new year, new things

i've taken to bringing caleb into bed with me when he wakes up for his morning feeding. he's gotten into a rather pleasant routine lately without my help and i cannot complain. he's decided to sleep from about 11:00 p.m. until 5:00 a.m., waking to eat, then back to sleep until about 8:00 a.m. or later before waking to eat once more. when he wakes for the latter of the feedings, i like to keep him in bed next to me for a quick cuddle and snooze. yesterday, after he was happily full, he decided not to fall back to sleep as usual. instead he began his most recent act of smiling and cooing at me with great enthusiasm. so we lay, side by side, chatting away for a while before he dozed off. while falling into a sweet slumber, he suddenly burst into a brief moment of laughter! i kid not, a few little chuckles escaped his lips and left me stunned and in awe. i have yet to see him duplicate this action while awake, but i hope it's around the corner. after all, he began smiling in his sleep so it only makes sense he would laugh in his sleep, too!

i am positively amazed at his progress and growth as of late. it seems that time is flying by as my six-week-old babe is learning new things daily. and of course, this momma experiences new things of her own now, too. with our christmas cash in hand, e and i ventured to bangor on new year's eve in order to bring back a big haul of things we needed. leaving our wee baby wren with my parents, we headed to town with a long list of needs. unfortunately we wasted much time stopping at every gun store along the way (three to be exact) for e to look at holsters and ammo. then we decided to meet with my dear friend henrietta for some sushi at green tea. i happen to love this place and have not been able to indulge in sushi in almost a year. what a treat indeed! after e successfully knocked his miso soup on the floor and himself, we finished our meal and headed to the mall to begin our shopping. unfortunately we did not make it far for the mall closed at 5 p.m. on new year's eve and we were forced to leave with only a few shirts and video games for e while my hands remained empty. by this point i had been away from the baby for four hours and i was beginning to feel the affects of not breast feeding or pumping. the pain began to increase and instead of trying to find other stores that may have remained open later so that i could acquire the clothes i desperately needed, i begged e to just go to the dreaded walmart for the large bulk items we needed so that we could head back to pick up little c soon. we loaded our cart as quickly as we could, but for a moment of down time while e perused the ammo for his gun, i headed to the baby section to try to find a play mat for the wee one to play on now that he's become interested in hanging toys. after finding the mat, i began to browse. and of course, browsing baby things makes me think of my sweet babe and caused a massive sensation of let down to which i nearly cried from the pain of engorgement. i made a beeline for the breast pumps and as e approached, i grabbed a manual pump from the shelf and said 'i am buying this and using it in the damn truck!!' we made our way to the check out, but for a stop at the watches because e has found a new passion in collecting specific brands and styles, and once we were in the truck i broke open the box as fast as my hands could tear away the tape and wrapping. i had forgotten to buy wipes to clean the pump and bottle, so i knew i could not keep the milk that would be collected into the unsterilized pump but it didn't matter at this point. once we were clear of the lights in town and on the highway back to my parents' house i began vigorously pumping away. by the time we reached my parents' road, i had filled the bottle. so, in order to be able to keep pumping, e pulled to the side of the road and i dumped the milk out the window. all we could do was laugh and e looked at me and chuckled 'if you had asked me a year ago if i ever thought we would be pulling over to the side of the road to dump out breast milk while you manually pump it in the car, i would have said 'no way!'' but there we were!

arriving back at my parents', i was relieved to have my little wren back in my arms. he was good, as always, and had slept most of the time. but i had learned my lesson about being away from the baby, and when i made my trip to bangor alone yesterday to finally purchase some much needed jeans, i was prepared! i packed our second diaper bag with my manual pump, wipes, and my feeding drape so that i could pump in the back seat of the truck while parked. it worked wonders, needless to say, though it was a bit odd to find myself locked in the back seat since my child locks are stuck on..

i may still be a new mom, but i'm learning things very quickly and loving it. of course, what choice do i have!?