Milk. It does a body good?

Mauer had a tough week. His tummy was SOOO UPSET from Tuesday through Friday. Totally Mom’s fault! I ate a bowl of ice cream on Monday and Tuesday in addition to my usual dairy filled diet. I did not realize how common it is for babies to be intolerant to cow’s milk. (At least babies that are drinking straight from the tap!) Wednesday was probably the worst day of all. After spiting up what I had thought was everything that I had just fed him, it happened. A waterfall-esk, projectile “spit up.” Have you ever seen the movie Exorcist? Not that much volume, but the distance was comparable! (His head didn’t spin around either). Poor babe! It is the most awful feeling to hear your baby cry out in pain. Not only was I not able to offer much to comfort him, it was totally my fault! So, I am eliminating cow’s milk (and by-products) from my diet, at least for a while.

Maybe we should start hooking women up to those milking machines instead of cows. Think of how happy the world would be if no one had an upset stomach. Speaking of that… I came across an article about a chef in New York that made cheese from his wife’s breastmilk. Interesting. And for those of you wondering, neither Todd nor I have tasted breast milk. It is far too valuable!

This week Mauer seemed to have really stretched out! He is SO TALL now that we had to adjust the placement of the shoulder strap on his car seat. We took out the infant insert in his bed. He doesn’t fit in his swaddle wrap (which is for children up to 14 lbs!). And, he’s pretty snug from neck to crotch in his 0-3 month “sleep and play” outfits (those are the kind that are one-piece with the footies).

After talking to Auntie Jenny about things she does with Cousin Lila, we decided to play a sniffing game. Mauer did not really have any strong reactions towards any of the smells. If I HAD to pick his favorite, it would have been the dill weed.

First bottle!

My goal is to have 100 oz of breast milk stored in the freezer before I go back to work. I’m about 75% there. I also wanted to see how Mauer would do with a bottle. So, Tuesday night Todd fed Mauer with a bottle. Mauer protested, moving his had back and forth and swatting the bottle away until he realized there was MILK inside! At that point, he chugged 2 oz in about a minute and a half. Two ounces wasn’t nearly enough! Now we know. For as much as I was looking forward to someone else fulfilling his hunger, a lot of emotions swept over me as he was eating with Dad.

We found childcare! Finally. We had our names on several waiting lists. Infant care is very hard to find around here. In May, he will go to Bonnie’s house. She does care in her home; it’s pretty close to our house too. Mauer will be the youngest with kids through preschool. When we visited, there were about a dozen kids in one room with two adults. For that many children in one room, the sound level was relatively low. That gave me the impression that they were pretty mellow. When I worked at Head Start in MN, I visited a lot childcare providers and I could gauge the quality quickly. We feel pretty good about this one.

A week in Review
Wednesday
Mauer and I went to yoga again. I didn’t get a great workout because Mauer was fussier this week so I attended to him more and did less yoga. We also stopped into my office to pick up Girl Scout cookies and see some of my friends.

Friday
I hadn’t had a chance to introduce Mauer to my bus driver, Debra, at Garfield Elementary school yet. Since it was SO nice outside and the school is within walking distance, I decided we should walk there in time to meet the buses afterschool. When we got there, I learned there was no afternoon preschool! What a bummer!!

Saturday
Lindsay stopped over and brought Mauer a beautiful pair of booties! Lindsay is my crafty gal pal! (Mom & Ginger- she is the one that did “a block a day” quilt and she has a craft room that kicks butt!)

First day of spring! To celebrate the beautiful weather (70 & sunny) we took Mauer for a walk downtown. People had hung gigantic windsocks on the boardwalk and left big buckets of bubbles around. This is what we love about Olympia.

Sunday
Todd ran the Mercer Island half marathon. Although I really wanted to cheer him on, it was rainy and windy so Mauer and I stayed home. Todd did REALLY well! He took first in his age division (men 25-29) and 25th overall!! This race was just a practice for the Capital City marathon in Olympia on May 16th. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to take any pictures, but some will be posted online in the future.

Tuesday
Mauer and I were invited to visit Teacher Patti’s morning class at my school. When I left in January, they saw my big belly and most of the kids understood that a baby was inside. You might remember the questions I was fielding. (Have you been eatin’ too much food? Are you having the baby at a hospital? Can I go with you? Etc.) It’s like being on the “View!” When we arrived, there were a handful of girls that were really interested. Each one washed her hands and sat down on the bench. I put the boppy pillow around her waist and let her hold him. They thought his hair was really soft. They tickled his feet and inspected his face and hands. Then came the questions… “Can I see his belly button?” No, his shirt doesn’t come untucked. It looks just like yours. “Does he have teeth?” Not yet! “Can I see his tongue?” When he wakes up, he might cry and open his mouth wide, then you can see his tongue. “Can I see his feet?” Maybe later. “Did the doctors cut him out of you?” Ah… I wasn’t prepared for this one. Teacher Patti explained that, “he comes the way all babies come, remember the hamsters? And when he was born, they gave him a bath and they weighed him and measured him, just like we do in class.” Thank you, Patti! More questions. “Who is his Dad?” His name is Todd and he is my husband. “Does he get to stay with his Dad?” His Dad lives with us, we all live together. “Is his Dad nice?” Yes, he is.