I have my mommy goggles on for sure.
They just reached 6 months and are weighing in at 14.8 (Nico) and 15.4 (Olive).
Grandpa Alan came to stay for a week, and Olive got some quality guitar time in:
In case you didn’t know, Owen and I have a
Enjoy: The Pookies
Lately is seems as if the planets are aligning to force me to wean. Returning to work has meant that I have to keep up my milk production. When I complain, there is always someone to offer how they didn’t nurse a day past the minimum-recommended 6 months. Nico and Olive both take bottles and like formula. My life WOULD be easier if I did wean. I have to lug a pumping machine to work, along with my computer. My walk to the subway is almost a mile. I can leave the machine at work, but I often have to drive to the campus headquarters for meetings and so have to bring it too and reserve the pumping room throughout day. Then, at work, I get into the groove and, oops, have to stop and undock my power book, get on wireless, go to the mother’s room, set up the pump and gear, and sit there as I’m milked like a cow (I truly detest pumping). Even when I do leave the machine at work, I have to transport the milk in bottles back and forth. I have to work this around meetings or take a call while pumping (what IS that lovely background sound?). It’s certainly one HUGE pain in the arse!
So why keep it going? Babies also THRIVE on formula! And Nico and Olive have already started on solids. Why put yourself through this you might ask…
Well, for one breastfeeding is good for babies – surely better than fortified cow’s milk (it creeps me out how babies sleep better on formula, as if their little digestive systems have to work harder). In addition, it just feels good. My life is hectic. When I nurse, I must be still for 10-20 minutes with my baby while I look at her, touch her, feel her warmth (and I presume vice versa). I’m not sure anything can take the place of that bonding, almost meditative moment (digression: I swear, I do try to limit my reading or watching during nursing. In fact, Nico hates when I talk, watch TV, or even hold a book or magazine above her head while she nurses. She needs a quiet solitude during her feedings. It’s quite funny).
The weaning process is inevitably around the corner. I recently read someone describe weaning as the first step in the road of separation of baby from parents. And fostering independence and that separation is one of the most important things a parent can do to nurture well-adjusted and functioning adults. After weaning, Nico and Olive will walk, explore the world, begin child care and school, look to peers as influences, start shutting their bedroom door, go off to college, move away… All the while as I get closer to the end of my life (wow, how gloomy that sounds, but it’s really the wonderful cycle of life). But these brief moments of fleshy closeness are the tangibles of babyhood that I can cherish and remember years from now – their softness and smell – and never take for granted, because it doesn’t last, but rather slips away with the blink of an eye.
Nico and Olive have EXPLODED out of their shell, becoming real-life human beings! They are so much fun now, and I finally understand why people do this again and again. They’re endless hours of amusement, as we try to get them to laugh and watch them play. Although they sleep in their own cribs, we will sometimes bring them into our bed after their early morning feeding in the hope that they will “sleep in” later (like 8am!). They often do, and I will wake up to feel their little hands grabbing at my back or face. Nico loves to grab Owen’s (biggish) nose. It’s really cute.
They were squealing and giggling at each other yesterday. I was only able to catch the tail end, after they had already become more subdued.
We’re having a very wedding-intense summer. They seem to love the people, dancing, and attention.