Well Mommy is just going to stop telling you when I’m late writing your monthly letters, because this one is late AGAIN! You are just so busy and active now that Mommy can’t really sit down and work on anything during the day, except for the maybe hour or two that you’re napping! Today, you’re crawling around the office playing with your toys, so Mommy will see how much we can get done before you have to be rescued from somewhere or have something taken away. This month was your toughest month yet… between being sick and not eating right, we had a real rough go!
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This month, you had your first cold. You were so miserable – your nose ran nonstop and you would sneeze out huge gobs that covered your whole mouth and chin, and the bottom half of your face was red and sore from all the wiping Mommy had to do. You sounded plugged up too, and played with your ears a lot so we’re pretty sure you had a sore throat. The doctor said it wasn’t an ear infection, so thank goodness for that! You must have had headaches too, because a lot of that week you couldn’t sleep without Tylenol. This was the week you started your nursing strike too – that started on November 12.
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On November 13, you had your very first visit to the ER. You hadn’t eaten or drank anything in 24 hours and you weren’t sleeping well, and you were fussing nonstop which isn’t like you at all – even during the first days of your cold, you were a real trooper. When that changed so suddenly, Mommy and Daddy got really worried and took you in. You had a really little umbilical hernia (still do) and when we were waiting in the ER we noticed that it was VERY red and swollen and oozing – gross, and also scary! The doctors were worried that the infection might be inside and they kept us there all day and did tests to see if they would need to operate on the hernia. They took blood from you a couple of times which was AWFUL… we had to help hold you down while you screamed in terror. Mommy and Daddy hated it! They also took a pee test, but that was a lot easier… they just stuck a little bag over your doodle and let you go to town! We did have to hydrate you first though since you hadn’t been eating or drinking, but once we got that done you started to feel a lot happier. And at the end of our visit, we found out that the infection was just surface, so all we had to do was give you antibiotics for a few days. There was also a few days of bad diaper changes though… the sticky pee bag in the hospital irritated you really bad and you would SCREAM when we cleaned your bottom. We sure are lucky that’s the only real diaper “rash” you’ve ever had because you do NOT take having a sore bottom very well!
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Back to your nursing strike – Mommy figured out that the reason you went on strike is because Mommy had almost no milk! I’m still pretty sure that this is from getting a flu shot. Mommy gets the flu shot every year, but if I’d known it would make your milk supply drop I would have skipped it for sure! We rented a BIG pump on the way home and got a prescription for some medicine to make the milk come back. It was slow going… Mommy was pumping 8-10 times a day, basically any time that you refused to nurse, and we had to buy you formula to feed you in the meantime.
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Eventually after 5 days or so, you would SOMETIMES nurse a little if Mommy very carefully tricked you into it, or if you were half asleep. You would flip out as soon as you realized what you were doing though, and demand a bottle! This was tougher on Mommy than on you… you weren’t going hungry, so you didn’t care much, but Mommy felt really sad and rejected. Who knew that nursing could be such an emotional thing! Everything turned out OK though, by November 21 you were back to loving nursing, and Mommy’s supply was much better! Mommy was really happy about that, because I want weaning to be OUR decision and not something that happens because some vaccination ruins our supply!
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On to happier things, this month you had your first “social” experience outside of family. Mommy took you to KAPS (Kids at Play Society) on November 15. We probably spread your cold germs all over Blackfalds, but you were feeling better so we went anyway! There were a LOT of kids running all over the hall and making all kinds of noise, and you were fascinated! You ate your breakfast there and did a fairly good job in spite of all the distractions, and then Mommy sat down with you and found you some safe toys. You weren’t very interactive though. We decided that we would try KAPS again when you’re a little bigger… maybe after you start walking, and maybe when your cousins can come along so Mommy has someone to talk to! For a play “group” the other mommies there sure weren’t very friendly. Mommy tried to go around and introduce us to a few people, but everyone just got in their little groups and no one bothered to even say hi to the new person. You’ll understand when you’re older why this made Mommy not want to go back!
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This month you STILL aren’t crawling… your cousin Morgan, who’s three weeks older than you, has been pulling up on things and standing for a few weeks now. And your second cousins Frances and Emilia, who are YOUNGER than you, are both crawling already! You still get around… you haven’t crawled, at least not that we’ve seen, but somehow you always manage to get where you want to go. We’ve developed a theory that you must be teleporting, because at this point that seems like the only logical explanation! We’re starting to think maybe you won’t crawl at all, but just go straight from scooting/rolling/teleporting right to walking. You have to learn to pull yourself up onto your feet first, though!
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The only other thing Mommy can think of this month is that you had your first stay away from home that WASN’T at Oma’s house. Daddy’s birthday party was this month, and you stayed at Uncle Allan and Auntie Jolene’s place overnight so that the boys would be able to make noise with their gaming. As it turned out, they were pretty quiet! You probably could have stayed home and slept right through everything. But it was still a nice night off for Mommy. Daddy has a hard time understanding why Mommy likes these nights or days off… he seems to think that taking care of you isn’t a job. What Mommy keeps trying to explain is that it IS a job… except Mommy doesn’t get to have evenings off, or weekends, or statutory holidays, or three weeks vacation like Daddy gets from his job! Mommy’s job is, as Daddy would say, 24/7 yo! Just know that Mommy only wants time off for her own sanity, and to get some extra sleep once in awhile. Taking care of you is a lot of work, but it’s still the best job Mommy’s ever had, and I wouldn’t change it for the world!
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