Why Won't This Baby Sleep Through The Night?

Is it because I said I knew the trick to getting babies to sleep through the night? Is it because I naively and knowingly gave advice at baby showers everywhere?

All right, already. I'm sorry I ever said it.

I've learned my lesson.

I'll never claim to know anything ever again.

Now sleep, already, would ya?

If It Comes Out Looking The Same Way It Did Going In

How Does He Get Any Nutrition Out Of It At All?

Can a Three Month Old Be Bored?

Baby,
please keep crying
when you're not
tired
or stinky
or hungry.

Please cry
when you are bored.

Otherwise
I'm afraid
we will forget
to talk to you
for days on end.

Can a Two Month Old Be Bored?

Sometimes he's
not hungry.


Not tired.


Not stinky.


And still he cries!


The nerve!

Where's The Soother?

It has become the constant, perpetual, ubiquitous, pervasive, endlessly chronic daily question. (Thank you thesaurus.com)

I'm going to the store tomorrow and buying 10 more.

American Translation: Soother = Pacifier = Binky = Fafi

What's His Name? (Part IV)

On third thought,
let's go with

"Mark Daniel Peter Brooks."

You know the story of how we learned

the name of the Brother of Jared?

Well, let's just say I am grateful that

it was Daniel, not Mahonri Moriancumer.

Should I Bother Buying a Baby Book?

Baby Burrito began to smile yesterday.

I realized that a dutiful mother would write this down somewhere. Does blogging count?

Naomi has a baby book. It is 3/4 full of humorous anecdotes, critical-to-remember dates, and adorable pictures.

Eliza has a baby book because I was not going to be one of those mothers who only kept a record of her eldest's life. I feverishly wrote in Eliza's baby book every possible moment so that it would be robust like her sister's. Somehow it still only ended up about 1/3 full.

Chas has a baby book because when Eliza was born I was given two. It has three entries, and I don't know where it is. I comforted myself over the last five years by saying that, Although, I was not keeping a record of his life, I was doing the things that really mattered, like snuggling with him and drawing with chalk on the driveway. I also committed to memory every significant date so that I could go back in and fill out the baby book as soon as I had a minute. Needless to say, all those life-altering milestone dates have long since slipped into brain oblivion.

So, do I even bother buying Mark a baby book? I know I won't fill it out. The real question is, Will the guilt be greater if I don't buy the book at all or if I own it and it sits unused on my shelf?

This time I'm going to console myself with, Boys won't care about their babyhood the same way girls do. (If you disagree with this statement, you are invited to keep your comments to yourself.)

How Can I Possibly Have a Fever on Day 6 of Antibiotics?

I woke up yesterday with a fever of 100.2.

I took Motrin and Tylenol all day long.

I went to bed with a fever of 102.6.

And now it is 103.5.

I am so mad.

And sad.

And hot.

And cold.

Can't We Stop Time? (Part III)

I don't read anymore when I nurse.

I read many books when I nursed Naomi.

A little less when I fed Eliza.

I did finish one book, Peter Pan, while Chas began to grow.

But now, I realize--

it all slips by much too fast
so now I watch every suck and swallow
and the book sits unopened nearby on the table
as if by watching you I will slow the clock
or capture the fleeting moment

It isn't working, by the way,

but I think I'll keep trying.

What's His Name? (Part III)

On second thought,
I think we'll just stick with



"Baby Burrito."

Why Does Nursing Matter To Me So Much?

Naomi was nursed and had formula every day because I was working full-time.

Eliza never nursed once in her life.

Chas never had a taste of a bottle until he was seven months old and I was in the hospital for the second time and I weaned him cold-turkey.

They all turned out bonded to their mother, physically healthy, emotionally secure, and we still have enough money to put food on the table.

So as I enter back into the throes of recurrent mastitis I'm wondering why it feels like it matters so much to me to nurse him.

He seems so little. He's not yet three weeks old. It feels like my breast-milk might protect him from the big, bad world out there. And maybe it will fill his blood with super-duper antibodies, but what I actually want to protect him from (abuse and evil and drugs and bad teenage friends...) Well, nursing doesn't create a shield for those things.

There are breast-feeding die-hards around here. They're shocked when you use the word "formula." I tend to roll my eyes at this attitude. Millions of babies have turned out just fine and were only ever bottle-fed.

Maybe it's the expense? I didn't love the cost of formula, or the midnight store-runs when I realized we were out.

The hassle of bottles? They are a hassle, but then so is a fever of 103.

I do believe that the regular-old-way, in most cases, is the best way. I don't get caught up in new diet fads. I don't buy protein bars or protein powder. I just deliver babies without drugs whenever they want to come. When my kids are sick, I wait and see, and it usually all works out. I believe in leaving well enough alone whenever possible.

Maybe that's it. I just want to feed him the regular-old-way.

Or maybe I don't want to patter across to the kitchen at 2 am to make a bottle.

Or maybe I am one of those mothers who seem to love breast-feeding for themselves more than for their baby's sake and will nurse until the baby is eating steak for dinner and taking piano lessons.

Or maybe I don't want to admit that Mastitis can win. I don't want to be beat.

Answer #9--Life Is Good

there is nothing like

a groggy tiny person

with eyes half drooped

and milk dripping off his chin

his arms raised to their full extent

(which only gets them up to his ears)

making the softest snoring sound

as he's flopped over my shoulder

to remind me that Earth Life Is Good

and that Heavenly Father Loves Me

And then,

as if to demonstrate that

the best is yet to be,

sometimes

he has his head facing this way

and he smiles that gummy

"I-can-still-remember-heaven" smile

and all is right in the world

Answer #8--And His Name Is...

Well,

I bought wood letters at the craft store today,

so I guess it's official.

Mark Gideon Peter Brooks

"Was There Ever a Time...?"

"Was there ever a time when you wished you weren't doing it (giving birth) at home?"

"No, but there was a long time when I wished I weren't doing it period."

What's His Name? (Part II)

"Can I have Mark AND Nathaniel if I let you have Mosiah?"
"No, you get Mark or Nathaniel, not both."
"Please?"
"No way."
"Remember that you were gone for ten days and missed his birth?" (I'm desperate.)
"No."

-----

After spending far too many hours with the computer and google searches such as "cool names that are unpopular" or "top 100 names of the year," Dallin declares, "I've got the perfect name!"
"Oh?"
"Would you rather hear it or see it written out?"
"Whatever."
"OK, ready?"
"I'm ready."
"It's so great!"
"OK."
"Algernon!"
"ALGERNON?!"
"We could call him Algy." (You can't possibly appreciate this conversation without seeing the excited grin on Dallin's face)
"Algae?! Why not Fungus?"

Can't We Stop Time? (Part II)

I didn't want him to come out...

I knew he'd have a ridge on his head and squished ears. He might have furry cheeks and shoulders. He probably wouldn't open his eyes, he would squeak like a mouse, and he would smell like heaven.


And then he wouldn't have an umbilical cord anymore, not even the little purple dead part.

And he would begin to open his eyes and have tears and sound like a baby, not a mouse.

The ridge would go away and the ears would start to straighten out.

The furry, delicious skin would start to be regular human skin.

And soon he won't smell like heaven anymore either.

Oh, stop, stop, stop!

I didn't want him to come out because I've done this before. I knew what was coming.

Let the mourning begin.

Answer #5--Something Is Better Than Nothing (Part II)

And Answer #7--Act To Do Good Quickly

Naomi's friend's mother had a baby a few months ago. I wanted to take her a meal. I wanted to take her kids for a playdate. I waited for the right moment. I wished I had the right food to cook. I didn't have her phone number. I tried to find the day that would work best. And in the end I did nothing. Stink!

I had a baby last week. A friend brought us cheesecake, Frutopia juice, blueberries, a box of individually wrapped snacks and a container of cream cheese. What a strange combination of food. What a gift it was to eat those blueberries by the handful at 5:30 in the morning, and give my kids the snacks when they were grumpy, and have cheesecake for lunch while everyone else was at church. The next day she called to invite all my kids over for a playdate. She said, in her experience, Day 3 was the worst. She remembered and acted before it was day 4 or 7 or 43.

I hope I've learned my lesson: A container of cream cheese is helpful. And act now while it is still Day 3.

"Is She The Same One Who...?"

"Yes," I didn't let my mother finish the question, "She's the same one as everything."

"The same one who made the quiet book?"

"Yes, and the same one who brought the cheesecake and all the food over.

And the same one who had Naomi sleep over when I was having the baby.

And the one who was making the dresses for Ethiopia.

And the amazing primary music leader I've been telling you about.

And the one who picked up my kids when I got stuck at the hospital with Chas before she really even knew me. And when I got to her house had a meal ready to send home with me even though she and her family all had colds.

And the one who took all three of my kids on a picnic outing yesterday when they'd been cooped up watching Avatar for a week.

She's the one who made this 'diaper wreath' and brought over a bag of hand-me-down baby boy clothes.

She's the same one as everything."


"My goodness! What a woman!"

What's His Name?

Check back in a month. It may take a while.

Answer # 6--It's A Boy!

7 lbs 9 oz -- 20 inches

August 7, 2009 -- 2:26 am