poop-o-lious

As a parent, poop becomes a thing that just is...in other words, you learn to deal when the poop is on you or all over your little one. In Olde's blog titled "Birth Control" he pretty much sums up the concept of just dealing while in his later post,"Birth Control Pt. 372", the reality of it all just soaks in---no pun intended.
Well, our little Aram has followed in his brother's foot steps holding his dodo for 2 to 3 days---Don't worry folks the Kaiser pediatric nurse advice line told me it is common for breast feed babies to even not go for up to a week...yep 7 days...hate to catch that one. We have enough trouble catching the two to three day explosions (and thankfully these usually occur on my days off---that is, while I am away at work---when Olde is on duty, or would that be on doodie).
And the thing about it all, is that it can happen any where anytime; like all over your best girlfriend's leg, up the back all over the car seat, at the beach running out the legs of overalls, and all over inside the Beco while on a long walk. We now travel at all times with 2 clean outfits because it seems that when one gets out the pipes more follows...yum.

a puddle of poop-o-lious!

In fact as I am writing this, little man started to have that undeniable odor of baby poop start to linger...and yep, a good one just escaped the pipes...gotta go change it before seepage starts to occur.

Cousin's getting bigger!

Caden on left and Aram on right

They just keep getting bigger and bigger and bigger...

for me, it is kinda sad because this will be the last time I get to experience any of these baby-cute milestones. With J it felt like it took along time to reach each milestone but with Aram time is just zipping by! Nonetheless, it will be really fun to watch these two grow into the best of cousin friends with J leading the group into all kinds of mischief.

that's not crying...you want to hear crying...

Aram has to be the chillest baby I have ever met...he never cries (unless he has just been jumped on--by accident of course---by his big bro). He kinda does this squealing thing to let us know that he needs to be payed attention to.

check out his "crying" below...

This is kinda bad because it means that we tend let me squeal for a while before picking him up...he can really get in the high octaves too! I sometimes worry we are scarring him for life by doing this, but he seems to survive and continue to be the happy baby he is...

It totally makes my sis jealous since her little one goes from happy to pissed-pick-me-up-now wailing in 10 seconds...

mmmmm....boobies.

I love nursing! What a gift we have to be able to bond and support our new little ones.
With my first boy, it was a rocky start. first, I had VERY sore nipples, then a bout of yeast that ended up inside my breasts, then a couple of bouts of mastitis---arrgghhhh...but with Aram it has been wonderful. It helped that we had 3 months together from the start to learn the delicate dance of nursing. No one ever tells you how hard nursing is to learn to do...I mean they talk about the being tired and the labor...but man, the nursing is the most important and most hard part of being a mom, I think.
This time around it was easier for several reasons. One, I knew from the get go that I would spend the majority of my day doing it in the beginning. I remember realizing with Jasper that more than 70% of my day I had to sit and let a little thing be nurished by me and I felt confined and trapped. It wasn't until my mom told me to buck up and be a mom, even though it seemed harsh at that time, that I got over it. Two, I knew how to do it and what a good latch felt like and looked like. I also knew what all the signs were for troubles so that I could prevent them from happening this time around. Three, this confidence I had this time really helped Aram in learning to latch as well. It did not take long for my milk to come in (2 days) and before we knew it we were nursing like pros. I love the connection that happens between mom and child (it is really hard to describe if you have not experienced it) and I love the fact that it forces me to sit down and relax and focus on loving my little one.
It is not an easy skill to learn and I am always sad when I hear that women give up trying. It makes me want to give up my profession and become a lactation specialist to help other mothers learn to love it as much as I have.

Plus, I love that my son knows how to nurse too!

Lovely Aunties

We are blessed to have Olde's two younger sisters (T-T--from his mom's side, and Squirt---from his dad's side) living in Portland...free babysitting, un-ending love for the nephews, and good converstations are had almost weekly.

baby spit up...yum.

J was a VERY spit-upy baby....but Aram not as much...or at least not so far, BUT every now again he really gets us good. You gotta be quick on this one to notice...but it was like a bird had pooped on Olde's head. hehehehe.

Nana and Bruce

Nana was here in the beginning, taking care of us four and especially getting in snuggle time with infant Aram...It feels like a light year away now, but those memories of the first few weeks will be with us forever. Thank you NANA!




 

our view of the Nana and Bruce

Every other week or so, we get to see Nana and Bruce as we peer into each others living-rooms through our Skype connection (if you have not tried skype you gotta check it out...it is awesome!!!!). It is a highlight for us on these usually busy weekends. Nana oogles at the baby and Bruce always tries to get J to talk to him, which sometimes is met with 3 year old no's but most of the time J shows them something he is working on or doing and they get to see how big the baby has gotten. About two times a year we get a long hang in over summer vacation or Christmas break...this year it is Christmas---hopefully Nana won't spoil J too much, but she probably will...it is the way of the grandmother-hood and there is no stopping her. Until the next big hang, we love from afar.