Breastfeeding the second kid thoughts

Just thinking and typing so sorry if this is rambling and go from topic to topic. I know I am not a good writer, hey I am an engineer and did not take an english or writing class since High School.

So yes I am very excited to nurse this baby. I loved loved loved nursing Evie. She was breastfed exclusively (except the first week where we supplemented) for a good 5.5 months until we introduced solids. Then pumped at work and nursed her many times a day until 1 year. Then I dropped pumping at work and nursed her morning and night until 22 months. She started dropping the morning nursing session around 19 months(?). And 22 months she was done with the evening session. Shows that yes your body does adjust to what the baby/child needs. Was wonderful. Was a great cuddle session. She would look up at me with that milk grin. The look in her eyes of full love. Amazing.

She still remembers nursing. When I don't have a shirt on, she will point to my boobs and say milk, and we talk about how she used to drink milk from there. Love that she remembers! Lately I am telling her that yes she used to get milk from there, but the new baby will be getting milk from there now on. I think she understands. But love the fact that she will really understand what the baby is doing when he nurses.

Then I started thinking:

Will my milk will come in faster this time around? I hope so, since I know what foods to eat this time to help production and what foods hinder production. I plan on making lactation cookies and start drinking mom's milk tea from the beginning (why don't they offer this in the hospital? I know I will bring some!). Also wondering if the 2 month break from not nursing Evie to getting pregnant will help me. When this kid is born, it will have been 11 months since I last nursed, so maybe my body will quickly remember? Actually maybe less time since I was still producing milk for a bit until I got pregnant.

Will the first week be as much hell as it was with Evie (nurse, give bottle (mom milk or formula), pump, wash things)? I hope not! I know so much more starting this time around than the last. I know what the "I'm Hungry" cues look like. I know what is normal for a latch, and know how often they will be nursing.

Will I need a nipple shield again? I needed it since Evie could not latch, but yes my nipples have changed with nursing her 22 months so I hope not. I'll just say this, they are much more obvious now then when I started nursing Evie.

Will Evie be ok with me nursing the new baby? I hope so. Just worry about her wanting my full attention then... Very happy that Nick now does Evie's bed time so I can be nursing or tending to the new one and her bedtime schedule will stay the same.

Will Evie want to nurse again when she sees the new baby nursing? I really wonder about this since yes she does remember. It will only be 11 months since she last nursed. Will she ask to nurse? Will she just try to nurse? Will she say that is her milk? Do I let her nurse and tandem nurse? Do I tell her that no the milk is now for the baby? This is really where I don't have any idea of answers.

How long will I last with a toddler to take care of also? I hope I can last as long. Hope I don't get sick of pumping. But I did enjoy the break from work, and the ability to read a lot of books. I found a pumping bra and reading to get my mind off everything really helped. But with work as busy as it is, and me wanting to work out and really run more, will I have time to pump AND work out / run?

 So many questions and thoughts about how this will all work out. Only time will tell, and I am so much more prepared to nurse this baby than I was with Evie!

My Adventurous Eater

On Sunday we went to a super bowl party. We went early to visit so they could play with Evie while she was awake, happy, giggly, fun, etc, and not be stuck out with a tired cranky baby.

Evie had a blast! She got to try all sorts of foods, and everyone was surprised by what she at (my little piggy).

She tried chips and salsa. She would slurp the salsa off the tortilla chip and just look at me "more salsa please"
Nick gave her a bit of a buffalo wing. She demanded one of her own. I pealed the meat off the bone and didn't give her much skin (I think it is gross). But she ate a whole buffalo wing!
She also had cheese, grapes, pineapple, pigs in a blanket, a chip with onion dip, a few bits of a lemon cookie.

But what 1.5 year old eats buffalo wings and salsa? My kid! So happy she loves 'adult' foods with flavor and some spice. I swear putting some spice early into her baby purees are now paying off!

Words Evie Says

She is 17 months now and all of a sudden her vocabulary has exploded!

Words she knows:

Hi

Mama

Dada

Cheese

Snow

Doggy

All Done

Tree

Side (as in outside)

Ba (her pacifier)

Snack (I swear I have heard this a few times)

No (have heard this once, but it was clear)

Duck
Shoes (her favorite lately, she loooves shoes!)
Water (wada, sounds very bostonlike, need to get her to pronounce her R)

Noises she makes

Monkey Noises (oo ahah)

Elephant Noise (With holding her hand up as a trunk)

Pants like a dog

Evie's First Birthday Party!

The Saturday after Evie's first birthday was her party! Invited lots of her friends, our friends, and family. Was a lot of fun.

We actually had the party in our backyard. Nick and his dad got the backyard leveled and grass actually started to grow (annual grew first then the perennial started to grow)! A little look of a work in progress/construction zone (mound of dirt covered by a tarp...), but was perfect.

I made a sign for the area for presents. There is also a balloon covered wreath that we never hung up that I made. Looked really cute, just didn't have a place to put it. The sign was fairly easy to make, just an hour a night for about 3 nights.

The party was in the late afternoon. I didn't want it too early to mess with anyone's nap schedules, and lets face it, working mom does not equal good enough to get everything together for a Saturday morning. I didn't make as much as I wanted for the party. Decided to keep it simple. Ordered a yummy and gorgeous cake. We had pizza delivered. Made a fantastic salad. Had fruit. Had sodas, water, and lots of beer.

We had her splash mat set up (pool with sprinklers built in), a water table set up, as well as some of her favorite toys set up in the backyard. All the kids loved the water!

And her smash cake! 

      

And mommy going to clean off frosting covered baby

We wanted to open presents in front of everyone, but tiredness overcame. I knew she would not be interested. So we put off presents till the next few days. We really did about 1-2 presents a night for about a week. She got some fantastic gifts (and bad mommy never sent out thank you cards!)

It was a fantastic birthday party! I know the next one will be even more fun with her running everywhere. Thanks to everyone who helped out and joined us for the party. Was such a great day!

Evelyn Irene's First Birthday!

Yes this is 2 months late. I have a post almost written with a letter to her for her birthday. Just need to add the stats I have written down somewhere at home from her 1 year doctor's visit. Hopefully I'll get that posted before her 15 month appointment next week.

Her first birthday was so much fun! I took the day off to celebrate it with her. I just knew I would not be able to drop her off at day care, since I wanted to be with her and reminisce about the day she was born.

The day started off with a happy girl in her crib. All smiles and giggles. I believe she slept in that morning since we didn't have to go to daycare and work!

We decided to start the birthday morning off with homemade pancakes (with real NH maple syrup), chicken apple sausages, and bananas. Yummy breakfast morning! This was her first taste of maple syrup. She was pretty much just eating syrup. I don't blame her! YUM!

Then we got dressed to go to our favorite baby/toddler store for a music class! Evie had fun, while we sang along. She was the youngest one there but she enjoyed it, especially the monkey mask they used as props for 10 monkeys jumping on the bed.

After the class, we came home and napped. Birthday girl needs her sleep! Then had some lunch, played around the house. Since it was so gorgeous out (since August usually is, unless it is humid) we went to the public pool! Dressed her in her cute suit. Got there, switched her to her reusable swim diaper. And went in. This pool has a great kid area (no pictures, was just me and her). She had fun with the spouts of water, water trickling down on her. And enjoyed going into the deep end with mama to practice kicking, dunking under water, and twirling. This kid loves the water and will be a little fish!

After a good hour, we had enough and I didn't want her to get too cold, so we headed home. Daddy was leaving work early so we could all enjoy dinner together!

For dinner, was her favorite, Mac and Cheese! How can you go wrong with cheese and pasta? And of course, finished it off with a gourmet vanilla cupcake from a yummy local cupcake shop. 

Yes we did get a video too :)

Then present time! She got a great present from her aunt Katie! Katie has had a Gund Monkey forever. It is her favorite item of all time. So she got Evie one too! Here is a great picture of Katie's monkey and Evie's monkey. A really sweet picture, showing how loved hers is, and kind of passing on the torch 

And how can we talk about her opening presents without a video of her opening Monkey. Includes kisses :)

And that was her first birthday day! Filled with sooo much fun! Love this little girl, who will always be mommy's baby!

Molars

This past week, Evelyn has been easily upsettable. If she doesn't get what she wants, upset. Very clingy. Sleeping sometimes ok, sometimes ehh. I thought part of it was due to her changing rooms at day care. New room, new schedule, new teachers, new kids. Lots of change. (but she has been handling it well, and they say she is doing fantastic!)

Today when we got home, She was really clingy. Did not want to be put down, except to eat. Went upstairs to play and decided to check her teething since it has been a while. HELLO 2 top molars poking through and one on the bottom almost through!

Tonight is rough. Not sleeping well at all.

Biting

Since Evie got her top teeth this weekend, she has been more interested in biting. oh joy.

This morning she bit me while nursing. Not down that hard. Did not hurt *that* much.  But I pulled my nipple out right away. It got caught on the top teeth and some of the skin got pulled away and I started to bleed. What every nursing mother looks forward to.

She bit me twice this morning. Once while I went to yell at the dogs since they were getting into something. Then once when we resumed a few minutes later.

I know it has to do with her getting startled, bored, or full. At least that is what kellymom is telling me.I did do what I have heard about is say no biting and put her down. She did throw a little temper tantrum. So today, sporting a bandaid on my nipple. This will make pumping interesting.

Talking to daycare at drop off, she is trying to bite other kids at day care. Wonderful. They are picking her up, removing her from the situation, and putting her in her crib with no pacifier. I am fine with this. It is similar to what I would do at home, put her down and ignore her while she is throwing a temper tantrum. I do not want to be a mom who gives into a temper tantrum. And as I was leaving day care, I remembered the temper tantrums I used to throw. I was good at them. I would cry so hard I threw up. so I guess I know where she gets her temper from. Sorry Evie.

And for anyone interested here is a wonderful kellymom article about biting while nursing.

baby legs

OK when I first saw these in pictures, I thought they were stupid. Why would someone want to put leg warmers on their kids, why not pants.

But I got a pair and I love them! Simple to change diaper with them. Work great when you don't have many pants. They last for many MANY baby sizes. Can jazz up a plain onsie. May have to get more...

Look how cute Evie is with her baby legs!

Evie is a music lover!

Whenever Evie is fussy, I have found putting music on, singing to her, and just swaying does the trick. She so loves music and dancing! She plays guitar hero with Dad (and does a fantastic job!) too! Sometimes it puts her to sleep, sometimes she likes to listen while looking around. So far I know she loves Frank Sinatra (and any swing/jazz music), Jack Johnson, The Beatles, Flogging Molly, Broadway Musicals. We tried Bob Marley and she wasn't as much of a fan, but she was really fussy.

I need to look for a cheap-ish i home for her room. I have my old ipod that I will put music on and leave in there so we always have music!

3 week Dr Appointment Update

Had Evie's 3 week doctors appointment today. Went really well. Waited a little long in the waiting room, Evie started to fuss, so I had to hold her and play with her - she just wanted attention.

Got called in and went to our room. Stripped her, which does not make her happy. She weighs 9 pounds!!! Could not believe it. She is 21.5 inches long! So she has gained over 1 pound and has grown an inch in 3 weeks! WooHoo!

She did not like being examined by the doctor. Really did not like when she was feeling her stomach. Who would like that? She was screaming! But I was able to quiet her down by re-clothing her and putting her in her car seat.

Not a bad appointment. Next one has shots (2 month). A little afraid of that one. Ok, very afraid of that one.