Things in general

Aaron has been gone for work training all week (in the mountains of New Mexico).  He'll be back on Saturday night.  Flying solo all week has not been the easiest thing.  I think Bertie only had to co-sleep one night so far.  For the most part, he's been behaving.  But I don't get any alone time, unless he's sleeping, or I give him to my in-laws for a few minutes.  He's also starting to teethe, so he's been a little grumpier than usual.  But he's also started giggling this week.  He's only done it a couple times, but it is the sweetest thing in the world.

I started up with exercise again this week.  I'm repeating week four of the Bikini Body Mommy Challenge.  I started in it Virginia (twice), but got sick.  But I'm back on track now.  The gal who runs it says to have a piece of clothing to try of periodically to use as a marker.  I have a pair of size 10 trouser shorts.  They used to fit comfortably about a year ago.  Now I can get them halfway up my thighs.  But I will make progress.  I haven't been counting calories this week.  I'm going to start that on Monday.  I didn't want to try to do too much at once, especially when I'm by myself.

We've been putting Bertie in paper diapers at night for a while now.  I went to Target to buy a new pack, since we only have a couple left.  Holy Cow!  I don't know what more people don't cloth diaper. Paper diapers are so expensive!  If you were doing that and formula feeding it would cost a fortune.

My in-laws 50th anniversary is tomorrow.  Sophie is throwing a big party for them on Saturday.  (It says Aaron and I are also hosting it on the invite.  But really it's all her.  I just follow directions).  Aaron is, unfortunately, going to miss the party.  Unless he gets out of the training earlier and can catch an earlier flight, but it's unlikely.

My disability has run out.  I have $250 left in that account.  I think I'll go next week and withdraw all of it.  So we'll be a bit strapped for the month of July.  I'm scheduled to go back to work on August 1st.  I need to send an email to my boss to coordinate my return, figure out scheduling and such.  I'm not looking forward to going into my work email.

Another rough day.

Baby boy is still on a weird schedule.  He spent most of last night in bed with me.  He hasn't been napping too well.  He's teething and grumpy. The only time I saw him smile today was at the fan at grandma's house.

I still feel sad, but I'm trying to keep moving forward.

I made lactation cookies last night.  They're actually pretty good, I was surprised since they only have .5c of sugar, no egg, flax meal and brewers yeast.

I've been figuring out what to do about a breast pump.  I had been borrowing on from Kaiser, since I had a prescription from Bertie's pediatrician (for an awesome, hospital grade Medela pump).  But that ran out, so I went today to inquire about renting a pump.  They cost $14 per week!  They sell Ameda pumps for $214.  So I went to Target to see what they had.  Target had the same Ameda pump for $190, but all the Medela pumps (the brand I really wanted) were $240+.  Aaron, being savvy, checked craigslist, and found a used Medela pump for $150.  So we bought that, yay.

Today I feel sad.

We got home from Virginia early, early this morning.  (At about 1am).  The flights were fine.  Bertie slept pretty much all the way home.  We had a layover in Newark.  That's a nice airport, and their food isn't overly expensive like most airports.

Bertie slept in bed with us last night.  Partly because we didn't have the monitor unpacked.  Partly because he was kind of grumpy when he was awake.  And partly because I wasn't sure how he was going to sleep.  He slept pretty well, but woke up a couple times (ate and went back to sleep).  (I don't know how formula feeding moms do it, it would be exhausting to have to get up and make bottles at all hours!)

I took the day pretty slow.  I didn't put a lot of pressure on myself to get things done, like I usually do.  I did get quite a bit done.  Laundry, grocery shopping, a little cleaning.

I miss my mom, and my sister.

Bertie at 3.5 months

• He is sleeping through the night regularly, in his own bed.  He will usually go down around 9, and sleep til 4 or 5am.  Eat, and then go back to sleep til 8 or 9.  He usually goes down pretty easily.  And still sleeps through noises very well.
• He has stopped making his "goat noises", and started babbling.  He does a lot of mamamama.  He laughs a little, usually one giggle.  
• He can roll over front to back.
• He has started to bring things to his mouth.
• He is still breastfeeding wonderfully.
• He loves fans, baths, riding in the stroller and car, being held, riding in a swing that goes side to side (front and back, less so) and lights.
• He hasn't been sick (knock on wood)
• He's flown on an airplane.
• We think he's starting to teethe, as he's drooling and biting a lot, and his fussiness has increased some.
• He holds his head up very well.
• When placed on his back, he'll kick and flap and smile.
• When Nana (my mom) was talking to him, she said "Hi baby Bertie" and then he said "Hi!" It was purely coincidental, but it was so cute.  My sister pointed him at me and said "Who's that?" To which he said "mamamamamama".  Again, coincidence, but cute.

Baby on a Plane (and more)

On Tuesday, Bertie and I flew out to Virginia to visit family.  I was a little nervous, since it was just him and I.  Aaron dropped us off at the Airport.  Bertie and I went through the Family Security line, which was much shorter.  There was only a metal detector there, no scanner.  (I was wearing Bertie in the Moby).  Aaron joked before dropping me off that they'd need to make sure Bertie wasn't a bomb.  But they actually do!  Anyone who walked through with a child in arms got a hand swab for excelerant.  And they tested the breast milk I brought in a bottle too.  But we had no issues there, I repacked our backpack, and we wandered off.  We had some time before the flight, so we walked around a little.

I was really surprised that people traveling with small kids don't get to board first.  They used to... We we boarded last.  I think we may have actually been the last people on the plane.  We sat in the last row, and the middle seat was open!  We were able to stretch out a bit.  Bertie did well, he fussed a little on take off, but was good the rest of the time.  The flight attendant get him a set of wings (pin), just like in the old days.  The main problem with that flight was there were no changing tables!  I had to try to balance him on the toilet lid, it wasn't easy.

When we got to Chicago we had about two hours.  We did a lot of walking.  I talked to him a lot, telling him all the things around us.  I bought a very expensive, very soggy sandwich.  Then our flight was delayed, so we walked some more.  When we got back from our walk it was time to board.  Bertie was fussy for the whole flight.  We nursed a lot, but it didn't help much.  That flight had a changing table, but we didn't need to use it.

There were a lot of times I could have used an extra set of hands, but I managed.  I even got to play with my phone and read a bit.  

We were met at the airport by mom, Rebecca, and Glenn.  My mom was able to borrow all the baby things we needed; I didn't need to haul the car seat or stroller.

Today was a hard day.  Bertie didn't really nap at all.  So he was very fussy, and bedtime was a nightmare.  I think it was all my fault really.  I had way too much diet coke today.  He was so tired, and fell asleep briefly a couple of times.  I put him to bed, and he immediately started to wail.  I let him cry for 20 minutes, and then went in.  Soothed him, and put his back to bed.  He cried again.  I left him for 15 minutes.  I went in again, we walked, we rocked, we sang.  I spent 20 minutes with him, he was calm, he was sleepy, I put him back down, and once again he screamed.  I texted my mom (she was at the other house, next door) and said I didn't know what to do.  She came over, and rocked, and talked, and soothed.  And still he cried.  So we three got in the car at 10:20pm at drove to the store.  We got baby Tylenol and Gripe Water, and a teething ring.  After having the meds, he was settling down, so we tried again to put him down.  Success!  He was still awake for another 10 or 15 minutes, but he was quiet and smiley.

Originally, I'd planned to spend the night at my sister's apartment tomorrow night, so we could binge watch Orange is the New Black.  But after tonight, I'm not sure I want to risk it.