next year we can go back to the tradition.

After I watched my mindless entertainment tonight (90210 -- and I have to say that tonight's was a good episode), Lachlan looked very intently at me and had what was about a five minute conversation with me in babyese. It really seemed like he was trying to say things with his coos and assorted sounds. Very cute.

Ok, we're getting close to bedtime, and it sounds like Lachlan is starting to get a bit frustrated with being in his bouncer.

Slowly getting ready to go back to work

A week from today I will go back to work. Hard to believe, huh? The last month and a half has gone by so fast, but I had a feeling it would.

It's been a tough, wonderful time this maternity leave. As expected, the first six weeks of having a new baby were extremely challenging. It was a shock to the system -- total immersion into this new experience.

But now I have gotten used to having a baby, and we've even started to have a bit of a schedule the past week or so. I've been getting at least four hours of sleep at night in one stretch -- and often five or even six -- on a regular basis. I come up to our room and turn the lights down at around 10pm and then nurse him to sleep, which usually happens by about 11pm. Then Lachlan usually sleeps till somewhere between 4 and 6am. I'm often the one to wake him up to eat his first breakfast.

The days are often hard work. Lachlan doesn't like to take a lot of naps now...at least when I'm taking care of him. I just was able to put him down in his Napper after he was crying and screaming for about 15 minutes with no way to soothe him. I put him in a Miracle Blanket and bounced with him on the exercise ball. He finally fell asleep. But I'm not counting on him sleeping for any more than 10 minutes or so. [Actually, I'm now finishing up this post, and he's still asleep. Yay!]

Then it will be more feeding (usually lasting 30 minutes to an hour plus each session), playing, walking around with him, etc. It's tiring! I always wish I had a block of two hours of uninterrupted time when I could get things accomplished around the house. But usually just as I'm getting started, he will need more attention.

So in a way, I am looking forward to going back to work. In some respects, my job is easier than taking care of Lachlan all day. Of course, I'm going to miss him. But I'm going to be able to better appreciate the time I do have with him when I'm not with him 24/7.

Right now, I sort of feel bad about doing things online when I'm feeding him. Experts say nursing time should be a time to cuddle and bond with your baby. But when you're doing it for half of the day and it's your only time to be online in relative peace until he goes to sleep for the night, it's really hard to live up to that expectation. I've been trying to interact with him more while nursing lately, but he mainly just wants to eat and not spend much time looking at me.

If I were to stay home longer, I think I would really need to change my schedule and start doing more things outside of the house. As it is, during my entire maternity leave, I have spent less than 20 hours out of the house without him. And we didn't have too many activities together outside. There were a few visits to friends, going to the pediatrician, going for a few walks, and a few shopping trips. Of course, that's par for the course for a new baby. But now that he's getting older, he should probably be getting out more. And it would be good for my sanity.

So those are some thoughts. It's going to be quite an adventure going back to work and having to pump three times a day. Here's what I'm thinking my schedule will be:

5am -- wake up and feed Lachlan
5:45am -- put Lachlan back in bed and then get myself ready
6am -- eat breakfast
6:15am -- nurse Lachlan some more
6:30am -- put him in his car seat and then drive with Michael to daycare
6:45am -- leave him at daycare and drive to our public transport
7:00am -- taken the bus into the city
8:15am -- get into the office
9:30am -- pump for 10 minutes and then clean the pump parts
9:45am -- back to work
12:00pm -- grab lunch
12:30pm -- pump for 10 minutes and then clean the pump parts
12:45pm -- back to work
3:30pm -- pump for 10 minutes and then clean the pump parts
3:45pm -- back to work
5:00pm -- leave work and walk to the bus station
5:20pm -- take the bus
6:10pm -- arrive at the station, pick up the car
6:20pm -- pick up Lachlan right before daycare closes
6:30pm -- get home and nurse Lachlan
Evening -- have dinner, prepare bottles and supplies to bring to daycare next day, take a shower and get clothes ready, nurse Lachlan and put him to sleep

The late afternoon schedule might change, based on whether Michael can pick him up, or if I need to pick Michael up. I might need to take an earlier bus in order to make sure that I get to daycare before it closes, since you never know when there will be delays, and the commute can sometimes take two hours.

It'll be a challenge. But, hey, if we were able to get through the first six weeks of a newborn, we can get through anything! And we're fortunate enough to have my parents come down and take care of Lachlan the first week I'm back, so we can ease into things a little more.

If any working and pumping moms are reading this and have any tips for me and my schedule, I'd love to hear them.

An unexpected journey

We've had a little unexpected drama this weekend. On Friday night, Michael was walking down the stairs to the first floor with Lachlan in his arms when he slipped and fell. He protected Lachlan, so the baby was not harmed in the fall. But he didn't have a hand for himself, so he fell hard on his back. He was in pain, but he figured it was probably a dislocated or broken rib, and since nothing can be done for that, he didn't want to see a doctor.

Yesterday he felt better, as evidenced by all of our activity. But today he coughed and was suddenly in excruciating pain. That quickly turned to shock symptoms of shivering and cold hands. Now he's not the kind of guy who normally goes into shock. When he got two fingertips sliced off in a sailing accident last year, it was as if nothing had happened. So these symptoms worried him, and he agreed to go to an urgent care facility nearby. I drove us, and Lachlan and I waited while he was being examined. Thankfully, we had a whole section of the waiting room to ourselves, and there weren't all sorts of people with flu symptoms there (our fear).

As it turned out, Michael did indeed break a rib. But thankfully, there don't appear to be any internal injuries. However, there's nothing he can do but rest and take percoset for the pain. The doctor advised him to stay home from work, but since he's used up his paid time off for the year, and his boss is in town this week, that's not really an option. Poor guy.

At least it wasn't worse. And now we know that we have to put a runner on the staircase and not go down just in socks. Michael says Lachlan owes him a beer for this someday.

***

After we got home, I took some pictures of our lights.

Lachlan is doing well. While we were waiting at the urgent care center, I had some good playtime with him. I found that he really enjoys being rocked all the way back and forward in his car seat. I think this is a future roller coaster fan.

I went to church today for the first Sunday in Advent. It was nice to go back. I'm looking forward to really getting ready for Christmas this year. It's been a long time.

Getting ready for Christmas

Today we bundled up Lachlan and went out to Target to get all sorts of things for Christmas. First of all, I realized how much he's grown by seeing how he now fits into his hat. Remember his first outing with it?

Anyway, we avoided the really packed shopping areas and found a more out of the way Target. There we picked up a boat-load of lights, extension cords, and other paraphernalia, as well as wrapping paper, ribbons, some things to gift, and stuff for the house. (Lesson learned: always check and make sure you don't already have a 30-odd pack of toilet paper before you go and buy more.)

Michael was eager to put outdoor lights up for the first time in seven years. My family was never really into the outdoor lights, so it was my first time. I'll have to take some pictures to post.

I've been trying to work on getting the Christmas and holiday cards ready to go out, but Lachlan always seems to start fussing once I get into the swing of things. Let me see how far I can get by the end of the weekend.

I ran and got my camera to take this video after Lachlan started smiling at me a lot. Unfortunately, I didn't get most of the smiles, but it does preserve a snippet of this time now. I was looking back at the videos I've taken since he was born, and I realized I haven't taken enough of them.

In other news, Lachlan really seems to enjoy sucking on his hands now. Also, Michael thinks Lachlan now signals when he wants to be picked up -- he holds out his arms and kicks his legs.

Last night, when we were eating Thanksgiving leftovers, Michael gave Lachlan the tiniest smidgen of pumpkin pie filling, just to see how he would react to the taste. Lachlan gave us a huge smile. I think we've got a future fan.