hitting the (baby) bottle

I glanced over at Barrett, all tuckered out and finally napping, and noticed something.  Something to do with his right hand.  I remember making a hand motion like that, years ago, when drinking was for fun and not to forget a long day of raising children.  I'm kidding about that last part, of course.  Unless you have kids too, then you know I'm not!  And when can we hang out?

We've hit that cranky seven-weeks-old stretch, the calm before the eight-weeks-old stretch of diminished tummy troubles and longer sleeping stretches.  That feisty week where the baby has one goal - make you appreciate every moment he's not trying to derail your mental health.  The hubs and I are letting it ride and know that this too will pass.  Barrett's only really putting on the show in the evenings (they don't call it the "Witching Hour" for nothing) and I'm usually upstairs giving Britton her bath and reading stories, so I don't hear much of the carrying on.

But when I do get back downstairs, and the hubs is deaf in one ear from Barrett's wailing, I remember how I'll take Barrett's one-hour temper tantrum over some hours-long stories I've heard.  Then comes 9:00 pm, and he clams it up and gets back to sleeping.

water play day

We went to the water park today, just me and Britton.  Britton has waited patiently for two weeks to get to the water park, waiting out rain and the demands of the errand-filled weekends that can't be put off, so the water park gets pushed to the bottom of the list.  And I can't bring Barrett because he'll wilt like a flower after 20 minutes.  Nor did I want to, since one of the reasons we were going was so I could play with Britton independent of her brother.  Like "the old days."  So, we finally got it all worked out, chores completed and have-to's out of the way, and I took Britton.  

The complex is right across the street from our neighborhood, and has a huge pool, a splash area, and a big water slide.  Britton wanted to go on the water slide, but with a little convincing, I got her into the splash area.

Yes, this is summer.  Welcome, summer.  We've missed you terribly.

i see

Barrett has discovered the joy of sight beyond a mere few inches.  The other day as Britton and I were taking our after-dinner walk, she invented this game where she gets to run to the next mailbox while I wait where I'm at.  Then when she gets to the mailbox she turns to tell me "GO!" and I walk to the mailbox she's at, and we do it all again to the next mailbox.  Not overly-exciting news, I know.  But the thing is, I had her tell me what house numbers were on the next mailbox, which was at least 30 feet away.  And she could see them!

One of my biggest fears for my children is that they will inherit either my or the hubs' ridiculously bad eyesight. I thought my eyes were bad, since I can't see 15 centimeters (centimeters?  Maybe my eye doctor was Canadian?) in front of my face without corrective lenses.  The hubs' vision is worse.  If either of us lost both contacts, we wouldn't legally be allowed to drive.  Heck, we wouldn't legally be allowed to do much but walk along walls and run into things.

Luckily, both Britton and Barrett took this week to prove to me that their eyesight works.  

And isn't it awesome when a baby is so utterly fascinated by Pier1 curtains?  Forget your fancy Baby Einstein high-falutin toys - just get some bright curtains to entertain a baby for ten minutes at a stretch.   

The intense curtain concentration wore Barrett out.  Yes, his diaper is hanging out.  Because his onesies are too short for his off-the-percentage-chart height/length.  Is it height if they can't even stand yet?  Regardless, the looking was too much for him!

barrett: six weeks old

I've been holding my breath for six weeks to get here - this magical moment in time when babies are supposed to sleep longer, be more predictable, and start working out those gas issues that cause crying and pain and sleeplessness and work.  Ummmm, not so much.  At least around here.  Barrett is still having random gas issues, like last night when he woke up every two hours like he had an alarm set.  And maybe it's because it isn't all the time, but when he does get off kilter and out of whack, it throws me for such a loop that I become a sobbing mess in the fetal position on the floor.  And then I take a shower to make it all better.  And read baby books to get some semblance of control.

You know what I've learned?  I have no control over this.  None.  He's six weeks old.  No reputable book or website will tell me that I can put Barrett on a schedule and expect miracles.  UGH.  Usually he's pretty good about the daytime - eating and napping on a two-hour schedule.  And at night I've had some luck with his going to bed at 9:00 pm and sleeping through to 1:30 am.  But if he goes to bed at 7:30 pm or 8:00 pm, then he gets up for a feeding at 11:30 pm, but still wants to get up at 1:30 am too!  And then he's up at 3:30 am and 5:30 am or 6:00 am.  If I change his diaper in the middle of the night he thinks it's time to wake up and won't go back to sleep, so he stays in a soggy diaper all night.

Memaw and her sister Aunt Judy stopped in yesterday to visit and see the kids, and this was the first time Barrett was in the swing and noticed the mirror and mobile above him.  He's actively becoming more aware, and if memory serves with Britton (it may not - I was seriously sleep-deprived with that one!), the jump in development means growing pains for everyone else.

I'm hoping that over the next two weeks, Barrett's system gets in order and he finally settles down into a manageable routine.  And when that finally happens, I can get back to sleeping in my own bed (seriously - not doing stairs all night if he wakes up 4 times) and get some good sleep.  Ahhhh, sleep......my old friend.......I miss you........

in focus

So, I checked into newborn photography around these parts, something that wouldn't cost an arm and a leg.  Because, honestly, I've taken at least 200 photos of Barrett myself, and I didn't want to spend a ton of money on photos that really wouldn't look like him in another couple of months.  I couldn't find any photographers that didn't charge a minimum order fee of $250, and I get it I really do - why go through all the work of a session for me to order only $50 of prints?  But when we're talking about a total bill that would rival my car payment, I'm no longer interested.

And being the cheapskate that I am, I decided to pull out my fancy camera and stage some portraits.  I figured that if I could get at least one decent shot, I'd be worth it.  I ended up not getting to spend as much time taking photos as I'd have liked, since yesterday's photo shoot window of opportunity coincided with Sadie dog's vet appointment for a herniated disc.  Here's my attempt to be my own photographer...

Look at that pouty lip...

is it summer yet?

I've either been indoors feeding/rocking/burping Barrett, or I'm asleep.  Seriously, the only time I go outside is to get in my car to pick up Britton from school or take her to swimming lessons or the library.  Every evening Britton and I have been going on a walk, and I count that as my vitamin D intake for the day!  Granted, the weather here has been spotty for weeks now - rainy, then sunny (within a ten minute window) and some days just downright cold.  

So when the window of sunlight opened yesterday, we pulled out the spray beach ball we picked up when Jessica was in town.  Memaw held the baby, and Britton and I got into the spray.  Her in a swimsuit, me in my clothes.  And damn if it wasn't cold as ice!  But she was having fun, I got to be "cool spontaneous mom" even if only for five minutes, and I honestly count that five minutes as the first shower I've had this week!

mommy/baby

Remember when I said that Britton was treating her Dora doll like her baby?  Here she is, using the Boppy pillow, feeding her "baby" and being quite proud of herself for being a mommy.  And it's adorable, watching her imitate me.  I knew close to nothing about babies when I had Britton.  I never had a younger sibling, my closest cousin Stephanie is a year and a half younger than me so we basically grew up together, and I didn't babysit newborns.  In fact, the first time I babysat Garrett as a newborn (THIRTEEN years ago, heaven help me I'm old), Jessica came home to find me in tears because I was unable to get him to stop crying for the entire time she was gone.  I don't know if Britton will remember being three years old, but I do hope she remembers how she learned how to take care of a baby.

Britton helped me get Barrett set up on her old activity mat.  Granted, he's still a bit young to get it, but it kept him entertained for ten minutes.  

And then the regression/sibling rivalry/whatever you want to call it came on strong.  Once Barrett was out of the activity mat, Britton was in.  And asking for a bottle of pink lemonade.  The hubs and I have taken a relaxed approach with Britton wanting a bottle/pacifier/baby blanket/whatever the baby has - we don't make a big deal of it, so in turn it will hold less intrigue for her.  Lord knows that the one thing I tell Britton she can't have is the one thing she suddenly can't live without.  

She's simultaneously learning how to be a mommy and how to be a sister.  Did I mention that I know even less about three year olds than I do about babies?

deja vu all over again

I've had a hankering all week to purge my house of clutter and mess.  Apparently the nesting instincts are still rearing their ugly heads a month after birth!  First and foremost, I needed my sewing space to get cleaned up.  I had scraps everywhere and no rhyme or reason for their organization.  The hubs got me some great plastic bins and I planned to get everything organized this afternoon, or as soon as the baby was settled into a nap (or sacked out on the hubs, as the baby prefers) and I could convince Britton to "help" me. We all know that a three-year-old isn't going to be offering much assistance, but I tried to get her to "help" me and then at least the hubs wouldn't be corralling two kids upstairs by himself.  The kids seem to have perfected their timing of Barrett losing it for a bottle just when Britton goes running out the back door.

Britton has dubbed her Dora doll as her "baby" and does everything to this doll that we do to Barrett - wiping, diapering, feeding, dressing, you name it.  So when she ventured into our basement work room where I store my fabrics, she instantly spotted my tubs of old clothes I keep down there too.  Most are filled with Britton's old clothes for Emily, but some are memory tubs with special outfits, including clothes I made Britton.  And she decided that her baby needed a dress, and if the baby was getting a dress then so was Britton!  

And here's the dress she picked.  And decided to wear with shorts (seriously, we aren't the Brady Bunch around here. Remember those ridiculously short dresses Cindy wore? Anyone?  Anyone?  Ok, just me then) to the playground.  

And here Britton is wearing the dress in her 19 month picture.  Over two years ago!  

1 month old

We made it to a month!  Whew, this newborn thing is hard - how did I forget so easily?  Let's talk about eating.  This boy can put it away.  When we had to use formula for treating his jaundice, I started pumping to keep up my milk supply.  But Barrett had a taste for the easy eating of bottles and refused to get back on the boobs.  I tried pumping but I couldn't keep up with his appetite, so now we are using formula only.  It was a hard decision, but in the end I just didn't want to fight him to keep him breastfed.  He eats anywhere from 2 ounces to 4 ounces, every 2 to 3 hours.  At night he was being lazy and only eating 2 ounces, but that led to him eating every 1.5 to 2 hours, so now I make him cry a little to really wake up!  If he gets at least 3.5 ounces, he will sleep for 3 hours at a time.  I'm still sleeping on the couch because a 2 story house makes warming bottles hard.  The last thing I need in my sleep-deprived state is to fall down the stairs!  We were trying to ease him into a new formula, but once I get to 2.5 ounces of the new formula he starts puking it up.  So his doctor suggested we keep him on the Alimentum for now, and move him to a more substantial formula in a month or two.  That way his digestive system has a chance to calm down. 

We had the one month well baby visit this morning.  Barrett is now 12 pounds, 14.8 ounces (97th percentile) and 23.5 inches long (off the charts).  His head is 39.5 cm, and his big head bump from being birthed has gone down dramatically.  No shots yet - the doctor is waiting on immunizations until next month.

Now that he has reached 4 weeks we are starting his Eat-Activity-Sleep routine.  It's not a hard and fast routine, since Barrett still wants to eat more at times and less at other times.  And I refuse to wake a sleeping baby just because a routine says he should be up!  Hopefully, once he gets to a longer stretch at nights I can return to my bed upstairs.  Oh bed, I have missed you!

Likes:  eating, being warm, being held, swaddling, looking at black and white pictures, riding in the car

Dislikes:  waiting to eat, gas bubbles

46 months old

We survived the first month of siblings!  Luckily for us, Britton loves being a big sister - just ask her and she will tell you!  The baby has seamlessly joined the family, which has made Britton's transition from only child to sibling much easier.  Lately Britton has really been into dancing.  We watch the "Fresh Beat Band" and she tries to do all the dance moves they do.  Her recital costume and shoes have been put on every weekend.  I love that she has an activity she enjoys so much.

Britton is doing well at school, and her teacher reports that she loves playing with the boys.  This kind of news will cause my heart to stop in the next few years, but for now I'm just glad she plays so well with her classmates.  In fact, I was picking her up early lately and she asked that I pick her up later so that she can play outside with her friends at the end of the day.  I can't argue with that!  

On Saturday Britton started swim lessons at the waterpark.  She did so well!  Admittedly, it was nice to not be the parent convincing a screaming kid to get in the pool.  And after swimming lessons we went to a classmate's birthday party.  Britton had a great time running around the play area and going on the miniature roller coaster.  I need to start planning Britton's birthday party soon, or else it will creep up on me and I'll be left with last minute invitations, no decorations, and a sad piñata!  

Likes:  swimming lessons, going on walks after dinner, reading books, anything to do with art and painting, Blue's Clues, being told she's being patient/a good listener/acting with good manners, apricots

Dislikes: her princess dresses getting too small, not getting unlimited books read to her every night