In Preparation of...

The other day, Garrett and I decided to go to Barnes & Noble. It's a nice little retreat for the two of us and allows me to do my own book browsing. Sometimes, I just sit and read while in the store...never fully purchasing a book. But, this time I had full intentions on buying a book. I bought FIRST MEALS, by Annabel Karmel. Ok, not exactly your 'run out right now, gotta read best selling novel'. Yet, these days it comes pretty darn close.

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Now, I know many of you are saying, "Isn't Garrett still a bit young for solids?" And yes, you are correct. But, in my defense he does turn 4 months next week- so getting ready for the world of solids now, rather than later seems the smart thing to do.

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Besides, I am still contemplating on when I want to begin his first foods. Originally, I had thought I would wait until 6 months, since that's the recommended age. Yet, now I am a little eager and thought maybe I would go for 5 months.

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According to Karmel, babies shouldn't be given solids until 17 weeks after their due date. This is due to a baby's underdeveloped immune system and digestive system. It can help trigger allergies. Ok, I get that, makes prefect sense and if I can prevent Garrett from getting my dreaded eczema than I'm all for it!

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This means that Garrett shouldn't have solids until he is just shy of 5 months old, since my little man came 2 weeks early. And that goes with my own magical number, so I believe that we will wait to start solids until then.

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Of course, now I have this book egging me on to start solids.

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It peers at me from the counter top, somehow more noticeable than all the other cookbooks.

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No, that's not quite true.

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It does peer at me, but not to start Garrett on solids. I actually read the first 50 pages the day I bought it. The next day, I was making baby food. It was easy. I should have taken some photos, but I was preparing it during one of Garrett's nap and was trying hard to finish before he was back up. On my next go around, I will be sure to share pictures.

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I have about 20 servings of the following foods frozen, just waiting for Garrett to try out:

Apples, Pears, Peaches, Blueberries, Carrots, Squash and Zucchini

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(My mother had brought the squash and zucchini from home so it is organic, but the rest were bought and I didn't have the money to go organic. I am going to try to give him as much organic or at least locally grown as possible. Regardless of organic or not, making your own baby food is the best route if you keep things clean. Plus, I get to know exactly what he's eating and I get to save us some extra money, too.)

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The cookbook by Karmel is really wonderful and covers recipes up to the age of 7. She gives some great combinations for baby food and a lot of creative ways to jazz up a toddler and young child's food as well. So, even if you aren't up to making baby food or don't have a baby at home you'll find it helpful. Next time your at the bookstore or library, see if you can't browse through it...

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And to all you Mommas out there, I have a few questions:

When did you begin feeding your little one or when do you plan to feed your baby?

And, what did you feed them? Any recommendations, advice or suggestions you can share?

A week's worth of rantings and realizations

Mommyhood truly is a full time job. Nursing is a second full time job. Cleaning the house is a third full time job. Cooking for anyone, save myself is sometimes impossible. Remembering what I need to do at my 'part time real job' the following morning is pointless. Making time for my husband and then for myself is a nano shy of obsolete. Where are my personal assistants when I need them? Oh yeah, I don't have any...that's right. So exactly why does a celebrity like Britney go cuckoo?

I'm jumping on the whine train tonight and I so wish that meant a red bottle of wine, like the good old days. But, shamelessly it doesn't. Rather it means five minutes on the deck as I take the trash out for Monday pickup as Bryan tries to coax Garrett back into LA-LA land.

Let's be candidly real for a minute. I miss me time and really miss we time.

Don't get me wrong, I love my baby more than anything in the world. He's perfect. He's always happy...that is, he is happy now. Once upon a time, I had a colicky baby...miraculously that period ended as if someone hit a switch when he turned six magical weeks old. No doctor bills or prescriptions needed. Luckily, the days have gotten much much easier. But, the long days have not ceased to exist and neither has his growing need for attention.

My day begins around 9 a.m. as we all begin to wake up. Depending on the day, I am either off to work by 10, sometimes by the grace of God I make it out by 8. But, that's on a very good day. Most days Bryan is off to work at noon and works a 11-12 hour shift. On lucky days like today, he leaves at 10 a.m. and doesn't return until 12 a.m. These days remind me of those first few weeks with baby Garrett and truly tempt my sanity. It's a day of constant struggles, in how to fit in all of my jobs without compromising Garrett's growing and learning.

I feel guilty if he doesn't get enough attention or if I take a moment to make myself a sandwich or browse the Internet for a few moments. He usually wins. No, he always wins.

We interact, we talk non-stop. I always had been told I was a talker, hence my name Brook. Yet, now I am a flood of words. We read books, sing songs and sometimes simply talk about everything. I tell him the who, what, where, why and how of everything. And Garrett eats it up and looks up at me with a twinkle in his eye, gabbing back as if he is in conversation over the most fascinating discovery. And I am certain that he is.

Today, he has completely found his toes. He grabs at them and holds them, feeling them with his fingertips. I try to show him my feet too, that way he knows that I have feet also. He has started perfecting his laugh. His first giggle was when he wasn't even 3 months old. We were in Walmart as a lady started talking to him. Of course, he has yet to giggle like that again, but he is getting close. I know any day now it is bound to come out! I am almost sure he laughed at the lady like that because we were playing with the giggle stuffed animals right before she spoke to him. So tonight, I bought a giggling frog. I know I 'm a sucker. And yes, I made a trip to Walmart at 8 p.m. on a S-U-N-D-A-Y. I hate Walmart, but with a child it becomes an experience and somehow makes the hours fly by.

Back home, we settled in to complete our nightly tasks. OK, those would be my tasks...I start cooking my dinner, make sure the dogs are taken care of and change Garrett's diaper before laying him down for bed. No night-time stories or a bath. We are both, too pooped for any routine other than the bed and the boob. He comes from a long line of sensitive skinned people and too many baths a week would surely ruin his precious baby skin. No lotions, either. Besides he smells sweet as it is. Of course, do I really need to justify this?

Except this go around, Garrett doesn't want to sleep without mommy. Yuck. Two tries and still a baby fussing. Finally, I bring him out to the living room and hold him, as I eat. Multitasking has taken on a whole new meaning. And then, finally at 11:53 my sweet relief walks through the door, takes a shower and keeps baby for twenty whole minutes.

I emerge renewed and remember why we decided to become parents. Tomorrow night I need to make time for 'we' so Bryan remembers that, too. Because, what would I do without him? He makes mommyhood and all it entails so very worth it.

Full Circle.

Boy, is it pouring the rain! I'm almost afraid to type, since there is thunder involved. I am on my laptop, so perhaps it would hit the computer upstairs first? Wishful thinking. Oh well, what the heck, here goes. This rainstorm reminds me of last summer, it was in August and it was coming down like this...except there was massive wind with it and we lost our huge tree out back as a result. The very tip of the tree landed right in the neighbor's pool and took out half our fence in the process. We were lucky that it decided to fall in the opposite direction of the house! I remember waking that night from a huge boom and looking out the sliding glass door. The tree was taking up a good 1/3 of our backyard. The next day, the news reported that a small tornado had touched down in the area.

Yet, even with news like that, the most memorable part was that I found out I was pregnant with Garrett the next morning. It's funny though because in my heart I already knew I was pregnant when I saw that tree laying in our yard. I thought about the baby as I looked at that old tree as the lightning streaked the sky and the rain pounded the window. It was an unusual night because it reminded me of my papaw and our porch sitting days when a storm came. What's even more interesting is that Garrett was due on my grandfather's birthday. April 19th. Garrett didn't make that date, but he sure does remind me of him when he looks up at me with those big brown eyes.

Pumping is for the COWS!

A man must have created this odd suctioning contraption! For no woman in their right mind would have created anything that looks so sightly. A woman would have at least created it hands free. I hear they do make a bra now specifically for a pump...which, I'm sure was invented by a woman!

So, the first time I tried the sucker on (no pun intended) I literally couldn't stop laughing- I wasn't for sure if it was the sight or sensation, either way it wasn't one of joy.

Of course, now it seems commonplace. Heck, I can even do it in the front seat of my car in a full parking lot or in the backseat of a moving vehicle as cars pass by and neither phase me.

Although, it is a godsend, especially in light of my issues when Garrett was only 2 weeks old. I rather wish it wasn't necessary. (For those of you who don't know, I landed a staph UTI infection (MRSA) courteous of our hospital and their wonderful job delivering Garrett) Let me quickly elaborate: because of the infection, I was forced to take antibiotics for 9 days. The antibiotics I needed were too strong for Garrett since he was under a month old, which meant I had to PUMP and DUMP.

PUMPING and DUMPING is pure EVIL. Why, well because breast milk is liquid gold, especially when its coming out of your own boobs and especially when you have already established breastfeeding with your baby! At the time, I was miserable (read HORMONAL and very very Postpartum) I cried at the drop of a hat. So imagine the flood waters when I had to feed my baby formula and still had to pump and see my milk be p-p-p-p-ooooo-uuu--rrrr---eee---ddd down the drain. I shutter now, even thinking about it.

Luckily, we both got through the ordeal, but not without a couple of minor issues. Because I needed antibiotics immediately, Garrett was abruptly removed from my breast and given a bottle. You can imagine how upset he was, I'm positive he sensed how insanely distraught his mommy was given the situation too. After the antibiotics ran their course, I resumed breastfeeding- however, being so eager to get back to my baby, we didn't ween him off the formula. This inevitably lead to another week of painful poo (we wrecked havoc on the poor little guy's stomach). What's more, Garrett was afraid that he might loss the boob again and became a CLING-ON. Therefore, week 3-6 of his life were very very emotional and dungeon-ness. He refused to be anywhere but at my breast or he screamed bloody murder. He has finally let go of this tendency but still requires the 'NINNY' in order to go to sleep. (NINNY a.k.a. BOOB)

Now as you can imagine, pumping really annoys me. Because although, it did help me keep my supply...it did dwindle some too. Pumping and dumping was hard to do while trying to feed him at the same time or at least in the same intervals, all while Bryan was working 14 hour days and no one was around! I'm not throwing a pity party over here, I'm just saying it was out of the ordinary and difficult given the circumstances.

The point to my blog, wasn't about going into my ordeal, but rather to explain the irritating device and the upkeep of keeping it clean and having to deal with bottles. I really can't stand it. When all I really need to do, is give my boy the ninny and life is good. Ahh, if only it were that easy. Since I am working again, I have to pump about twice a day to keep up my supply and some days I'm lazy because its a pain in the A@# to haul the contraption to work and stop what I am doing and go to the vehicle and pump in 100 degree weather! (It usually takes 40 minutes, just because I have to cool the car down first or I'm sweating like a pig!) And that's what drives me crazy, I could be home and not going to all this trouble, I could be feeding him myself and then I remember all the different reasons I am pumping and I realize this is what being a mother is.

I guess it could be worse and I could be pumping as I work. Poor cows.

Almost 3 months old

Say what? Is that actually possible? Our little man will be 3 months old in a week and a half! Here's some of what he has been accomplishing and a couple of things he is having issues with these days:

• He has found his hands- he waves them in front of him for hours on end. He has also learned to grab items in front of him, he tries to bring them to his mouth, but is still having issues actually getting them there.
  


• He has also been holding his head up for about 10-15 minutes during tummy time- he's definitely going longer each day, the first time he did it was a little over a month ago...here's some photos from then and now- look how he's pushing up with his feet! (The first two are the older ones) He is also rolling over and turning himself (he's been doing that for about a month as well, he's just getting much better at it!) I know everyone says this but I think he will crawl earlier than most babies.

• He is cooing, giggling (its a short squeal more or less) and making some conversations- mornings seem to be his favorite time of the day for activity. He continues his assortment of facial expressions, except now they seem more controlled.
  
  
• He loves to listen to music or singing, especially Daddy and Mommy. Today, he enjoyed Big Head Todd and the Monsters. And he is absolutely amazed by his mobile that Aunt J bought for him.
  
• He continues to watch television! (This appalls me)
  
• He is TEETHING already! He has had 2 small knots on his gums since birth and I think these may be teeth budding through- he has periods where he blows bubbles, runs a small fever and seems overly fussy. To top it off he will take the pacifier and CHEW on it, if I don't give him that, he chews on his tongue! I know it's teething too because this is THE ONLY TIME he'll take the paci, he refuses ant other time I try to give him one.
  
• He is trying to suck on his thumb again too, sometimes he misses and just uses his hand or arm though!
  
• We are still having an issue with him going to sleep on his own, the only time he does is when he is in the car and either this occurs because he can't fight the motion or he cries himself to sleep. Otherwise, I have to lay down with him and either coax him to sleep or nurse him to sleep-but even with this it's tricky because the boy sleeps with his eyes partially open!! I guess he's afraid he'll miss something! (FYI, Bryan did this when he was little, too)
  

Today, for all of 5 minutes I let him cry, hoping he might put himself to sleep. Finally,I caved in and picked him up and decided I would let him fall asleep nursing in my arms as I tried to type this blog. And of course, he fell asleep in about 2 minutes. Yet, I have to be careful because trying to move him and lay him down without waking him is nearly impossible! So I keep on typing one handed for awhile, its a pain staking process with tons of errors along the way, but I don't mind it if it means I have a HAPPY BABY! Plus, he is so sweet sleeping, how could I resist holding him?