Baby King

Archive for the ‘daycare’ Category

Yesterday I washed two bottles and a sippy cup that had had breastmilk in it and thought, “This is it.”

Remember how in March I said I was going to stop pumping at work around Little Prince’s second birthday (which is at the end of this month)? Well, it happened last Thursday.

At daycare, Little Prince had started asking for milk less and less. In March I started sending only 5-6 oz. As he wasn’t drinking all of that, I started sending only 3-4 oz. I dropped my pumping time at work to only 10 minutes.

In April I nervously asked his daycare teachers to always offer water first but to give him milk if he asked for it. Some days he did, and some days he didn’t. Toward the end of April his sippy cup that I sent with milk was always coming home as full as I sent it. About two weeks ago we started hiding the cup of milk in the big fridge at daycare so he wouldn’t even see it. Since then, he’s never asked for it.

Last Friday I was really busy at work and totally forgot to pump. I didn’t even notice, which any breastfeeding mom can tell you is a big deal, because if you need to empty a breast, you notice. So this week I decided to stop pumping and stop sending milk. I was really scared that on Monday Little Prince would randomly ask for milk again, but he hasn’t. And it’s so liberating not to have to pump, esepcially since I got to stop two weeks “ahead of schedule.” After about 9 months of pumping twice a day and almost a whole year of pumping once a day, it’s amazing to get the time back. And I’m really proud of myself for being as committed as I was and doing it for as long as I did.

We still have a small freezer stash (just in case) and if I’m away from Little Prince for a significant amount of time, I may need to pump a bit, but in general, I am DONE PUMPING! Hurray!

And now, in honor of the new Star Trek movie coming out this week, here’s Little Prince yelling “Khaaan”:

Our Little Prince was throwing up all Sunday evening to night from 6pm to about 3:30am. He was finally able to hold breastmilk down at 5:30am. Took the day off from work and stayed home with him. He threw up again once Tuesday night, but was fine after that. I’m still convinced it was because I took a Zyrtec on Saturday night and on Tuesday morning.

I woke up at 3:30 last night to breastfeed LP and was all shivery and my left breast was tender to the touch. Darius went to work (he leaves early) and after he left I started spiking a fever of 104-107°. For someone who runs 98°, this is a big deal. I couldn’t drive myself anywhere, I felt too bad. My awesome almost-neighbor and LLL leader saw my posts on Facebook, came over, got LP dressed, got me to the ER and took LP to daycare. Darius met me at the ER. They gave me an IV of fluids and some strong antibiotics. I also got a prescription for strong antibiotics and I made sure they are breastfeeding friendly. For those who care, they’re class B.

Came home. Rested, ate, pumped, watched Mythbusters and the rest of Your Highness, napped for a bit and relaxed for a bit. Fever is down to 99° last I checked and I’m all sweaty. My left breast still hurts a ton and is hard and tender to the touch.

Darius and LP will be home from daycare soon.

Mastitis sucks, but my friends are awesome.

Hope you’re having a blessed Solstice.

Our Little Prince turned eighteen months old last week. That’s a year and a half of this awesome little person being in our life. We had our 18 month check-up and while the pediatrician said he looks like he is “filling out,” he’s still a tiny guy: height 30¼”, weight 19lbs 12oz. So in six months he’s grown about 2 inches and put on almost 1.5lbs. Somehow it seems more reassuring that he is growing when I look at it like that.

Here’s a bullet list of 18 things about LP at 18 month, interspersed with a whole bunch of pictures and videos.

• Lately he’s been putting words together with alarming regularity. We have “cold outside”, “school bus”, “Ernie eat”, “That’s a kitty”, and my favorite, “Mommy made apple pie.” He’s also hitting the “my/mine” stage full on.

• At daycare they’ve started sitting him on the toilet twice a day. So we got a little potty and LP really loves to “sit on the potty.” Hasn’t “used” it yet, but we’re getting the idea.
• He loves to help around the house. He’ll stir stuff in a pot, wash dishes, and sweep the floor.

• There were a ton of leaves in our front yard so I raked them into a pile and we played in the leaf pile for a while. Yes, he’s wearing shorts and a t-shirt. I’ll take my 100° summers to have 80° in December.

• He loves books, Star Wars/R2D2, Elmo, Cookie Monster, and Ernie. He also went nuts when we showed him some of the Aristocats because he could identify the animals and had to tell us about them.

• We are working on being the very best nerd-parents/totally messing LP up forever. He can say “die” and “dice” which is cute in general, but when he turns to me and says “mommy, die” it’s a little weird out of context. Although when he said “tante, die” while we were Facetiming with my sister it totally made my night!

• We’ve also taught him to clench his fists and yell “Khaaaaaaan” which is just super adorably cute. (Still working on getting video of that one).
• He’s still nursing a ton, although the “milk is asleep” from when he falls asleep until 2am is working out pretty well. Sometimes when he wakes up before 2am and I tell him that “milk is asleep” and he gives me this “No” wail that reminds me of Luke being told that Vader is his father.
• He’s also eating more. I try not to be worried when he’s not interested in food at dinner time, but it can’t always be helped. Then I remember that he eats well at daycare and he has a snack on the way home from daycare and also breastfeeds for a bit when we first get home.
• He still loves apples more than just about anything. He also likes sweet potato fries, sweet potato puffs, crackers, turkey (but not chicken as much), pasta, blueberries, and strawberries.

• LP can go up and down stairs. When he says “up the stairs” it kind of sounds like “apple juice.”
• On that note, he had a big tumble down the stairs the other day. I thought he was at the bottom of the stairs, I turned around, turned back and he was half way up them. Then he turned around to see me, and lost his footing. He rolled down about four stairs sideways before I got to him. Picked him up and assured him he was fine. Breastfeed him for a bit, and then we went down and up the stairs again to make sure he wasn’t afraid of them.
• He currently has four top teeth, two bottom teeth, and a third bottom tooth is part way in.

• He loves slides. At the playgrounds he’s figured out how to go up the stairs, over to the slide, and go down it.
• Like his father, he’s a “reaction junkie.” If I react to something he does and he finds my reaction funny, he’ll do it over and over again to try to get the same reaction. He loves to blow raspberries on my tummy. The other day he tickled my knee and when I squealed (I’m super ticklish) he did it again and again all night.
• His favorite game to play with us is “boo/hi.” He’ll hide behind something, such as the couch or a wall, and then jump out and say “hi” or “boo.” It’s so cute!
• We’re trying out All-in-Ones/Pocket diapers again because a. I’m tired of using disposables when we go out and b. he doesn’t need to be changed as often as when he was 3 months old and will tolerate a wet diaper more. So far so good. We’ve purchased a couple of the very nerdy diapers over on Seams Geeky, because who can resist Final Fantasy and glow-in-the-dark Tron diapers?
• I currently have four baby carriers in the house, but one I don’t use any more (the Moby) and one I’m borrowing from Austin Babywearers. There’s another one I’m lusting over. I may have a small problem. But he likes to be worn and I still like to wear him.

In closing, in case you are thinking about getting him anything for this holiday season, here’s his Amazon wishlist. Clothing is also always appreciated. He’s at that stage where he’s in between the 12 and 18 month sizes.

Well, I guess I can’t think of my Little Prince as an infant anymore. He is 100% a toddler.

When LP and I walked into daycare on Tuesday, the director looked up and said, “LP’s mom.” At first I was worried something was wrong, but then she told me that he’s progressing so well that they wanted to start transitioning him from Infant C to Toddler 1 (the 18-24 month room). She wanted to make sure that I was okay with it. I asked if she thought that he was developmentally ready and she said that he was. So I said Ok. I brought him into the Toddler 1 class and he immediately seemed comfortable there. He’s been in class with some of those children before so it’s not all new to him.

I had two thoughts going through my head the whole time:
1. My little baby is growing up so fast!
2. Aww yeah, my kid is developmentally ahead of the other kids in his age range. My kid’s so smart ~does the Cabbage Patch arm thing~

Apparently he loves being in the Toddler room. He didn’t even want to go into Infant C at first this morning. They work on things like drinking from open cups and standing diaper changes and even some potty training (if the child is ready for it). And he’ll even be getting some Spanish. I’m so super excited for him.

Of course on the flip side, we also got the 18 month sleep regression early; joy of joys.

Also over the weekend we went to a local church that had a large number of pumpkins. We picked out a large pumpkin (and two small ones).

I have this problem when blogging where I feel like I “ought” to blog something or I’ll want to write about a specific topic or I’ll feel like I need to complete X before I can get to the post. And then the moment passes, but I still feel like I “owe” people/readers/the blog the post I haven’t done yet, so I don’t post because until I can post what I “owe” I shouldn’t post anything else. Well, I’ve decided that that’s dumb and I should just blog what I want when I want. So there.

To that end, here’s a catch-up on a whole bunch of stuff that’s happened since my last post in July.

• Darius and I bought a house in the suburbs. It’s huge and we love it. LP loves it too as do the cats. We’re very happy here (even if we’re still not unpacked)
• I had to take a business trip away from LP and Darius for several days. Everyone survived. I came home with over 70oz of pumped milk.
• To that end, we’ve been working on a slight bit of gentle night weaning, based on Jay Gordon’s method. This really deserves it’s own post, but in case I never get to it, it’s going okay… most nights.

• LP is still on the super tiny side of things (at his 15 month checkup he was 9% for height and 2% for weight)
• He has 6 teeth (4 top and 2 bottom)
• He’s becoming a bit of a picky eater, especially at home

• He has more words than I can count, still signs, and is picking up more every day
• He’s really into any word that has a hard K sound at the end: snack, sock, clock, milk, book, and duck are favorites.

Overall I’m really really enjoying this age. He’s moving much better (almost running), climbing all over everything, loves to giggle and laugh and play. He talks a ton and babbles even more. Sometimes he says the word babble. He also just picks up new things so quickly. The other day I taught him to do the Tarzan beat chest and go “ahhhhh.” It’s hilarious.

And life in the suburbs has fallen into a routine of come home, nurse, make/eat dinner and then go outside and play with the neighbourhood kids, then bath and bed. We even got him his own scooter-bike to play on.

Which isn’t to say there aren’t problems. He still doesn’t eat a ton, especially at home. I think it’s partly because he doesn’t always get the healthiest food at daycare and partly because he always wants to nurse when we get home and dinner isn’t too far after that and then he’d rather nurse than eat most of the time on the weekend. I’m trying to not freak out about it. I know he’s growing and healthy and hitting all of his milestones (surpassing many) and since he doesn’t have molars yet it’s not like it’s super easy for him to eat everything, but I still worry. And of course, like all toddlers he is very fond of the word “no” and will occasionally “have big emotions.”

But overall he’s a total joy and makes his mommy and daddy very happy.

Sorry about not updating when my Little Prince turned 8 months. I got just a bit involved with the Facebook Nurse-In stuff .

So, LP is now 9 months old! At his checkup last week he was 27″ long & weighed 17.5lbs. He’s been a person in the world longer than he was a collection of growing cells/a fetus inside of my body. It still blows me away.

LP continues to grow, change, and amaze me. He is now crawling like a maniac (much to the cats’ dismay), cruising around the furniture, walking for a good while while holding our hands, and even standing for several seconds all by himself. He’s also a little thrill seeker and loves getting tossed around, thrown up in the air, and being placed on shoulders.

 (Drat, I had just added a bunch of stuff and WordPress just ate it! Boo! Hopefully I can remember most of what I wrote.)

When he’s excited, LP makes the cutest “gah” noise. He also says lots of “da/dat” “ba” and “agg” sounds. Still not much on the “ma” front . He also signed milk once or twice, but not consistently… then again, we’re not very consistent with it.

When he wants to show affection (or when he’s super tired), he’ll lay his head down on you. It’s so cute. Here he is giving the boy-cat some love:

 Grandma (my mother) came into town the other week. She spent a few days watching him, which was nice. She found a great little park for smaller kiddos nearby, which we have since taken him to a couple of times. She also taught him to raise his arms up when someone says “touchdown” (even though it’s not football season anymore). Here he is doing “touchdown” for Grandma when we were out at dinner:

On the eating/sleeping front, LP is still mostly reverse cycled, although he does take more milk at daycare than he use to (probably because he’s more active these days). So we dream-feed several times a night. He still isn’t super interested in food. He does about 2-3 oz of baby puree at daycare every day. Apples or sweet potato seem to be his favorites. He’s okay with banana, pears, and carrots. So far not a fan of green beans. At home we do more baby lead solids. We went out to Olive Garden over the weekend and got him a side of steamed broccoli and he had fun squishing it and dropping it on the floor, but I’m pretty sure he got some in his mouth. Here he is with two slices of an Empire apple. He really likes apples and other fruit.

He also likes to try and drink water from our glasses. It’s pretty cute and usually ends up with water everywhere. He’s starting to figure out sippy cups too. I think we need to get a few different types to see what he takes to.

As perfectly developmentally appropriate, LP has occasionally exhibited some mild signs of separation anxiety when we put him down. So we babywear him more. Currently there are three baby carriers in this house: a Moby wrap, an Ergo, and a Mei Tei that I’m borrowing for a friend. I’ve started to become a big fan of the back carry. I’ve also started to get addicted to baby carriers. They are so awesome. And different ones are needed for different situations! The other week we were at CostCo and Darius had LP in the Ergo on his back. LP totally fell asleep and Darius kept getting double-takes from people as they realized that he wasn’t wearing a backpack, but a sleeping baby.

I’m sure I have more to say, but he’s waking up and it’s way past time to get him to daycare and me to work.

I am a milk donor.

My little prince has decided that the breast is a much better source to eat from than the bottle (smart kiddo!). This means that he has decided to reverse cycle (very common with infants in daycare). So while he is at daycare he only takes enough milk to keep himself from getting hungry. In fact, he usually doesn’t even take his first bottle until about noon, and he generally nurses around 6am or sometimes 7:15am. However, I’m pumping twice a day at work. I end up pumping more than he drinks. For example, today he took about 7.5 oz at daycare and I pumped about 12 at work (12 is a low day for me). This means I have a nice little surplus built up. Hurray. Unfortunately I have a small freezer and no room or money for a deep freezer. Boo. So I decided to give some of my milk away to others in need. Hurray!!!!

At first I started by contacting the Mother’s Milk Bank. However they took a while to respond and then they wanted me to take a blood test and donate 100 oz at one time. I’m not sure my freezer could store 100 oz. Then I found Eats On Feets. Through my local Eats on Feets Facebook Chapter (gods, I LOVE social networking!) I met a mom in my area with a little girl just slightly older than my little prince who can’t produce enough milk for her baby. So at the end of September I gave her over half of my “stash.”

A few days ago I noticed my freezer was once again filling up with frozen milk. A few Facebook messages later and she came by this afternoon to pick up more for her daughter. I actually got to meet the little girl this time and she is even smaller than my LP! It already felt good to know that I was helping a little girl in need, but to see her and here how she’s finally gaining weight made me feel even more awesome.

In some sense, I am a 21st Century wet nurse, and it feels amazingly good.

It’s hard to believe it, but my little prince is already four months old. At his doctor’s appointment yesterday he was over 24″ long, weighted in at 13lbs 15oz (which is more than twice his birth weight), and has a head that is 40cm around. This puts him in the 30-something percentiles for height and weight and 6% for head size. Tiny heads run in my family, so I’m so not surprised by this. Also, he’s moving well on the chart curve, so that’s good.

He’s starting to get so big. He’s growing out of many of the onesies and pajamas that we have for him. He can still wear the infant cloth diapers, but he’s now in the size 2 disposables.

Little Prince’s newest tricks are grabbing his feet (and trying to suck on his toes), rolling from back to side, and the stealth pee on the changing table (which apparently he only does for me), all of which make it much harder to change him than it use to.

He also giggles and smiles and talks a lot. He’s also getting really good at grabbing things and putting them in his mouth. He loves to nom on his Elephant Mingo, balls, rattles, the Happy Apple, and our fingers, knees, and even feet.

He also will grab our hands or arms and try to eat them while we are changing his diaper… yet another thing that makes diaper changes take longer.

LP still loves tummy time and still really wants to crawl. He’s also getting better at sitting up (lately he’s been trying to pull himself into sitting from semi-reclining) and will stand if we balance him.

He’s been doing pretty well at daycare also. The teachers say that he is all smiles for them (most of the time). He was doing much better taking a bottle last week, but not as much this week. ~sigh~. Since I’m generally pumping more than he is eating in a day, I was able to donate a bunch of my “stash” to another mom in need and I still have a good deal in my freezer.

LP had a little cold the other week, but we got through it. Now we have a humidifier in the bedroom and saline for his nose. OMG, it’s amazing how a little baby can fight two adults when it comes to using saline solution!

Overall things are going well. Darius and I are still adjusting to being two working parents with a baby and housework and cooking and cleaning and two cats that also need attention. But I think we’re slowly getting there.

My little prince is 14 weeks old! He’s hit the three month mark. He continues to delight and amaze Darius and I.

He’s getting so much bigger. On Friday he went in for some shots ( ) and he weighed in at almost 13lbs! That’s about half a pound from doubling his birth weight.

He’s started to giggle. Especially if I give him kisses all over his belly. It’s just about the cutest, most awesomest noise in the world.

He is also, for the most part, a very calm baby. They say that he is “self-contained” at daycare. This was really good when both Darius and I got sick last weekend and LP was calm and happy and took it all in stride.

He’s started to be able to sit up more (still supported), reach for things, and grab them. He’s started the “I want to put everything in my mouth” stage, which I hear lasts for a loooong time.

His green poop has mostly cleared up (finally) although it still has a smell to it. And we’re still having problems with him taking a bottle both at daycare and from Darius. We’re in the process of trying other bottles to see if they work. I also go in at lunch when I can and nurse him. I did come home the other day to this adorable sight:

I’m adjusting to being back at work. It’s not always easy, but I’m doing my best.

Lots has happened in the past three weeks.

The first week of August was National Breastfeeding Week. I was going to go to a Latch On, but LP was asleep when it was time to go and I didn’t want to awaken him.

Also that week, my father came into town and spent just under 2 weeks with us. It was really nice to have him around as he helped around the house and with LP. He also worked on making sure that LP and I got out of the house on occasion, even though it’s been so damn hot out.

I was really glad he was here the second week because I came down with a minor cold for a few days and totally lost my voice. LP also go the cold, but it was even less for him (yay breastfeeding). Still, it was his first cold and he was not thrilled, especially when he was having a bit of trouble with a stuffy nose and trying to nurse. But we both made it through it.

On August 4, all four of us went to a Marian Call concert. LP was amazing throughout almost the whole thing. He tended to either be asleep or staring at the pretty redhead on stage singing. The concert was being webcast. When Marian went to put on her Jayne hat, we put LP in his. She saw and had the camera focus on him. Here is the moment of my baby becoming Internet famous:

We also ventured into the realm of cloth diapering without the Diaper Service. But that’s a post all to itself.

Last week was my first week back at work and LP’s first week of daycare. We were both only doing half days. Things are going pretty well; LP is even starting to take to the bottle better. They keep telling me what an awesome and chill baby LP is. They also told Darius when he picked up LP on Friday what a calm mother I am.

LP has been spending his time discovering his hands. He’s a fan of sucking on his right fingers. He’s getting better at reaching and grabbing for things. Lately he’s started to clasp his hands together in what Darius calls his Evil Mastermind pose. Also we’ve had some, but inconsistent, flipping from belly to back.

However, this last week, LP started to have green runny poop, instead of the nice mustardy yellow poop he usually has. As far as I can tell, this is a foremilk/hindmilk imbalance. I’m guessing that this was brought on by the pumped milk, as I was pumping for only 5-10 minutes and then putting the resulting milk together into one bottle, so the bottle would have a lot of foremilk and not much hindmilk in it. I’m going to work on making sure to pump for at least 15 minutes while at work and not combine them. Hopefully, if I do that and continue to nurse normally and on demand at home, it will clear up all on it’s own.