Yay Progress!

I'm super jazzed because yesterday I got Max to sleep during the day

1. in his crib!

2. without swaddling him!

3. for over an hour!

Up until that point he had always only been able to sleep for any reasonable amount of time during the day if he was being held or if he was in my sling. Right when he came home from the hospital he slept during the day I guess- but he was always swaddled- which is not too hard to do- it's just becomes sort of a hassle. In addition- he had only ever slept in the bassinette in our room with the fan on making white noise and usually someone in the room with him. Now- it was raining yesterday during his nap and I think that noise did help- but I can get a sound machine for his nursery.

Anywho- as I'm sure you can guess- there's not a lot you can do while holding an infant- there's not even a lot you can do with an infant strapped to you in a sling because you can't lean over without needing to hold them. This makes chores like laundry and dishes nigh impossible. So- the development (hopefully) of a semi-dependable and independent nap is very exciting for me.

Plus- he looks really cute in his sleep sack- it has a little bear on it that says "Tell me a story".

He is also starting to "play" more- which means that he's happy to be laid down on his activity mat for longer than about a minute and he lays there and looks around and waves his arms and legs around while they bat against things. Our dog Thor is better behaved about this floor time than I expected. He likes to sniff Max as soon as he's on the floor but once he gets a good smell of him he chills out and lays down somewhere else. We do have to pick up the mat when Max isn't on it as Thor will totally nap on it and get it all doggy.

So, while Max is still largely only consoled by near constant nursing- he is making some very important headway. My other mission is pumping milk.

I want to have a "cushion" of supply before I start to use it- it's hard to build this up because:

1. I don't get very much when I pump and

2. I don't usually get a long enough break from actual nursing to fake nurse.

So this means that I pump for ten minutes after each of his night time feedings and I try to sneak it in during the day when I think I can. I want to have a good supply so Jack can babysit- but right now I only have maybe 3 bottles worth and for insurance and the amount he eats I want about 5 to be extra safe. (When Jack and I babysat Dicey we accidentally dropped a full bottle of milk and then nearly ran out of food for her later after she drank almost 2 bottles) Also- to not be back at square one after one babysitting gig.

I guess that's enough for now- I think this is why mommies all hang out together because they can all talk endlessly about stuff that nobody else is as fascinated with as they are.