Posts Tagged ‘feeding’

My First Tooth

Wednesday, August 19th, 2009

Maddox has started teething. You can actually SEE tiny little tooth points on his lower and upper gums. It’s pretty early – he was just three months old on this past Sunday.

He’s not thrilled about it, but Jon explained to him about the delights of calzones and the larger world of noms in general. (We call his food “noms,” as in NomNomNom!). Since Maddox is a big fan of noms, he’s coming around.

He also seems to be adjusting to the discomfort. Sometimes he’s pretty unhappy, and our wonderful daycare provider (who spotted the fact he was teething in the first place) suggested using Orajel. At home, we usually soothe him and rub his gums, and I let him chomp on my fingers.

I’m a little concerned about what happens when he can actually chomp holes through things. Namely, things like me. Doing bottles full time would be so much less convenient, especially at night. I’m back at work now, so it wouldn’t be awful to switch, but I’d miss the bonding time – my pump is a whole lot less adorable to hold, and although I appreciate it, I’m not looking to spend more time with it.

I’m torn between being proud of Mads, being concerned about his discomfort and the possible change to bottles, and being just plain excited that he’s growing fast and is healthy. Overall, I’m savoring the experience – you never get to go through the same phase with the same kid twice, and Maddox is a constant source of amazement.

(Looking at) The Great Outdoors

Friday, June 12th, 2009

Maddox has a new favorite past time. It involves staring out the window and flailing around in enthusiasm.

I’m not sure how well he can see, but he definitely focuses on the light, and he reacts when birds fly by – our apartment complex has a ridiculous number of birds on the roof.

I support this new hobby, because last night he decided that, in addition to his usual feeding times, being up for 2 hours straight would be very fun. (Mom & Dad are kind of tired and are glad it’s Friday.) So, this morning I’m keeping an eye on him while he entertains himself.

Tomorrow, I’m going to move his crib over in front of the windows in the nursery (and nail up the cord to the blinds for safety) with hopes that he’ll be amused in his crib, too. Wish us luck on that one. =P

On another note, Mads and I had our first driving adventure when we went to go visit Dad at work yesterday. It was so great to be out of the apartment. I ended up feeding Mads there (thank you for the use of your conference room, Jon’s work!) and by feeding him while out, it extended the time we could stay out from 2 hours to 4. Imagine confining all of your activities to under 2 hours and you’ll realize how great that is.

jon-work

The drive was a little nerve-wracking, since you can’t see how he’s doing because he’s in a rear-facing car seat. Luckily, Jon’s co-worker Sue told us about car seat mirrors to put on the back seat, so we’ll get one of those this weekend and it will be a little easier to take Mads places in the car. That is, provided I am awake enough to drive anywhere. =)

Why Am I Not In Your Arms?

Monday, June 1st, 2009

Maddox has this new thing where he likes to be picked up and held… all of the time. This means nights are no longer sacred, the Pack n Play is just not an interesting place right now, and Mom and Dad get a little bit less done because their arms are occupied with baby.

Here’s how it goes: he falls asleep, we put him down, he wakes up a few moments later and realizes he’s not being held anymore. So he starts to cry pathetically until someone comes to reassure him that he’s not all alone in the universe.

As a result, today Mads is strapped to Mom in his sling, and Mom is trying to use her computer around him. It’s okay, but I kind of wish my arms were longer. Possibly, it’s time to invest in a laptop stand like Jon’s.

sling

In any case, we’re going to have to move Mads to his crib at night. He constantly talks to himself in his bassinet, which is difficult to sleep through. It’s going to be tough on Mom – I have spasms of anxiety because I miss him if he’s not in the same room – but getting a few hours of uninterrupted sleep will make it easier to enjoy the new 45 minute nighttime feeding sessions. (He used to feed for about 15 minutes each time, but he’s hungrier now).

Mads is changing so much each day – new habits, new expressions and new sounds. Hopefully, he’ll acquire the useful habit of sleeping at night soon.

Jon and I have discussed how it’s impossible to be mad at him, even after being up half the night, because once you pick him up he’s just so little and adorable that you can’t be upset anymore. I suspect this is a built-in baby defense-mechanism, and find human genetic programming very clever in that respect. Well played, Mother Nature. Well played.