Baby kisses

Bruce has started making up his own games, and I couldn't be more thrilled.

One such game involves him looking from whomever is holding him, waiting for a smile or some form of recognition, then looking at one other person (this is usually played with Grandma and Mommy) and - again - waiting for a smile or recognition, only to smile coyly and do it all again.

The other one (the one that has completely stolen my heart) is simple:
I kiss his cheek, he turns his head for another one.
I kiss his cheek again, and he 'kisses' my nose/mouth/nearest facial feature.
I melt.

On to less sappy notes, this weekend was spent in Forks, WA (yes, "Twilight Town"), visiting Steve's aunt, uncle, and cousins. Bruce did extremely well on the car ride, and seemed to enjoy his first exo-utero ferry ride from Edmonds to Kingston. We kept getting stopped by random people, telling us what an adorable boy we had! I couldn't agree more.

Time on the Baysinger homestead was great. They have mules, horses, ducks, dogs... not to mention a pretty fun bunch of family. Bruce was outside and enjoying the fresh air all day on Saturday, causing him to sleep extremely well that night! Only ONE middle-of-the-night wake-up, AND he talked himself back to sleep at one point!! I am a proud, proud Mama.

Finally, tomorrow is D-Day; the day Steve and I find out just what's wrong with my thyroid. My doctor's office called me on Friday to let me know that the preliminary test results show that I have "thyrotoxicosis", most likely from Graves Disease. Whatever, kids... I just need it fixed!

So, that's all for now. I'm thinking about posting another recipe... any ideas?

No more weaning = no more whining

My poor son... Wednesday was beyond difficult, and he was such a trooper - until 2:00PM hit and he turned into a non-stop screaming MACHINE. Seriously, don't babies need to breathe??

That being the experience of our first day of full-on forumla, we decided to stop this weaning business and continue breastfeeding. There has GOT to be something out there (medicinal, homeopathic, or otherwise) that can provide me with some relief while we get my thyroid figured out that does not require me to stop nursing my 3 month-old son!

I'm sure Dr. Ball is going to blow a gasket, but he's so close-minded and old fashioned about breastfeeding that that is to be expected. Plus, he really does have my (the patient) best interest at heart, so I have to respect him there.

I just know how good breastfeeding is for babies, and how much Bruce loves it... so we're considering this the first big "mommy sacrifice" that I'm having to make for him. I would gladly continue to feel like crap in order to give Bruce the best start possible.

Weaning and Whining

Anyone want a malfunctioning thyroid?

Thanks to this wonderful master-organ, my Endocrinologist (Dr. Ball) has put me on a beta-blocker. Unfortunately, those are HUGE nursing no-nos, as they pass into the milk and are extremely bad for baby. You know what that means? Yep.

I have to wean my son.

I don't think my heart has hurt so bad in years... and it's not getting any easier. Bruce has taken to formula (soy) amazingly well. We tried him on Similac Sensitive first, but he got so gassy on it that we had to switch. He will take a bottle from anyone, even me, although he will glare daggers at me the entire time now. We started weaning him on Wednesday, so it's still really early in the process. I nurse him every other feeding when I'm there, and only pump at work to relieve the pressure from getting so full. Oh, and I still nurse him in the middle of the night; it would be cruel not to at this point.

Even though this is nowhere near when I had intended to wean Bruce off the breast, I really am thankful that we got in three solid months of nursing. He's such a chub, so I know he got a lot out of it!

This may sound incredibly stupid, but I have this fear that he and I won't stay as bonded as we are now once I quit breastfeeding him. He's only 12 weeks... he still smiles at just about everyone (then again, he CAN be pretty selective with whom he graces with a smile... we think he's just a VERY social little guy), so how do I know if he really loves his Mama? It's so stupid and so selfish, but breastfeeding was the only thing going right for our little family for the last 12 weeks, and now it's leaving... it's really, really hard to cope with that.