There You Are

Ok, I am going to do this today. I am going to blog. I think about it every day and every day I actually blog in my head. I think up exactly what the post will say, what I can talk about, different posts for different days...ugh - but I just can't seem to get myself a solid chunk of time to sit down and write it out!

It is soooooo frustrating!

So anyway, I am still here. Still pumping every 3 hours. Still pretty much home bound because I am so completely uncoordinated with timing all this junk out. It seems like just when I get pumped, fed and ready to go, Port crashes out for a nap. Or when I need to get pumped and fed and ready to go, he won't sleep and I can't get anything done. Sometimes it takes me days to do one simple errand. But, my supply is such now that most nights I don't need to make a formula bottle anymore. YAY!

But hopefully some of the coordination problems are about to get better!

I am getting a couple of carriers!! Please pray my friends, that Port will like being in a carrier. It would make things soooooooooooooo much easier!

I will let you know a little more about them when I get them. I am so excited!


Update on the fam:
Port is doing really well. He is a little chunky monkey. He is talking a lot now; reacting to not only familiar faces, but also talking to pictures of things on the computer and in books, and to himself in the mirror. He is sleeping really well; usually anywhere from 6-10 hours a night. I still have to swaddle him, but he goes to sleep relatively easy once he is in his binding. He is too long for the swaddle blanket now, so I just wrap up his arms and he instantly relaxes. It is so strange. In the span of a week he will usually sleep through the night about 3 times, and on the other nights he only wakes once for a brief feed. For the past couple of weeks he has been teething - a bit early I would think, but that is definitely it. He chews on things with such ferociousness. He cries a pain cry for no reason, drools everywhere and has times of low grade fever. If I stick my finger in his mouth and rub his gums he starts cooing and moaning. It is hysterical! Poor little guy.

I guess the sudden change in poop habits, going from once a day to pooping at every opportunity, is going to become the norm. I cannot get over this breastfed poop - it is disgusting. And it stains EVERYTHING! How do I get all these stains out??? I have resorted to bleaching my CPF diapers - I hate doing that, but good grief they are nasty if I don't. I am ready to start using my Fuzzy Bunz, but I don't want to ruin them! I may wait until he starts solids before pulling out my precious FB diapers.

And on the cloth diapering front... I have to say I am not terribly impressed with the Thirsties covers. For one, with Port pooping so much, I need more of them. For 2, it is just way gross to reuse them between wet diapers without a washing. Even if you wipe them out, they are still wet as they absorb some of the pee. And, they are getting really ragged really fast. I think I was spoiled by the FBs holding up so well. The Thirsties are tearing up my wet bags too. Even if I secure the laundry tabs on the velcro, they still catch on everything and they have ripped open 2 bags already. I like the CPFs - they are nice and soft and absorb well; I'm just not loving the covers. But I guess I'll have to suck it up for a while.

The last few nights have been pretty rough. Trying to get Port to sleep when he seems to be a peak pain time with teething... I had to resort to a dose of Tylenol the past two nights. It is also getting harder to get him to nap during the day. He will fight it and fight it. I used to be able to put him in the swing and after a couple of minutes of light fussing he would be out. Now it's 20 minutes or longer of putting in his paci and readjusting his blankie, or worse, holding the bottle for him while he swings back and forth. Today I tried the Soothie paci instead of the other and it seemed to help. I think he needed something a bit harder to suck and chew on.

Putting a diaper on Port is like wrestling with an octopus. Or at least what I think wrestling with an octopus would be like. I haven't actually done it or anything. I did hold a sting-ray once... Anyway, he kicks and squirms and wiggles to the point that it takes me 3 or 4 tries before I can get the dang diaper fastened. Kiddo had me so spoiled - when he was in diapers he would just lie there and let me change him!

Port pretty much hates tummy time (Kiddo did too) so he's no where near being able to roll over yet. He can push himself up in a pretty straight position, but that's about it. However, he loves to sit up (assisted of course) and stand up. He does about a million low squats every day. I swear the kid has the strongest legs on the planet!

He's still not real interested in the bouncy seat or any toys, but of course loves to be carried around the house. If my arms and back could take it, he would have me carry him around all day.

When he's really sleepy and fussy - if I turn him on his side and cradle him in sort of a breast feeding position he will almost instantly go to sleep. Pop in a bottle or paci and it's pretty much a done deal. It is so funny; like I've found the off switch!

Port will smile when he knows someone is going to pick him up. It is so cute!

Kiddo is doing great. He is so incredibly smart I just can't believe it sometimes. His artwork blows us away (and Hubby is an artist). He draws the most interesting faces now, with lots of detailed features and expressions. He can draw the faces of the Little Einsteins and they actually look kind of like the characters! He spells all kinds of words; no, on, off, yes, stop, go, quit, the, Disney, his name, my name, daddy, happy, wall-e (he did that one out of the blue the other day), fox, start, exit - and many more that I can't think of right now. He sight reads a lot of his books, and can tell me which word is which. He can tell me that yellow and blue make green, red and yellow make orange, blue and red make purple, etc. He is adding 1+2, 2+3, etc. - mostly numbers under 5. And the thing is, I can't take responsibility for any of it! He gets most of his knowledge from his Leapster games and reading and *gulp* watching tv. There, I said it.

For the past couple of weeks Kiddo has adopted a baby, his stuffed, quacking duck. Baby goes pretty much everywhere he does. Baby is wearing a cloth diaper and gets a onesie to wear during the day and jammies at night. He drinks from a bottle and enjoys time in the bouncy seat or lying on the boppy. Even though Kiddo has never really slept with stuffed animals (if you don't count the cars pillows he has to have on the bed), he sleeps with Baby snuggled up in his little arms. I'm surprised he hasn't woken himself up yet by squishing that duck and making it quack. It's pretty loud! If Baby has been misplaced and Kiddo notices he will rapidly descend into a fit of despair so I have to keep in mind where Baby is at all times.

Well, I have been looking at this entry all day now and for the life of me I cannot figure out a way to wrap it up. So, I guess that is all for now. It is after midnight anyway and I am sitting here pumping. *sigh*

Until,
D :)