Now, quiet down, cobwebs...

Now, quiet down, cobwebs
Dust, go back to sleep
I'm rockin' my baby and babies don't keep.

My mother-in-law gave me this poem at one of my showers this summer, and as I sat rocking Jack last night, it popped in my head. Could be that Jack was sleeping last week when Gwen was here so she didn't get to clean his room, but really, it just hit me how sweet and true it is. The only thing I've cleaned in the past 2 months are the bottles we need to get us through the day.

Jack is a stellar sleeper. He should win an award, seriously. Most nights, after our night time routine, I put him in his bed, kiss him one more time, and walk out the door and.............he goes to sleep! Rarely is there a night where he needs any type of coaxing to drift off to dream land.

Last night we went to dinner with some dear friends, so his little routine was slightly off and it ended up being a night where he needed a little rocking. As I sat there in my chair, holding my sweet swaddled nut, smelling the dried spit up in his hair, I couldn't help but think how I would miss this. There will be a time, and soon, when he doesn't want to be swaddled, wouldn't dream of me rocking him, and smells more like nasty boy than baby spit up. It almost made me cry.

It made me remember to cherish these time, even the tough days, and hug him a little tighter and longer, and love him more than is necessary, just because I can. Once he was asleep, I laid him down in his bed, took one last glance at my little swaddled nut, and went to tuck Jeff in to bed (yes, they go to sleep at the same time) and we talked about how we would miss these times and how great a baby Jack is.

So, cleaning be danged. If it weren't for Gwen, our house would be in even more complete disarray than it already is! It's not hard to imagine that something could come between me and cleaning the house...but I don't think I expected to love him this much, or want, more than anything, just to be with him or do things for him. God is so good, so sweet to allow us to experience the love of being a parent. Just a
little glimpse into how much he loves me.

The "Weight" is Over!

Took Jack to the doctor on Friday for his weigh in...I'd been thinking he looked like he'd chubbed up, but then again, was I just being hopeful? The boy has been downing his bottles like nobody's business. Probably thinking that after starving for the first half of his life, he'd better take advantage of this manna from the bottle before it ends! I literally think that if I would have put 20 oz in his bottle, he would have downed the whole thing.

So, we get there, put him on the scale...10 lbs 5 oz! That's almost a pound in a week! I may be a lousy breastfeeder but man, am I good at mixing those bottles.

After such a successful trip to the doctor, mom and I headed to Babies R Us to reward Jack for all of his eating this week with this super fun play mat. He loves it! And even the dreaded tummy time is more fun on this mat! It sings songs, and lights up and has toys and mirrors and he loves it.



Not Quite Ready...

Jack loves sitting in his Bumbo. He's had great neck control since he was born, so even though he's young, he does great in it! And he's just so cute. We have people over for a Bible study on Monday nights, and last Monday, he sat on the coffee table in the Bumbo for a majority of the time!

Today, he was watching Fox News with his daddy. :) And take a look at that hair...a comb over and watching Fox News...does it get any better?

This morning, I decided to pull out the Discovery Play Activity Center and put it together...just to see if Jack would like it. He's in this adorable stage right now where he loves, LOVES looking in the mirror! We have a backwards mirror in the car so we can see him in the car seat and he just loves it! He smiles at it, coos...it's adorable. The mirror also has this sun that you can push and it sings songs and lights up...it's for sure his favorite thing. So I thought this might have something on it that he would like. Well, by the looks of it, he's not quite ready!

Yes, his feet dangle about 12 inches above the bottom!

Believe it or not, he's looking in the little mirror on the play center! Little narcissist!!

I mean...isn't he the absolute cutest!?!?!?!?

So, maybe he's not quite ready for the play center, but he sure is cute doing it!

Nicknames

When I was little, my dad called me Knuckelhead. Not exactally a compliment, but I loved it! He called my sister Ratched...like Nurse Ratched from "One Flew Over the Coocoo's Nest." Again not much of a compliment, but she loved it!

Jeff is really good about coming up with weird and random nicknames. For example, he likes to call Jack "Sussoms". And he likes to say it in a "southern accent". Who knows. Sometimes they stick, sometimes they last only for the moment, but for the past 9 weeks, Jack has been Sussoms. Usually I just go along with it, I've done my fair stealing Sussoms, but I kinda wanted my own nickname!

Have you ever read "Guess How Much I Love You"? It's the sweetest book about a mamma and baby bunny. Their names are Little Nutbrown Hare and Big Nutbrown Hare. So, I've decided on my nickname for Jack...Little Nut.

Weight and See...

Ha! Ok, so Jack went for his 2 month check up on Friday. First of all, 2 months? It seems like it's been longer, but it also seems like we just brought him home! Crazy.

I'll gloss over the insurance snafu and the fact that my poor baby got his immunizations (those needles are not small...neither is the wail they produce!) and skip straight to the part where they measure and weigh my little one. First off, way to grow, Jack! Last time we went, which was a month ago, he was 21.75 inches long. This month? 23 inches long! Watch out! That puts him in the 75th percentile in length! He must get that from his Aunt Kat.

Then it's time to weigh him. Now, he's a skinny baby, I know that. When I try to put a Gap onesie on him, it snaps perfectly in length...and there's about 2 extra inches on each side of him for the width! So I know he's skinny. Well, the nurse weighs him and he's 9 lbs 6 oz. He was 8 lbs 13 oz at our last appointment. That's not a lot of weight gain in a month.

So the Dr comes in and talks to me about it and says I'm not producing enough milk and we need to start supplementing with formula to put some meat on this baby's bones. Ok, I'm fine with that. Give him an oz or 2 after I feed him. No big deal.

In the past 3 days, after my son has nursed for 20ish minutes, Jeff has been giving him a bottle. Um. A whole bottle. Like 5 or 6 ounces! OMG!! He should be eating between 4 and 6 oz TOTAL! What have I been doing to this poor child? Starving him? Good Lord. Poor baby.

No wonder nursing has become the biggest thorn in my side lately. He's been crying when I try to put him on, stops and starts about a million times, sounds like he's not swallowing...and I've been getting mad at him because I thought he was just being lazy! Now I know it's that there was no reward for all the trouble and frustration. He's crying out of frustration just like I am!

So I think we're on the way out of nursing. I tried, I tried. To no avail. So, alas, my son will soon become a formula fed baby. And I must confess, part of me is dancing a jig. I told Jeff, it's not worth it for me to frustrated with him 6 times a day and have Jack freaking out and throwing a fit each time, when he's not even getting half of what he needs. Oh, I'll pump for a little while longer, as much as I can. But for the sake of everyone involved, Jeff included, we've got to do something!

Part of me is happy. My baby's more well fed, he's gaining weight, he's full, I'm not starving him any more! But then the other part of me feels like I could have done more. What could I have done? I don't know. But in the end, it is what it is, and honestly, a bottle is a lot easier than the boob.

So we go back on Friday to see if he's gaining weight, which I'm sure he has. I'll be happy to have a healthy and some what chubby baby!

BOO!

Jack's First Halloween

Aunt Alison and Uncle Andy got Jack this cute little first Halloween onesie.

Gotta love the hat!

These two are my favorite...I was sitting on the couch and this pumpkin was on the coffee table. I thought to myself, "I wonder if Jack would fit in that?"

Sure enough!

Yes, he's screaming...but that's what Halloween's all about, right? :)

And last but not least, Jack was a lobster for Halloween and he even won best costume at a party we went to! Jeff wore a shirt that said "Lobster Fisherman" and I wore one that said "Lobster Fisherwoman". Hehe.



And PS, the reason it still has the tag on it is because I was just trying it on to see if it fit. In true Molly and Jeff style, we have no pictures of Jack in it on Halloween or of the 3 of us. Really?

How I long for sleep...

I'm constantly concerned that Jack's not getting enough to eat. He's not a happy feeder, usually is crying as I'm trying to get him to latch on and screaming and head bobbing ( doesn't that sound fun?) by the time he starts remembering that all he has to do is start sucking to get what he's looking for! Even once he's latched on, he squirms and sometimes wretches as he's feeding. Have I mentioned that I'm not in love with breastfeeding? :)

There is no evidence to support my concern, Jack's growing, gaining weight, (although he's just a long skinny baby and doesn't look like the other chunks that are his age) but I'm just concerned. Maybe all moms are. I don't know. I wish there was some type of gage on my boob that would make it so I could see how much he's getting.

Anyways, I decided that I needed to amp up my milk supply. There are a few ways to do this. You could power pump which means pump like crazy. I'm not a good pumper. Most of the time I end up with just an ounce or two after a 15 minute session. For those of you who don't know, that's not much, especially since Jack should be eating between 3-4 oz per feeding (again, wish I had that boob gage) so obviously, I'm not pumping up to par! So I didn't feel like power pumping.

People say to eat oatmeal, drink a beer...there are several things that are suggested! I've done it. There are some herbal supplements that you can take. Hadn't done that, so a few weeks ago I ordered some Fenugreek, which is supposed to do the trick. Got it in the mail last week and started taking it.

First of all, one of the side effects is that it makes you smell like maple syrup. And sweat. So, basically, you look and smell like you're sweating maple syrup. Eew.

I've been taking it all week and did feel like my milk was increasing (or was it my imagination? I'll never know...) so yay!

Then Thursday and Friday roll around. Jack would not sleep. And I don't mean was just kinda cranky, I mean he was acting like he's downed a dozen shots of espresso. He was tired, I could tell! But he would....not....go....to....sleep. If anything he would sleep for about 30 minutes and then be back up and ready to party/cry. Not only did he not nap during the day, both nights between 11 and 3, he might have slept 30 minutes. Finally at 3 he fell asleep until 6. Thanks, Jack.

I didn't put 2 and 2 together, but my ultra paranoid husband did. Yesterday he just mentioned that maybe it was the Fenugreek. So I start doing some research. Um, sure enough, there were moms on many message boards that said the same thing!!! Really? Why oh why isn't that plastered over the whole entire bottle? The warning label should say, "Makes you sweat maple syrup and may make your baby act like he's on crack."

So, no more Fenugreek. Last night Jack slept ok, not the best ever, but much better than Thursday and Friday!!!! He's taken a few naps today, so I'm hoping we're on the upward swing of all of this! Oh, goodness, I hope so!!! Mamma needs her sleep!!!!