Mission Acomplished: Bottle

Who knew that there were so many babies who refuse bottles out in this world?!? It's very much an unspoken conversation with doctors (and especially lactation consultants!), but I have come to the realization that I will notify every new mom I meet to not hesistate in getting baby adjusted to a bottle sooner than the recommended 6-8 weeks old, especially if they are planning on returning to work.

Ruby really, really struggled with the bottle. And even at this point, while she will take it, she's not terribly happy about it, and it takes a ton of work to get her to take it. She needs to be getting sleepy, the breastmilk needs to be very warm, she needs to be swaddled, she can't be facing me directly, so she needs to either look over my shoulder, or away from me completely. I have to sing her twinkle twinkle over and over and over while she chugs the bottle. But she chugs it, finally.

This has impacted my enjoyment of the last month of maternity leave, I'll be honest. All I've wanted to do is snuggle, love on, and enjoy Ruby, but instead I've had to work on this mission, and it's really tough! But I will feel so much better going back to work knowing that she will take a bottle, I just felt awful about handing her over to someone and saying "FYI- she's not on a bottle yet".

So, I can proudly say Mission Accomplished with our little diva. Good thing she is so unbelievably adorable, because even though it's "work", when she flashes me her dimple smile after a feeding, or when she wakes from her nap, it makes it totally, totally worth it. :)

Month 3

Well, I can officially say with confidence that we have a little diva on our hands! Month 3 has been yet another month of learning for us, starting with Ruby's refusal to take a bottle. I have been BF since birth without issue, and most doctors and books recommend waiting until weeks 6-8 to introduce a bottle, so as to not cause what is called nipple confusion. Well, what has happened is bottle refusal as a result. I will never, EVER wait to introduce a bottle again- what a load of cr@p! It has been extremely wearing to not ever, ever be able to leave the house or her for more than 2 hours at a time. We have tried when she's sleepy, awake, my mom has tried, Paul has tried, my dad has tried, we have tried 7 different types of bottles. We have tried holding her nursing style, in her boppy, in her bouncer, and NOTHING. We have finally made it to her allowing about an ounce to be dripped into her mouth, but she is still not latching to the bottle and sucking.

All of this is causing me a great deal of anxiety, as I must return to work in less than 4 weeks. I am working with her every single day with taking a bottle, but I must tell you that this little diva is wearing me thin with her insistence on nursing from ME and ME only!

Week 12 was particularly difficult for us as well, but since having scavenged the internet for answers, I've learned that a 12 week growth spurt is typical. She has been the 3 C's- clingy, crying, and cranky! Yes, I told you this girl is a DIVA!
We are back to waking up 2-3 times a night, and only sleeping again by nursing- that is similar to Ginger and once I'm back to work, we'll need to nip that down to just 1. But we'll get there.

I suppose I should have started out this blog with all of the fantastic, wonderful things that Ruby is learning and demonstrating. Both because she will probably read this one day (ha!), and because I don't want anyone to think that I'm not L-O-V-I-N-G this girl with ALL of my heart!

She is incredibly vocal, just like Ginger. She will chit-chat with you at any time- lots of coo's, oooh's and aaaah's. Giggles and laughter abound from her. So she is extremely playful and fun to tickle and kiss, that's for sure! Yesterday, at 13 weeks and 1 day, she rolled over from her back to her tummy! It was amazing to watch- she almost seemed too little to have mastered that skill already! She is a crib incher- meaning that by the time she is done with a nap/sleeping overnight, she has moved from the bottom of the crib to the top of the crib. Already? I swear this is all going at lightening speed!

We are still addicted to the swaddle, which I am trying to wean her from but both her and I give up too easily. She falls asleep so nicely all swaddled up, but she fights it so much now that I almost think she would sleep better without it. But she won't actually FALL to sleep without it. So this month we'll need to work on it, one arm, then both arms, then legs, etc. Which will mean a few sleepless nights for me, if it goes the way it did with Ginger!

All in all, it has been an amazing experience to go to a family of 4. It is not for the weary, I am actually in shock that so many others do it (and even more, like 3, 4, or 5 kids!) because it is a HANDFUL with 2! But we are enjoying every minute of it. Sleepy-eyed and all :)

The Magic of Disney

What an amazing time we had on our family's first visit (together) to Disneyland! Our nanny works PT at Disneyland on weekends, and had provided us with tickets to cover myself, Paul, and my mom and dad (thanks Maureen!). So, the tickets were burning a hole in my pocket for months, but I wanted to wait until I thought Ginger was really ready to take in and create a memory of her first visit to Disneyland.

We all packed up and left the house at a decent time, ready to get there when it opened. However, silly me, I forgot the tickets of all things, and we had to turn around and come back to get them! Luckily, we had only made it about 15 minutes out by the time I remembered, but it did cause the morning to kick off a bit later than expected :)

We arrived and entered Disneyland to be greeted by Mickey, Pluto, Goofy, and Snow White. It was amazing!! I was nursing Ruby on a park bench with my mom and watched Ginger interact with Pluto and Goofy from afar. Then once we were done we all walked over to see Mickey, and took a few family photos with him. Of course, Ruby was already starting to doze off so she missed out on the first few family pics.

We walked the entire park, practically, and rode several rides! Here's the rundown: Peter Pan, Carousel, Dumbo, Teacups (2x), Small World, Space Mountain (sans children), Jungle Cruise, Pirates of the Carribean, Disney Railroad.

Ginger's favorite ride was the teacups, with a close 2nd going to Dumbo. She had a permenant smile on her face the entire day, with the exception of a few moments waiting in line, prior to lunch where she was getting a bit tired. But as soon as we had some fuel in us (mac-n-cheese for her, pizza for me, pastrami burger for Dad, and of course, mommy's milk for Ruby :) we were back in action.

We were so, so, so, so grateful to have my mom and dad join us! Two extra sets of hands were helpful, especially with Ruby since she decided that she no longer enjoyed riding in the bjorn. Funny enough, I took her out 2 days later to an outlet mall and she loved being in the bjorn. Go figure!

We made it to 6:45pm, and honestly, it was more the adults that were "done" than Ginger. She was still skipping, running, and raring to go on more rides. She did SO well on our trip, that we're thinking about returning in a little bit to explore California Adventure. Maybe once Ruby takes a bottle, which is a whole other story!