DAY 100!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sat 11/21

Today Henry and I went to California Pizza Kitchen and met Kristi and Christina for lunch. I actually used the nursing cover and breastfed him in real public. It was scary but not bad.

Life is really going on.


Future note: on November 23 Henry laughs for the first time! an honest to God giggle! It's what we've been waiting for!

love, love, love

Day 99 Friday November 20

A bunch of notes:

He is getting so good at "tummy time"!!

The trees outside his bedroom window are being cut to the nubs. It started today. It feels like a metaphor (I think I mean simile) for me having to go back to school. The trees are being stripped of their leaves and branches just as I am being stripped away from our little family. I'm very sad.

He slept on my chest and his ear left an impression on my skin. Just like months ago when he slept on my chest and his foot left an impression on my tummy.

I can see tiny white hairs on his knuckles. I never noticed that before.

Day 98 Thursday November 19

Henry is getting so good at grabbing toys. His hand/eye coordination is developing. His favorite toy right now is Vitamins the Bear. I don't know if his name is supposed to be Vitamins or not, but this is a flat bodied bear with a patch on his chest that says "Vitamins." We have found out that this might be a brand name, but oh well. Vitamins is the name of Henry's bear.

Day 97 Wednesday November 18

I am still keeping track of Henry's feedings and diapers. I'm not sure why or when I will break the habit. I think I am afraid that I will forget what side I'm on when I nurse him next or that somehow I will forget to change him.

I had to go to school for the staff meeting today. Woo.

But when I came home it was so pleasant! Henry was in his bouncy seat, Phillip was working on the computer and all was calm and lovely. Henry has his tongue sticking out the side of his mouth like he's thinking really hard or he's Michael Jordan.

I love this kid so much. How did he get so wonderful? We are so blessed. I love you Phillip and Henry!

Day 96 Tuesday November 17

Back to Jury Duty. I got to go home. Thank you God!

I had to plead with the judge about my situation and she was not sympathetic. I told her how I couldn't miss my first day back from maternity leave and that we are a one income family. She responded by asking me why I didn't fill out a form indicating that I couldn't afford it (I can't remember the word she used) and I said that I can afford to do jury duty, the week I was called, which is this week, not two weeks from now. DUH!

Then I had to leave the room and not until later was I released. YEE HAW! I donated my jury duty money back to the courts.

Back to Henry:

I startled him today. It was funny but not funny. He was scared and started to cry. I was just coming into his room and I thought he knew I was there. nope.

Grandma and Grandpa called today to sing to him.

I spend a lot of time thinking about and worrying about Henry's schedule. If we thought I was neurotic before I had him...

Day 95 Monday November 16

Two more weeks until I go back to school. I don't know how to prepare.

I had Jury Duty today and it more or less sucked. I was promised a place to pump and it didn't happen. I had to pump in a bathroom stall. I actually got called in and I have to go back tomorrow. The trial starts on November 30. Does that day sound familiar? Yeah, it's when I'm supposed to go back to work. AHHH!

Henry and Phillip were fine without me. They also drove me and picked me up. Henry is so cute in his car seat!

The leaves are changing colors. This happens so late here compared to Illinois.

Day 94 Sunday November 15

When I am all alone with Henry it is so quiet. So much is different now and it hits me hard sometimes. I feel like I'm going to wake up and this was all a dream.

Today I was holding Henry and out of nowhere he flails backwards! I thought if I hadn't been more aware or conscious or awake, I might have dropped him. Thank you God, I did not drop him. He changes so fast. He can do more everyday. I keep trying not to wish he could do more stuff. I don't want to wish this time away. It goes too quickly.

Day 93 Saturday November 14

THREE MONTHS OLD!!!

I ate lunch today with Henry in the Ergo. It's not bad. I feel like I can do anything with this thing. I think I can try to cook or clean. I love having him so close and having my hands free. That feels selfish: wanting to have my hands free. hmmm I don't want to ignore him, I just want to have him with me and safe and be able to do stuff.

Day 92 Friday November 13

When I change Henry, he can get a little whiny so I play the classical music station on the radio. We keep it on while we play in his room. He also has classical music on his swing. Is there any proof that playing classical music makes you smarter? It feels like there should be.

I can't always be close enough to hear it when Henry poops, but I am SO glad when I am. Sometimes this baby poops is abundant enough to actually leak UP the back of his diaper. I know that since he consumes nothing but breast milk this means that his poops are quite liquidy. I also know that if you spend a lot of time playing on your back this means that your liquid poop has the tendency to spread up... like I said: I'm happy when I hear him poop. That way, I catch it in time.


(blog actually posted June 25: last day of school! It has taken me this long to find the time to turn my daily notes into blog entries. Getting ready to go back to work and actually being a working mom/wife/sister/friend did not leave enough time to blog.)

Day 91 Thursday 11/12

ERGO Victory!

We have three ways to carry Henry. We have the fabulous Ergo, we have the awesome Sleepy Wrap and we have a pretty cool sling.

The sling almost immediately hurts my back and I can't figure out how to not cover Henry's face. This one, though, is the easiest one to just throw in the diaper bag to have on hand.

The Sleepy Wrap makes me so hot, it is a LOT of fabric! We have had some victories in the past, but the last time I used it, he cried like crazy.

I have been waiting to try the Ergo again because when I tried to follow the directions and put him the way a newborn should go, it always seemed to somehow cut off circulation to his legs because you could see them turn blue. I hated that and I knew he was probably too big for that hold and yet not big enough to have him put his legs around my waist.

Well today was the day! I figured, he is almost three months old, I can put his legs around my waist! So I suited up! Put him in the carrier, and we went all the way to the post office, to the tea shop and then back home. It was quite a work out, but he slept for most of it and I could calm him when we were in line at the post office for way too long and the inactivity woke him up. (I can't stand our post office: North Hollywood... you suck!)

The Ergo is wonderful and I feel like he is secure and I hope to do the hike with him sometime soon.

Day 90, Wed Nov 11

Putting this ointment in his eye is a TRIP! We are supposed to pull down his lower lid and put a quarter inch of this gel inside the lid. Have you ever tried pulling the lid down of a baby who has the chubbiest cheeks known to man? It doesn't work! And Henry must be like me and gets claustrophobic when things come close to my eyes, he FREAKS out. He hates it and he fights us. This baby is super strong! I can't believe we have to do this four times a day for five whole days.

Today was also the first day in awhile that we were all home and we all went grocery shopping together. It was really nice. Our little family.

Day 89, Tuesday 11/10

Henry cried like CRAZY when he woke up this morning. He has not done this is quite a while. It was a little disturbing. Then he quiets down, eventually and acts like nothing happened.

Yesterday we went on a walk with Patty and she commented on his eye. He has had a lot of juicy-ness coming out in the last two days, a lot more than usual. He has always had that clogged tear duct in his right eye, but this seemed more than normal eye gunk a la clogged duct. So today it was the same if not worse because it looks like his eyelids are red. So we called the nurse and told her about it. Some of the eye gunk is greener than the normal yellowy color, so she got the doctor to call in a prescription. I had to jump through some hoops with Target and proving Henry has insurance since I still have not received his card (Screw you Health Net!), but I got the tiny tube of ointment (which was once over $100, but we got it for $30).

Day 88, Monday Nov 9

When it is just the two of us here, the apartment is so quiet. It makes me a little crazy.

Today I did laundry and it was a little hard because it was just the two of us. I have to leave to go to the garage where the laundry room is in our building. Once, he was asleep so I left him in the crib and ran and hurried like you wouldn't believe, praying the whole time. I don't think I can do this again.

How do people do this?

One time Phillip put him in the sling and took him back and forth with him... I couldn't carry the basket with him on me. Where would it go?

If we ever get a house, I really hope we have a washer and a dryer. (and it would be great if it was on the first floor... :)

Day 87, Sunday 11/8

I need more sleep. I need to sleep when he sleeps. I have never gotten the hang of this. I need to do it, because I am falling asleep while nursing or while he plays on the blanket. This is no good.

We had more trouble with the bottle again, but while at church Phillip gave him the bottle again... We just keep persevering. We have no choice.

Day 86, Saturday Nov 7

Today was a BIG day! We took Henry to his first class ever!

Our friend Beth teaches a music class, in French, to babies! The class is for newborns to two year olds. It was really nice and Beth is wonderful. However, it somehow did not work for Henry schedule-wise. He was a little sleepy, he needed a diaper change in the middle and he wanted to eat too. And the class is only 45 minutes! We also think that it would suit him better in at least three months when he could hold the shaker or the drum and use them on purpose instead of by accident. :)

Side note: not feeding him after the first morning feeding today did not go well for me. I got SUPER engorged and leaked all over my shirt and that was through TWO nursing pads! Phillip says maybe it needs to get worse before it gets better. I hope so.

Then, Henry and I had a tea and knitting party to go to at Patty's house! We had such a good time and did so well. He breast fed twice and napped twice! We were able to do just about everything there that we would do at home! And Kristee and Patty got him to laugh and I missed it! Kristee mimiced his grunting noises and they said he did a grunt laugh at her!

We had such a good time.

Day 85, Friday Nov 6

Henry is 12 weeks old today! I am stunned at this fact. Was it twelve whole weeks ago, that we were in the hospital? So, three months ago, I was still pregnant? Everything feels like a blur and yet, I can distinctly remember how hard it was in the beginning and how hot it was and how I still had to wear my maternity pants and... yeah, it was hard.

But 12 weeks have gone by and Henry is sleeping well. Most nights he sleeps until six-ish which is wonderful. He and I do really well with breastfeeding. I can't remember if I mentioned it, but my friend Karen told me that if I could breastfeed for six weeks, I could do it forever. She was so right. I remember waking up from a fog during week six and thinking, "Oh my God, this doesn't make me want to die anymore!" or something like that.

He is such a wonderful, chubby, smiley, beautiful, sweet baby boy. We are so blessed. He is a miracle, a gift from God. I am so grateful.

Day 84, Thu Nov 5

Henry naps often, but for only short time each time. But TODAY... we had over an hour long nap! It was this morning and it was wonderful!

He also did his first raspberry! He was on the changing table and I think it surprised him as much as it surprised me!

Day 83, Wed Nov 4

We coined the term "boob-bandoned" today because Henry seems to be rejecting taking a bottle. So we say he is feeling boob-bandoned. :)

This morning was actually kinda scary... We got Henry after we heard him moving around. He was on the changing table and smiling so sweetly and then I realized his mouth, his lips are stuck shut. I FREAKED! It was totally out of a JJ Abrams tv show. I got a warm washcloth and placed it on his mouth and it immediately opened. He kept on smiling so I knew it wasn't upsetting him as much as it upset me, but I didn't know what it meant! Was he dehydrated? Sick?

We called Emily and then we called the nurse. Anne thought he probably just had a wet burp and it dried on his lips. She said that if he was smiling, then he wasn't dehydrated. He didn't have any other symptoms so he wasn't sick. Her advice was to use a humidifier and/or put petroleum jelly on his lips before bed.

Thank you GOD.

Oh! And we had a meeting at Chase bank about getting a 529 account for Henry for college. Long story short... this guy was a total jerk. I will post my husband's letter to the bank manager.

Day 82 Tuesday Nov 3

Wow.

Today we went with Henry to stand in the horrors of lines to get the H1N1 vaccine. Yes, we drank the Kool-Aid and freaked out about getting the vaccine. I spent the last two weeks calling our general practitioner every day about how we could get the vaccine. I was told over and over that they would have it "next week." I woke up this morning, checked online to see where the free clinics were, saw that one was in Glendale today, and we went for it. We were there, in line, for FIVE hours. Insane. Oh, and they ran out of the shot. We had to get the nasal mist. Whatever! It felt like we were in a war or something and we had to stand in line for rations.

While we were in line, I had to leave and find a place to change him and feed him. The car was parked about a mile away, so that wasn't an option. I found a corner near a parking garage. I had to sit on the ground, but I did it.

Occasionally Henry does not like to be covered by the modesty wrap. Sometimes it's because it's kinda hot or sweaty. This was a little problem today, but we had to just push through. We didn't have a choice.

Day 81 Mon Nov 2

Totally un-Henry related: I won something!! I follow the Cupcake Project blog and about a week ago, she requested feedback on video reviews of her cupcakes. If you left your email address with your comment, you would be entered in a drawing to win Cupcake Stackers and I WON! I am so excited. If you like food, if you like food blogs, if you like recipes, if you like cupcakes, you should read her blog. The photographs are amazing and she is so good at clearly explaining how and what she does. I can't wait to try and make Apple Cider cupcakes. I can't wait to get my cupcake stackers!

Back to Henry!

So we are still trying to do the morning bottle and I am getting engorged. Each day is better than the last so I am glad we are doing this now and not when I am in a room full of teenagers. Henry will take the bottle of breast milk, but he doesn't seem as satisfied. He drinks as much as he wants, and yet acts hungry soon after. Maybe bottles of breast milk are the chinese food of infanthood.

Day 80 Sunday November 1

Happy Birthday Matt!
and
Bears Win!

Today Henry and I went with Amanda to Betsy's baby shower. Betsy and Sean are expecting a little boy in January and I couldn't be more happy for them! Her friends Kat and Rachel had a lovely tea party baby shower where we painted onesies for the new baby. It was a lot of fun. I looooove tea. I love painting. I love Amanda and I love Betsy. It was a nice party.

I was super nervous, of course. Amanda helped a ton. She held Henry, she helped carry stuff in and she would get me refills of tea or help finish my painting when I was holding/rocking/feeding/changing Henry. She is my left arm.

When you go to other people's houses, where do you change the baby? where do you feed the baby? can he go on a blanket on the floor? does he have to stay in the car seat? So many questions. Rachel was a gracious host and she was so relaxed and chill about everything. I changed him on the floor in her bedroom because there was a rug. I fed him with the modesty cape in the living room on the couch and when he was full and not fussing, he chilled out in the car seat. He was a pretty good guest. He definitely had some fussy moments, but he eventually fell asleep in my arms. We are so blessed with such a beautiful and sweet baby.