jaysaint Getting it all down on paper…

Easter is around the corner, which reminds me of how far away I’ve moved from being a church-goer. When I was in high school we were members of the

Hey, thoughtful post on faith interrupted by my baby turning over for the first time!

Until I had a baby I would not think you could parse concepts like “rolling over.” But allow me. This is the first time he has rolled over without assistance of a physical, mechanical or emotional sort. He’s 5.5 months old, which puts him on the later end of this feat. That can be attributed to two things. The first is that he’s ginormous. Someone likened it to flipping over an air craft carrier. The second is his Serenity Now philosophy. As our pediatrician said, he’s had all the necessary motor skills for a while now but none of the motivation.

As a matter of fact, at his 4-month checkup she said to me, “Don’t feel badly that he’s not trying to sit up yet.” To which I said, “Um, wow. Was I supposed to be worrying about that? Because he’s totally just a bag of custard that can’t even reliably hold its head up and I wasn’t really sweating that.” Or rather I said, “Okay” but I thought the former. All was clear when, at the end of the exam, she laughed and said, “Oh wow. I just did a six-month checkup on him. He’s just so big.”

So, we’ve been playing what we cleverly call The Rollover Game. And doing lots of cheering and a small bit of cheating. So we’ve seen some rolling over already. But tonight… it was all baby, baby.

Here’s the bad mom part of the story: I missed it. I didn’t even know he did it until I heard him saying, “Mrph. Mrph. Ack! Argh!” and I looked over to see him laying on his face with his arms pinned underneath his big belly. In my defense I’m a little under the weather tonight. I stuck him on a quilt on the floor and then crashed on the couch to watch House Hunters. I made it up to him with a big, overblown celebration of his mad skills, followed by an energetic nursing session. Now I’m back on the couch and he’s riding in his swing, which I think should keep him from hitting anymore milestones while I explore the budding love of Monica and Chandler.

Damon and Alden went to a party without me. They’ll only be gone for about two hours, but it feels surpassingly strange to be home by myself. I love me some alone time. But I feel at loose ends now, and am not getting anything done. Except for my search of the apartment when I became convinced that someone had sneaked in here and was hiding for nefarious purposes.

I did make a little salmon pate (purchased, not homemade) plate and got to eat the whole thing myself. That was pretty rich. I may crack into the fancy pants olives from Zabars next.

How shall I spend my last half hour or so? Maybe I can have a snack and burn through one more show on the DVR. Then when Damon comes home I’ll complain that I can’t get anything done with a baby on my hip.

Anyone know anything about Knoxville?

Last week I was swanning around like Lady Bountiful. I was an overflowing fountain, so abundantly blessed with milk that I was ready to provide for children other than my own. My son’s cheeks are so resplendent, he is ripe like a berry. I had a moral obligation to share. I was feeling pretty good about myself.

And suddenly, rapidly, my supply started to bottom out.

In the course of five days I went from reliably banking 14 ounces each day at work to barely squeaking out 6. At the same time, Alden graduated from eating 9 or 10 ounces while I was at work to guzzling down about 15. You can guess what I see happening in my freezer.

I’m drinking enough water to irrigate Atlanta. I brought my pump home this weekend so I can sneak in a few sessions between feedings. I will nurse that baby if he so much as glances chestward. We’ve also started him on a little bit of rice cereal each day. So far it’s not enough to make a dent in his appetite, but I want him to have time to adjust comfortably.

A few things to note: [If you don’t want to see my flowery language morph into something more clinical, now is the time to skip to the next post.]

1. I might have a mild case of thrush. It’s not clear. There’s no visible evidence. But I’ve got a bit of discomfort on one side that may be an indicator. I’m asking my local drugstore to order some gentian violet, just in case.

2. It’s been a little stressful around life these days. I’m sure I don’t need to say more.

3. There are some hormonal changes going on. I’ve been breaking out a little bit. I haven’t gotten my period back yet, but am starting to wonder if I will soon.

I want to nurse this baby for a minimum of one year. Any and all thoughts and suggestions are welcome.

I need a first birthday gift for a little girl. Her mama is not really a hippie, but is definitely environmentally aware and a fan of all things natural and safe. I have been browsing Hyena Cart (thanks !) and found some cute leg warmers for Alden but nothing for this little girl that wasn’t outside my budget of about $20.

Any suggestions?