Okay, we took these over two months ago, but I've finally got them! I love how these portraits came out...Malisa has been a wonderful photographer to work with since we got our maternity shots taken with her in November 2009. This session marked the end of our "baby bundle" session and we are thrilled with all of the fantastic photos we have of Libby from her first year! We will treasure them always. Now...I've got to decide which I will have enlarged and framed!
These were taken at a warehouse near 4th and Elgin in Downtown Tulsa:
I asked Malisa to take some portraits of us nursing and we gone ONE and only one because Libby was so distracted by the camera clicking away. That said, I love the ONE we got...and will treasure it always as a memento of this special time in our lives as mother and daughter.
A couple of Valentine's Day shots...inspired by her cute bloomers and headband from RuffleButts.
Today was long! We headed down to our tour and meeting on the campus of California University of Pennsylvania this morning. Thankfully, we took advantage of the business center at the Hampton Inn and printed out Mapquest directions. We also got some for the drive back to the airport so I could make it to my flight on time!
The school was lovely and perfect for our seminar this summer. I hope our attendees feel the same! We had a delicious lunch that included local veggies and herbs that the chef grows in campus! Nice.
Thankfully, Mapquest came through and I was at the airport in about 40-minutes. I was super early, but that was fine by me. I was headed home to see my loves! After 5 days away last month, I knew if I could be gone only two days and one night this time, that's what I was gonna do. Plus, this way, I get ALL of Friday off and can be home with Libby rather than using it to travel home. But that means putting in a 16-hour day. By the time I get home it'll be midnight (yay for free WiFi at the airport)!
This is the first time since the TSA restrictions post-9/11, that I've flown with just a carry-on. I found a mini-sized hair mousse that did the job. Otherwise, I would have had to check a bag, which seems silly for just one night away. But, my hair really looks awful without mousse taming it's curliness. I got to the airport and changed out of my work clothes and into jeans and a sweater. I also pumped and dumped. This will be the last time I ever pump. I stopped pumping during the work day after I got back from Chicago last month. It's been great to not have to deal with it (pumping AND scalding milk) and I've been able to work though lunch (rather than coming home at lunchtime to nurse Libby) and get out of the office around 2:30 p.m. each day, which is great! I brought the pump on this trip just to keep up my supply and relieve pressure. I pumped once last night and once today. That's it! And dumping my milk was sort of weird. And now, once I am home, I will clean it all up and store it away until we're ready to use it for baby #2. Who's is just an idea, at this point!
Since I got to the airport so early, I've had a leisurely time in the AirMall and got this adorable stuffed owl to bring home to Libby. It's the Olio Owl from Mary Meyer's Print Pizzazz line of plush toys. She says "Awwwooooollll" and "whooo whooo" all the time, so I think she'll love this little guy! It's so hard to be away from her...even for just 24 hours...cannot wait to be home and in my own bed!
The weather was still great come Sunday, so mom and I took Libby to the Tulsa Zoo at Mowhawk Park. Libby's been to the aquarium twice (once here in Tulsa, well, technically, Jenks and the first time was in Seattle, last October)...but this was her first time to the zoo. And it was my first time to the zoo here in Tulsa and the first time I've gone in about 15 or 20 years!
We started with the elephant exhibit since Libby is obsessed with "eh-a-fence" but there was only one out and she was way across from the observation area so Libby hardly saw her. And lost interest quickly. So it was on to the giraffe exhibit. Again, only one giraffe, but he was eating and easy to see.
She had been in the Ergo about 20 minutes at this point and wanted "down!" She was funny watching the giraffe and kept saying "ball!" because he was eating some food from the green ball tied to the fencing.
Across from the giraffe was the zebra enclosure...
I love this photo of Libby with my mom...
Despite bringing the stroller, in addition to the Ergo, she wanted to walk on her own at this point. So we put on her "puppy backpack"...which is basically a kid leash. I never thought I'd be one to use one with my kiddo, but she doesn't want to hold hands and wants to walk on her own. So this is our compromise. And she loves the thing! She asks for it all the time at home. And in the car I let her hold it (sans the long tail) and she's super excited when we arrive at our destination to wear her puppy backpack! That said, we're still working on holding hands and staying with mommy, daddy or grandma!
We headed to the Big Cats...the tiger and lion....yes, again, just one of each. And ongoing theme at the Tulsa Zoo, at least on this day...
Then we saw some penguins...
And checked out the bears (black and brown) as well as some lemurs and made our way to the train. This was Libby's first train ride! She was thrilled that the "big kids" in front of us were wearing backpacks too...yep...a monkey and tan puppy version of her kiddie leash! Apparently, all the cool kids wear them!
At the train stop was the carousel, so we went for a spin on the ferocious looking tiger! Libby had a blast! And so did I...I love just seeing her experience new things and enjoying the moment! This was her second time on a carousel (the first was in December at the mall when we had her holiday portraits taken).
One of my all-time favorite photos of me with Libby. There's a lot of emotion in my face here!
Oh, I should mention that on the train ride Libby asked to nurse, so we did. And then a little more on the bench while we waited for our turn on the carousel. I have no idea if others saw us (I nurse without a cover, but am discreet by wearing a nursing tank under my top so I can lift up my top and still be covered underneath...
At 14 months Libby's still going strong with nursing. During the week it's about 2-3 times a day, but on weekends it much more. And I am okay with that...at least for now. She's still my baby and nursing is so beneficial for her AND for me!
Anyway, then it was off to the petting zoo, where ironically, we saw some mama sheep nursing their lambs. And Libby got to touch some goats!
After about two hours in the park she started to fade...which was understandable as her nap time was nearing AND we'd been in the 80 degree weather and walking in 30 mph winds! So we wrapped up our visit with a stop by the otters and headed on our way home...
Libby stayed awake during the 15 minute ride home but then promptly fell asleep for nearly 3 hours which is record napping for her! I am sure this is just the first of many more visits to the zoo to come. We had a great day and a wonderful end to our awesome weekend!
Libby has fully recovered from her mild case of the chicken pox. The blessing of her getting it last week was that it allowed me to be home with her, which was extra special since I'll be leaving her for 5 days and 4 nights this coming week. I have a conference in Chicago to attend for work and we've decided that rather than have her and mom come with me, like we did in October when I had to go to Seattle for work, we'd just have her stay home with J and my mom and I'd go alone. I am nervous and anxious about it. Not so much about Libby...she'll probably do just fine with daddy and grandma!
I've never been away from Libby for longer than 18 hours! And we're still nursing so I am worried about how she'll do without her "mama milk" and how my supply will fare. I've only ever pumped once a day and never relied on pumping alone to maintain my supply. So I plan to pump at least 5 times each day that I am away (Tues-Sat). I've arranged for a mini-fridge in my hotel room so I can store the milk. Since Libby won't do previously frozen milk, my hope is to bring it back and give it to the adoptive mom to whom I've been donating my extra milk. I want to bring it back refrigerated, not frozen, so the mom can either use it right away or freeze it and use it when she needs it. If I try to freeze it at the hotel I am worried it will defrost by the time my flight home lands and then she'll have to ALL of it within 48 hours or toss it. We shall see.
For now, my plan is to pump, scald using an electric hot pot (I did this in Seattle) and then cool the milk in the fridge. Once it's cool I'll transfer it to a Lanisoh Milk Storage Bag. I'll collect all of those bags into one or two gallon Ziploc bags and place in my soft-sided cooler bag to bring home on the plane. When I check out of the hotel, I'll get a bag of ice to keep things cool until I get to the airport. Then, I'll toss that and once I clear TSA with the milk, get some more ice from a vendor on the other side. I hope this works! I've been scouring the Internet for tips from other pumping-and-traveling mamas and this is what they do (except for the scalding thing...which only mamas with excess lipase have to do). I know it seems like a lot to manage and it would be so much easier to pump-and-dump, but that's a lot of precious breastmilk to waste when it could feed a baby! I am guessing I'll have 100+ ounces to bring back...hopefully TSA will be cool about it. I've downloaded their latest guidelines for nursing mothers traveling with milk but without their baby and plan to have a copy on me if I am given any hassles about it. I pray that I don't end up in a scenario like this nursing mother! Sadly, this went down in November 2010, so I am hoping the TSA in Chicago know better than these morons in Phoenix.
Libby has never taken much expressed breastmilk in my absence. She definitely prefers her mama's milk straight from the source. Typically, she'll take 1-2 oz. by cup in the mornings, before breakfast, while I am at work. I usually come home at lunchtime and she nurses. Then she'll hold out until 4 p.m when I get home and nurse some more. Between 4-7 p.m. she typically nurses 2-3 times and has dinner. These nursing sessions include the one before bed. And she'll wake 1-2 times before 5 a.m. and nurse. Since we're doing Baby Led Weaning and still actively nursing she gets the bulk of her nutrition (probably close to 75%) from my milk still.
So I am really anxious to know how she'll handle me being gone for 5 days. I hope deciding not to take her is the right choice. She refuses to take any previously frozen milk and doesn't like cow's milk. So, I've been pumping like a mad woman since Tuesday to store as much "fresh milk" for her as possible. I've got about 30 oz. in there now and think I'll be able to add 15-20 more to the stash before I depart on Tuesday morning. So that'll give her about 10 oz. milk/day. The rest? I've told my mom and J to get as much food in her as possible, especially higher-fat foods like full-fat yogurt and cottage cheese (which she likes to eat) and offer her cow's milk at regular intervals. If she refuses the cow's milk then offer her water. Luckily, she's in the 90th percentile for weight so even if she drops a little weight while I am gone it won't be detrimental. I am hoping she'll take the cow's milk if she's really wanting milk and has had all of mine for the day. If it's gets desperate and she's hardly eating anything, they can give her a little fruit and vanilla ice cream milkshake. I've also asked my mom and J not to share too many details about how much she has or hasn't eaten or how much milk she's taken because it'll just make me insane to be a thousand miles away and unable to do anything about it.
Wish me luck. I hope it goes well for her. And me. And J and my mom. Right now I just have a pit in my stomach even thinking about it.
It's fairly common knowledge that breastfeeding is a great way to bond with your baby. But I had no idea that breastfeeding would lead me to bond with other mothers. And make friends with them. Case in point. The mama with whom I went to the aquarium last weekend and I met while sitting in her chair at a recent dental appointment. I asked her if the numbing agent was approved for breastfeeding mothers. She said it was and we proceeded to chat (as much as one can with a numb mouth and dental tools in it) about the joys and trials of being working mothers who breastfeed. We hit it off and soon discovered many other things in common.
And, I have bonded with the mother to whom I've been donating breastmilk. So much so, this week, she and her husband looked after Libby for us while I was at work and J was in class. My mom is out-of-town this week and next so she can be with her sister, who just had a double bypass, and we needed an alternative daycare situation. This mom stays-at-home with her four-year-old and four-month-old daughters. Her husband works second shift, like J, and is home during the day. So as soon as we learned we'd need someone to babysit, I contacted them with the proposal. Much to our joy, they said, "yes, no problem." What a relief. So Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday this week, we packed Libby up and dropped her off at their place.
We've never had to do the whole daycare drop-off and pick-up routine so it's been a learning curve for all of us. She was there on Monday from 8:15 a.m. until 2:45 p.m., Tuesday from 8:15 a.m. until 12:45 p.m. and Wednesday from 8 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. She'll do the same next week. I offered to pay them and they said, "just keep giving us your milk." But that didn't feel right. So I have them some cash on Wednesday. And will do the same next week. I don't want them to feel that we're taking advantage of a new friendship. And they've really helped us out, so the least we could do is give them some "fun money."
Here's two iPhone pics that were taken of Libby by my firend while she was watching her this week. She posted them to my FB for me so I could see how Libby was doing while I was at work. So sweet!
This week has also made me extra grateful for the fact that my mom usually watches Libby during the week. Libby can sleep until she's ready to wake and we don't have to rush around and get her into the car and to daycare. It's so nice to be able to have Libby stay home, even if it's not with me. At least for now. When she's older, I would like her to go to preschool a couple day a week to socialize and begin preparing for school.
Speaking of which, we had our third Parents as Teachers home visit this week. I cannot say enough about how wonderful this program is. We've learned SO much in the three months we've been participating. I cannot believe it's free! I plan to donate some materials, like books and art supplies to our PAT educator as a thank you. Libby is developing way ahead in most areas and in some ways I know we've got our work cut out for ourselves to stay one step ahead of her! Last week, in the bath, she used two cups that we have in there (to help with shampooing her hair, etc.) to pour one into the other. Apparently these are called "transfer skills" and not something that toddlers her age can typically do. What's more, she always only uses the smaller one to pour into the larger one (the small one is 2 oz. and the large one is 6 oz.) which is also considered advanced problem solving and not something one year olds are usually capable of doing. Pretty neat, huh?
I love this...it is from one of my favorite bloggers, Dr. Momma at Peaceful Parenting:
I have been reflecting a lot lately on my nursing relationship with Libby as we near the sixth month and are thinking about the beginning of weaning through the introduction of solids. She's been showing signs of readiness...most recently sitting unassisted, on her own (just one day shy of her fifth month birthday):
I am so glad we've made it this far and that she's thriving on just my milk. At five months old she's 21 pounds and 27 inches long...it's quite amazing. And when I am stressed or tired nursing calms me as much as it does her. I am a little saddened to think that soon she'll have more options besides her mama's milk and sometimes wonder if she'll develop a preference to sweet potatoes or bananas...but my goal is to nurse her for at least one year. If she wants to go longer I'll keep it up as long as we can.
So in the brief four months we’ve been parents, apparently we’ve made a slew of choices that are less-than-conventional. I guess. I mean, in the online parenting forums I frequent, they seem quite “normal” but I guess in every-day-life they may not be. Hmm. I suspect there’s been a lot of eye-rolling from the every-day people in our lives.
First off was the decision to cloth diaper. People came out of the woodwork to tell us we were nuts. That surely, we’d regret it and find ourselves bleary-eyed in a big-box-brand-name-store at 3 a.m. desperately purchasing disposable diapers within a week of bringing our baby home. “You’ll see…” I heard time and again. Well…here were are…four-plus months later and loving the decision we've made to cloth diaper. It’s super convenient and totally budget-friendly. Not to mention that we’re always just one laundry load away from a new supply of diapers for our little one. It is also better for her health and for the health of our planet.
Second was the fact that my exclusively breast-fed baby refuses to take a pacifier or a bottle. I am fine with her not wanting a paci…but others have an issue with it. She’s keen to suck her thumb instead (although has not fully worked that out just yet) and somehow that’s a bad thing. I dunno. If it helps her to self-soothe, I am all for it. It’s right there, whenever she needs or wants it. And for the record, I sucked my thumb and didn’t go off to college still doing it. Sure, I needed orthodontics, but it wasn’t because of the thumb-sucking. It was due to genetics.
And although we introduced the bottle at the “right time” of four weeks and she initially took it, eventually she decided she wanted nothing to do with it. At first I thought it was because I produce excess lipase and discovered that my stored, pumped breast milk had an “off” taste. But even once we worked that out (via scalding all pumped milk as recommended by Kelly Mom and LLLI) she still refused to take the bottle. And we tried them all. Including this fancy-schmancy one that actually looks and supposedly feels a lot like a breast. So, with the impending date of my return to full-time work looming, we got creative and tried feeding her expressed breast milk from a cup. Well, really the top of one of the many bottles she’d refused. And you know what? It worked! So since she was eight weeks old she gets her “cup milk” from daddy or grandma while I am at work. People still don’t believe she can drink from a cup. Others ask why we don’t just make her drink from a bottle. (As if I could make her?! They suggest, “if you don’t offer her anything by the bottle, eventually she’ll HAVE to take it!”). Why on earth would I do that when she’s already drinking from a cup? People need to learn to drink from a cup. They don’t need to know how to use a bottle. So, she’s just ahead of the game.
Here's a video of J cup feeding Libby when she was 10 weeks old:
Speaking of being ahead, that leads me to our latest “unconventional” choice to use infant pottying in our household. Also known as Elimination Communication or Diaper-free Babies, it basically is learning to read your babies cues to know when they need to potty. And once you notice them, you begin to potty them over the toilet or sink or receptacle of your choosing rather than let them go in their diaper. Sounds pretty down-to-earth to me. After all, people need to use the potty anyway, right? So, very casually, we’ve begun to observe when Libby needs to pee or poop. It’s become fairly easy to pinpoint, especially her pooping schedule, which is just once a day now and usually in the early evenings after feeding. Pee has been a little trickier to catch, but again, she usually lets us know immediately when she’s wet and we’ve been able to figure out her signals just before then, namely squirming and vocalization. So we’ve been able to get her to tinkle on the potty (our household toilet is now outfitted with a kiddie potty seat that I picked up for $3) by offering her “pottytunities” before and after her naps, after feeding, before baths, etc. We cue her with “pssss” and sure enough, she pees in the potty. It’s so cute!
She loves it because she’s not in a wet diaper. And we love it because it means less diaper changes (and laundry) for us. Especially the poopie ones. I’ve only changed one poopie diaper in the past 5 days (and that’s because she surprised me with a early-afternoon poop). We have no intention of having her be diaper-free (she’s still in her cloth diapers) save for the 15-20 minutes of “naked time” she has each day. Nor are we pushing her to “potty train” anytime soon. It’s more about teaching her that she has options when it comes to her personal hygiene. Knowing her, once she really figures out that she doesn’t have to be in a wet or dirty diaper I suspect she will be wanting to use the potty more often than not. She smiles every time we sit her there. And she loves that it’s faster and cleaner than getting a diaper change.
That said, we’ve already gotten the side-eye about it. And of course the lecture that it’s “too soon.” Yes, if we were potty training her, it would be WAY too soon. But what we’re doing is potty learning and offering her options, which is perfectly fine. In many cultures they don’t even use diapers on infants because they practice this method of infant pottying. And it’s not like she’s being scolded if she goes in her diaper (which is an old-school tactic used by parents in potty training). Oh well…I guess to many people teaching your baby to use the toilet is weird. To us, it’s pretty much a no-brainer. It’s a skill she’ll use for life so why not start now? I did have to laugh though when we were asked, “well how does she get to the bathroom?” Um, the same way she gets everywhere else right now. We carry her. Duh.
Finally, I am sure that more eyes will roll in a couple of months when we begin introducing solids to our daughter. We’ve already been asked more than once why she’s not already eating rice cereal. We’ve had to let people know that we’re going with the AAP’s recommendation to wait until she’s six months old before introducing solids. (Oh and I’ve also been asked why I plan to breastfeed beyond six months since she’ll be eating solids by then and will most likely have teeth. I cannot believe how clueless people are about breastfeeding. You should have seen the reaction when I said I have no intentions of weaning at twelve months, let alone six. Oy vay.)
We plan to let Libby self-feed solids (also known as BLW or Baby-led Weaning) when she shows signs of readiness. Most likely that’ll be later this summer. I am sure people will ask why on earth she’s not being spoon-fed jarred baby food or even purees we make ourselves. I am sure they’ll question the risk of her choking. I am already scheduled to take an Infant CPR class later this month so at least I can let them know that if on the remote chance she did choke, we’d know what to do. But I am sure they’ll still roll their eyes. Oh well, I guess that’s okay. It certainly won’t be the first time.
Breastfed my little girl for 18 months and 2 weeks. Weaned due to pregnancy - my milk dried up at 16 weeks.
Found an adoptive mama who needed milk for her baby. Donated my milk for 5 months!
