After Apple Picking

We wandered down to the orchard after supper. Last summer the apples were delicious, so I'm hoping to make and freeze some homemade apple sauce for when Betty starts table food (in December). Her great grandma Betty often made applesauce for Steele, so it seems appropriate.

This poem is more relevant in the fall--and it's still so hot here that the dog pants and whines all night--but here are some lines from Robert Frost:

For I have had too much
Of apple-picking: I am overtired
Of the great harvest I myself desired.

Maybe these lines come to mind because today marks the attainment of my goal: to breast feed for two months. It's been exhausting. But Betty loves her food, so today I set a new goal.

A Day in the Life

We live our lives in 3 hour increments that usually (though not always) go like this: Betty wakes up crying and becomes inconsolable as she suffers the indignities of a diaper change. She nurses for 10-20 minutes, usually getting drowsy at exactly 5 minutes and downshifting to "non-nutritive" feeding at 9 minutes (meaning she's just there for the fun of it at that point). Then, she burps, usually with spit up. If it's night time she goes back to bed.

If it's day then we have playtime. She sits in her vibrating chair and we read to her, or she lies on a blanket and we show her toys. Sometimes we listen to NPR or music. Sometimes we have Naked Time or Tummy Time. During all of this Betty kicks and wiggles and smiles.

Then she starts to yawn. In the morning and early afternoon, we can then wrap her up and put her in her chair and she'll nap til the next feeding (for some reason she doesn't like to sleep in her crib during the day). But if it's afternoon or early evening...a new side of Betty emerges. Napping probably isn't going to happen--instead she'll fuss and cry and need to be held, cranky and awake, until the last feeding of the day (which might be anytime between 6 and midnight), after which she has lately started sleeping for 6-8 hours.

We know that we've crossed the threshold from happy baby to fussy baby when we see this face, the biggest smile of all. If Betty laughs or smiles this big in the late afternoon, you can be sure that in less than a minute she'll be crying. It's like one last hurrah until tomorrow morning when angel Betty wakes up from her night's sleep and the blue birds come in the window to fix her hair.

Dress Rehearsal

You've seen Tummy Time pictures. You've seen Naked Time pictures. But this is a Daily Betty first: Naked Tummy Time! (Naked, in this case, meaning sans diaper).

In other news, today Steele and I did a "dress rehearsal": got up, showered/dressed, and took turns going into work as we plan to do during the semester (me toting both a book bag and the Medela Pump In Style). It worked just fine today--but there are many many variables that could complicate things once school starts. Right now I feel like I'm on a roller coaster that's creeping up a giant hill. It's going to be a hell of a semester.

Road Rage

This pic was taken from the front seat and is of the mirror hanging on the back seat that lets us keep an eye on Betty in her rear-facing car seat. She usually rides happily in the car, but she's been a bit fussy the past few days. I was going to get a photo of her full-scream, but, in a mood to be totally difficult, she decided to stop screaming right as I took it. Ha Betty! I fooled you! Basic reverse psychology. By trying to take a photo of you screaming I tricked you into quieting down. Anyway, she went on to enjoy a walk around Hampden-Sydney's campus with us and Ryan and Danielle.

Say Uncle

Uncle Ryan and Aunt Danielle came down from Cleveland for a visit. Betty was pretty fussy all day but here she and Ryan share a quiet moment.

Punnett Squares

Here's Betty having some tummy time on her Boppy pillow. As you can see, the jury is still out on whether or not her eyes are going to be blue or brown.

Björn Free

We have started using the Baby Björn now that Betty is big enough for it. Steele has been using it the past few days and I finally tried it out today (though that's Steele in the picture here). Betty wants to be held at all times, and it allows you to have your hands free to type, fry chicken, and sharpen knives while she sleeps peacefully on your chest.

Betty the Hutt

Betty slept through the night again and I wrote 900 words of my dissertation today! We also managed to eat a civilized dinner while she napped. I don't think that we'll really feel like we've got our act together in time for the new school year, which is fast approaching, but thank goodness for small victories.

Special Guest Star

Betty is getting more and more interested in the world around her. On the car trip back from South Carolina she spent some time looking out the window. Today she noticed a rattle and her mobile for the first time (up til now rattles and the mobile have not been interesting to her at all), and, best of all, she noticed Tessa! Which is more than I can say for us. Poor Tessa.
















But the big news today is that Betty's cousin, Gretchen Monroe Kale, made her debut early this morning. Welcome Gretchen!

Fresh as a Daisy

While we were in South Carolina last week several trusted authorities--my mom, Argia, the lactation consultant--all said that Betty is old enough and gaining weight consistently enough that we can let her wake up on her own for feedings (instead of what we were doing, which was feeding her every 2-4 hours, round the clock, whether she wanted to eat or not). We spent a good deal of her wake time trying to get her to sleep, only to turn around and try just as fruitlessly to wake her up to eat again. Anyway, finally convinced of how silly this is, we decided to let Betty decide from now on. The first night back she woke up every 3-4 hours on her own. But then last night she slept for nearly eight hours. And so did we.

Peaches and Fireworks

We're back! Since we weren't updating the blog this week, here are six pictures to make up for the lack of Bettitude. All six were taken in Grandma and Papa Joe's sunroom, though not on the same day--it just happens to be a nice place to sit, and has great light for photos.

A lot has happened since the Daily Betty went dark for a few days.

We went down to South Carolina to see friends and family and to get Betty baptized. Her baptism was lovely...she didn't cry at all, and she was awake when Pastor Bembenek splashed the water on her head--she even seemed to like it. When he held her up to the congregation her eyes were wide open as she looked around, but she didn't make a peep.

I didn't get such good photos from the baptism or the party afterward though. Betty was wearing a lot of layers, it was hot, and we both wanted to hurry through pictures so she could eat, so we didn't spend much time getting good photos [If anyone took pictures during the baptism or at the party, please email them to me!]

Also this week Betty got to see more of her family. Grandma and Grandpa and Auntie Argia (who is also Betty's godmother) came down from Cleveland, and Papaw came down from Ocean Isle Beach. And of course Grandma and Papa Joe and Uncle Clay (Betty's godfather) and Aunt Melissa, as well as Kay Kay and Uncle Jesse were all there doting on Betty too. She also got to meet some cousins: Kathryn and her girls, Paige and Kayla, as well as Kathryn's Mom, stepdad, mother- and sister-in-law. The Klims were well represented too (and Mamie, I promise next time we're down you'll get extra baby time--thanks for being patient!)

This week Betty and I also finally saw a certified lactation consultant. Without going into the gruesome details, we may have gotten to the bottom of our nursing problems and it's not Betty's fault at all (her physiology and latch are good) but rather an infection I've apparently been carrying around for six weeks. Which means that I am a) totally badass for sticking with nursing so long and/or b) an idiot. Today we went to my doctor and hers to get treated (though the doctors here are reluctant to treat us as aggressively as the lactation consultant recommended, so I’m afraid it may not work). And we’re delighted that Betty now weighs 10 pounds, 2 ounces. That’s like 1/3 more Betty since she was born on June 6!

Check back tomorrow as The Daily Betty returns to its regular programming.

Hiatus

Betty is on the road this week so we may not update every day. But it's an exciting week filled with grandparents, aunts, uncles and friends--and who knows, maybe even a new cousin!-- so we hope to upload some good pics when we get back online. Check back soon!

Story Time

Here Betty is enjoying The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway. We've been reading it to her in 10 minute increments. Yes, he's Mommy's favorite author, and yes, Mommy and Daddy are both nerds, but seriously--the sentences are perfectly crafted for putting a baby into a sort of trance. It's a prose poem.

The bookworm onesie might be overkill though.

LOL Wut?

Some pics just don't need a caption.

Maternity Leave

Today was the first day that both Steele and I tried to get back to work for realz. Steele went into campus and I worked on the dissertation at home while Betty was sleeping.

That didn't last too long.

Here's Steele and Betty hanging out in the office at home, where we usually nurse her and sometimes have playtime. One of these days it will also be an office again. Just not yet.

Funny Business

Yesterday we finally decided that Betty's smiles were definitely real and not just gas. Today she was smiling at Mommy's funny faces and then suddenly--"GAH AH!" Her first laugh!

Tar Heel

Betty's friend Newport came up from Chapel Hill today to visit our future Morehead-Cain Scholar.

Chillaxin

After yesterday's hustle and bustle, today was pretty low key. We just hung around, making faces.

One clover, and a bee. And revery.

Betty had a busy day today. She got her second Hep B shot. The doctor also told us that we are feeding her too much. She now weighs 8 lbs 12 oz, a gain of nearly 2 lbs in a month. We'd been worried about the breastfeeding and whether she was getting enough, and when we bottle feed her she often cries for more so we give it to her. Well, he told us not to do that--to give her pacifiers instead. Greedy baby! Then we went for a walk at Hampden-Sydney and took care of some errands. Betty met some of the library staff. And at home it was bath night. After her bath and her supper we went for a walk outside. Very peaceful if you can ignore the bugs. Here you can see in the background one of the apple trees as well as our failing garden and its ever-vigilant scarecrow.

Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's Betty

Betty woke up this morning with a fauxhawk. It makes me wonder if she's wearing her pink "I Love You" onesie ironically.

A Case of the Mondays

Early Monday morning: Daddy, a little worse for wear, and Betty, flipping Daddy the bird.

Eye Contact

Betty is able to follow objects and faces with her eyes, and is even starting to look interested in things. In this pic she's looking at a purple bunny hand knit by her friend Niamh, and it held her attention through several choruses of "Alouette."

Yankee Doodle

(Well, half Yankee). Here's Betty decked out in red, white, and blue (thanks Carmella!) at a Fourth of July cookout. For this party she was awake and happy the whole time. We took off around 8:30 when the older kids left to go see fireworks. Maybe in a couple more years...

TMI

Steele is in more pictures with Betty than I am. This is partly because I tend to take more pictures, but also because, until recently, I was not fully clothed most of the time due to the various logistics and problems of breastfeeding. 'How's that going?' you ask. Weeeeell, not so good.

It's a long story and you probably don't care to hear the details, but after an unsuccessful attempt at initial breastfeeding, followed by an unhappy attempt at exclusive pumping, followed by a week where we seemed to be almost breastfeeding successfully, we suddenly hit some new roadblocks with a sleepy baby and a suddenly plummeting supply of milk. So...yeah. We're trying to figure out what to do. But if we turn to formula at least I will get to wear clothes again.

Kay-Kay

Kay and Jesse came up today. Betty even managed to stay awake for part of the visit.

Beauty Sleep

Today may have been a growth spurt day. Betty was eating every 2 hours instead of every 3, and she was veeerrrry sleepy afterward.

And in case you are wondering, Night Night did not find a fountain of youth. The yellow blankie that Betty is wrapped up in is her own new blanket received at a baby shower. But, look closely (click on the photo if you want to enlarge it), and in the upper left corner you can see a bit of Night Night on the pillow.

Yes, yes I do.