Note to Self Pt 2

Purely unmedical diagnosis, but I do think that vaccines affect the quality of my son's nursing.  After both 4 and 6 month shots (rotavirus may be culprit) he eats horribly! Not interested, doesn't eat much, is a bit constipated, overall not a joy to feed. 

States of Matter

In the promising first few days of my son's birth, I had fleeting thoughts about wow, I am going to raise a boy; and man, can boys eat!  Truth be told, he has always been a fantastic nurser, even though I have berated myself for his turtle-like progression on the scary doctor growth charts. All signs point to the fact that this child likes to eat.   I had little qualms when it came to moving into the next stage: solids.  Mind you, I was a wreck when it came to coming to this huge decision.  One school of thought damns you if you give them solids too early that they are destined to a life of eating lunch in solitary confinement due to raging allergies.  On the other hand, I also read that early introduction could benefit a child and ensure that peanut butter, milk, and scrambled eggs are on the menu.  So as a the age range of solid introduction is 4-6 months, I started at 5 months to be sure. 
First, lets clarify the term 'solids'.  We are not moving from a dairy diet to one of straight up turkey sandwiches. No, you take perfectly good food and water it down to a thin liquid so that the baby thinks they are still eating milk but it has a funny flavor.  You could almost stick it in a bottle and call it a day.
Most 'books' tell you to start with rice cereal so I broke down and bought some nasty rice cereal dust that you mix with water or breast milk until it is the same consistency of slightly thickened milk.  He ate it once he realized that there was milk in it and let me tell you that this stuff stains clothes with a quickness.  I am so glad I invested in extra bibs for this one.  Yet, I found that the volume of spit up and filled pants were not worth the sound advice of my mother.  I halted all rice powder and moved on to the healthy stuff.
 In any case, we have been moving through the rainbow of fruits and veggies, me lovingly pureeing them to a liquid texture so that he can slurp them off a spoon.  Each time I introduce a food, I hear my friends in the background telling me how much their breastfed child hates 'insert veggie here' and a fear rises in me that I am going to soon be covered in a slobbery mess of sweet potatoes.  Then I remember that I gave birth to a boy, a boy who has always loved food and has yet to disappoint me on that measure.  The child is infatuated with bananas so much that I had to do an intervention last week and now only give them to him once or twice a week. I keep telling my husband that between the both of them we will be eaten out of house and home!
So far so good: sweet potatoes, butternut squash, green beans, peas, carrots, apples, bananas, papaya, pears and mangoes.



Green Beans are messy!



The apple doesn't fall far

If you know me, then you know that I have a slight immaturity when it comes to flatulence.  I am the one who loves to get inappropriate cards, will stifle giggles in a public restroom, and is known to occasionally 'light one up.' 
Well apparently my son does find farting quite a hoot.
 As my husband was playing with the wee one on the bed and felt the urge.  He let one fly and to his surprise, the baby looked at him and laughed.  Not just a mere giggle, but a belly laugh!  A bit later,  while continuing to play with our son, the urge once again rises in my husband (surprise, surprise..) and he thought he might see if the first giggle was a fluke.  Not so much, more belly laughs ensued and I now know that this child is ours!  We may be eating quantities of beans and taking up stock in air freshener till this phase passes; which as this is my child, may never happen....

Divide and conquer

When I met my husband, we were totally ga-ga over one another.  We would spend hours whispering sweet nothings to each other, never be more than a half an inch apart, and would totally make single people sick with our PDAs.  I remember just hearing the sound of his amped up Eclipse coming down the street, how hard my heart would beat.  I am ever so lucky to marry my best friend and my one true soul mate. We were able to enjoy a good 8 baby free years together, and then along came the diapers and crying.
I do still love my husband so very much, and do still get a little excited when I see the car pull in the driveway (but that could be from lack of adult interaction) but things are different in this household.  I had feverishly been trying to put my finger on it as I know that our marriage is solid, but I just didn't feel like we were able to connect like we used to.  Lack of sleep?  Conversations only revolving around spit up and poop? My increasingly mundane lifestyle?  I finally brought this to his attention whilst taking the kids for a walk, and he nailed it on the head.  Attention.  
Pre-baby: most of your attention goes towards your spouse.  You can fully sit there and ask questions about their day, contemplate the answer, and give a thoughtful response.  
Post baby: Attention is divided between baby, spouse, dog, mountain of diaper laundry, burning dinner, and the next houseful of guests. So now asking about one's day is in parts as you barely hear the answer over the crying, and what you did hear is now jumbled in with thoughts of wondering why the baby is crying, and your response may fall more in line of asking your spouse to please help make the crying stop and can you please get me some more water.  
Looking back at that conversation, makes you feel like an a-hole for not being able to give your  full attention.
I feel that I have perfected the art of multitasking as learned while being a restaurant slave, and I now know I need to pull out those same skills and pony up some much deserved attention to my hubby.