One Month - Thoughts and Pictures

Yesterday Edison was 1 month old - time has gone pretty fast. Here are some ways he has changed.
1. He has already outgrown some 3 month sleepers and several onesies barely fasten.
2. He is much more alert now and his eyes are even bigger.
3. He stopped rolling over from his front to back as soon as you put him on his tummy.
4. He will sometimes go 4 1/2 hours between feedings at night.
5. He can seem pretty crabby and uncomfortable which starts our minds wondering (reflux, food allergies, gas, colic, or normal newborn stuff?).
6. He is finally starting to ease back into sleep after nursing at night.

The grandma's are gone, Nate is back to work and we are officially on our own during the day. I am really appreciative of all the help I had after Edison was born. The biggest challenge now is meal preparation. Feeding Edison isn't terribly easy and feeding the girls is still quite an ordeal. It's hard to find time to fix something other than peanut butter and jelly (I started dinner preparations at 10:00am today). I spend about 7-8 hours in a 24hr period attached to the little piranha and it feels like as soon as I finish I start again. I didn't realize that nursing would be such a painful struggle the 2nd time. We have had a lactation consultant come to our house and the best she could do is offer that his tongue is too long. This isn't helping with soreness and I wish I could figure out some way to fix his latch. I am thankful that I haven't had the overwhelming emotions this time like I had with Violet but the whole nursing ordeal is still discouraging. I realized today that I can count the number of times I have left the house since his birth on one hand (without using all 5 fingers). I know that sounds pathetic but I just don't have the energy to put together an outing right now with three small children. And, breastfeeding is so awkward for me that I cannot do it discreetly outside the home.

Here is a list of things that would really come in handy right now.
- A live-in lactation consultant, wet nurse, or some prosthetic nipples.
- A sous-chef.
- A volume control/mute button for Violet and Anara (to use while Edison tries to nap.)
- A housekeeper to do things like clean the cobwebs on the light or the stain on the ceiling that I only notice when my hands are full and I am preoccupied.
- A behavioral coach to help Anara learn to poop in the potty.
- A third arm - preferably coming out of the right side of my body to be used as a 2nd dominant hand.
- A pair of eyes that I could detach from my body to follow the girls while I nurse.

I wish I could remember all the fun quotes from the last several weeks. The girls have said some pretty entertaining stuff regarding their new brother, and I can only remember a few.
-Just this morning Violet was looking at him and said, "He's pretty cool isn't he?"
-When Violet was still really interested in breastfeeding she wanted to know how God puts the milk in there and then asked, "What recipe did God use to make that milk?"
-Yesterday we were watching food network (as I often do to pass the time spent nursing) and Violet said, "Giada has some great ideas." Then Anara said, "I just love pasta."
-One night at dinner I asked Violet to take two more bites. After she finished she said, "Mommy, I did what you asked me to" and then she leaned over with her hand near her mouth and whispered, "Sometimes I don't."

1st Bottle