Although we do appreciate the simplicity of a baby who doesn't roll over yet, we do want him to be able to explore his surroundings more. So we keep trying to give him opportunities, encouragement, and enticement to roll over.
First, the enticement - toys!
He makes a struggling attempt:
But, he just flips back over:
This $8 fish mobile from Ikea has really been Lucas' favorite toy. It might be the bright colors and all those gigantic eyes staring down at him, or it might be that it hangs low to his face because the mobile arm we bought for it is fairly short. We loved it when he learned that he could hit the fish with his fists (this happened after several days of happening to hit the fish by accident as he flailed around). From that point on, he would lie underneath it raising his arms up in the air and then carefully aiming and swinging at various fish.
We've been waiting for Lucas to accidentally grab one of the fish, which we figured would be cute, but might also signal the end of the mobile for him if it looked like it could come down on him. Today he grabbed the red fish and I actually caught the moment on video because I'd just set up the webcam at the top of the mobile. Now if I could just as fortuituously catch his first giggle, first words, his first steps ...
(If you're viewing this post in a feed reader or email, you'll have to go to the blog to see the video.)
Earlier this week I brought Lucas in to work. It was my day to stay home with him, but there were some things I needed to do at the office and they seemed like things that I could do with a baby in my arms. It turned out I was even able to put him down for almost an hour, so it worked out even better than I'd hoped. Lucas is not one of those babies who actually enjoys sitting in a swing or bouncy seat or even in your lap, so unless he's sleeping or playing with his mobile, he needs to be held while standing up and/or walking around. Sigh. But that day, conveniently, he did enjoy lying on the ground on the contoured changing pad that I borrowed from the baby lab next door, looking up at me as I used the big paper cutter. I guess I shouldn't prejudge what he will or won't find entertaining!
While we had Lucas in the lab, for fun we decided to try an eye tracking "experiment" on him. It used to be hard to do eye tracking experiments on young children because they required the subject to wear head gear and sit absolutely still. But our lab has a fancy schmancy eye tracker which doesn't require any head gear - all the subject has to do is look at the computer screen. (There are built in infrared lasers around the screen that are used to calibrate the direction of eye gaze.)
So I held Lucas in front of the screen (yes, while standing, because sitting down is so apparently tortuous for him) and we showed him a face recognition experiment. It wasn't run "correctly" since Lucas can't read instructions or press Yes or No to indicate whether he recognizes the faces, but we did record what he was looking at as the various faces were displayed on the screen. The blue lines move around in accordance with where he was looking and dots form when his eye gaze lingers in one place for a little while. By the end you can see that he's not really looking - probably because I was worried he was getting fussy so I let him suck on one of my fingers, and I think I ended up distracting him too much. Anyway, it's pretty cute and now I want to devise real experiments for him. :)
I haven't had time to sit down and compose a blog post in a while, so here is the past week or so in pictures.
Talking with J's family on Skype.
A sweet father-son moment.
This is my sweet moment.
J startled Lucas with a really loud burp, just as I took this picture. Seconds later, Lucas let out a really frightened cry and needed to be picked up and soothed - it's the first time he's cried because he was afraid of something. Poor guy.
I've been breaking up the day this week by going out to the park with Lucas in the early afternoon and letting him either sleep or look up at the world's greatest mobile - tree branches overhead. I feel refreshed by getting out of the house and I even get some social interaction with the other moms and nannies. (Can't you just see toddler Lucas in this picture?)
This week he has noticed his hands. In this picture I'm holding his hand up, but he also does this on his own. It's really funny - he kind of looks like he's on drugs, just staring solemnly and in awe at his fist hovering in front of his face.
If you're getting this post by email or in a feed reader, you may have to click through to the blog itself in order to see the video.
(Did you know you can get email updates whenever I post to my blog? If you scroll down there's a box in the left column where you can enter your email.)
That second photo captures two "skills" - one new and one old. The old one, grabbing his own ear, is more of an anti-skill and I don't think he knows he's the one doing it. In this picture, it was probably sort of accidental and he let it go right away as he continued to squirm around. (He was lying under the mobile, which excites him to no end.) But other times, when he's really hungry, he'll flail around and grab whatever he can, which tends to be the hair on the back of his head until it slips out of his fingers and then his hand lands on his ear. So he tugs and pulls at it, all the while crying out because, you know, someone is pulling his ear and it hurts.
The other new thing he's doing is sucking on his fist. He doesn't bring his fist to his mouth on purpose, but when it lands near his mouth, he goes for it. Hm, I suppose that's not really a skill either.
He is just getting cuter and cuter.
At least I think so. What do you think?
This week, things are starting to get easier. Of course, they've been getting easier all along, but this week is the best so far. Lucas is happier after breastfeeding and during the day he has more / longer periods of happy looking around and making little baby sounds.
Today was a typical day...
12:00 am
Lucas and I go to bed a little bit later than usual (I usually aim for 11 pm). We nurse on one side, then J comes to bed and we turn over to nurse on the other side. I always keep Lucas on the far side of the bed once J comes to bed so that he's between me and the co-sleeper; I don't want J can't roll over in his sleep onto Lucas.
1:30 am
While Lucas continues to sleep, I wake up and move him to the co-sleeper. I always think he's about to wake up when I make what is always a clumsy transfer, but he just shifts and goes back to sleep.
7 am
Lucas' grunting wakes me up. Usually this means he's about to wake up, but this morning a pacifier puts him back to sleep. I get up and feed the cats, have my drip of coffee (a half inch of coffee, the rest is milk), and work on a conference abstract.
7:30 am
Lucas wakes up for real. I change him and then nurse him while I watch a recorded episode of Angel.
8 am
Lucas is in a GOOD mood, as he always is after his first nursing of the day. I bring him to J who is still in bed, and they hang out while I shower.
9 am
Nurse Lucas again (and watch more Angel). Change him again. (J showers and gets ready for work.)
9:45 am
Lucas is in a good mood again and lays in the crib admiring the fish mobile, while I eat breakfast.
10:15 am
Lucas is bored with the mobile. I change him again and put him in the Baby Bjorn and walk around with him until he starts to get sleepy.
10:30 am
I move to the computer, where with a little bit of swaying, Lucas falls asleep. I manage to finish a draft of the abstract and send it to my bosses.
11:30 am
Nurse Lucas again (this time I watch The Office). Change him again.
12:15 pm
Lucas is in a good mood. Again! He hangs out in the swing in the living room while I cook lunch (steamed spinach from last weekend's farmer's market and pan fried seasoned wild turbot from Trader Joe's).
12:30 pm
Lucas is bored with the swing but is happy again in the crib looking up at the mobile. I eat my food while Lucas squirms and coos at the mobile.
1 pm
Lucas is bored with the mobile. I change him and put him in the Baby Bjorn and walk around with him until he starts to get sleepy.
1:30 pm
I move to the computer, where with a little bit of swaying, Lucas falls asleep. I check my email and start composing this blog post.
2 pm
I change him one more time and we head out the door to meet JCM at the train station to hang out before she heads home from work. We sit on the benches so she can eat lunch while watching the information board and I nurse Lucas (yes, again) while I sip an orange-pineapple-coconut smoothie.
As always, Lucas got a lot of attention while we were out. He was a real hit in the post office, where he was delighted with the bright lights overhead and the simple lines of the boxes and envelopes on display. If I thought I attracted attention when I was pregnant, it's nothing compared to now. Everyone loves a baby. (The other day, a guy on a bicycle even waved and called out "Baby!" as he rode past.)
4:30 pm
Lucas and I get back home and now he's fussy. I try changing him (multiple times) and nursing him (multiple times) and swinging him and lying him in his crib and holding him and bouncing him and carrying him around the apartment. Three hours later, just as J comes home from work, I've just given Lucas a diaper change (complete with a dusting of baby powder which he seemed to like) and brushed his hair (which elicited some smiles), and finally (of course - now that J is home) he's doing better.
8 pm
J makes dinner and just as it's ready, I am done nursing Lucas (again). Lucas is in another good mood (again!), so I lay him in the crib to admire the mobile (again) while I eat my dinner.
8:30 pm
Lucas is bored with the mobile, so J holds him and plays some Jobim, which is apparently Lucas' current favorite soothing music.
10 pm
Nurse Lucas again. Since he got home, J has been taking care of Lucas so I haven't had to do any more diaper changes and I have had a chance to process a few pictures of Lucas, finish writing this post, and continue to work on revising that abstract.
11:30 pm
Time to head to bed for some final nursing and hopefully another good night of sleep!
There is a lot to be said for the comfort and the power of getting confirmation from someone else. Mine came from two other mothers (who are not so new as me - their children are nine and eleven months) who listened to my current struggle with increasing my milk production so that I can exclusively breastfeed (i.e., no more formula supplement). One of the mothers exclusively breastfeeds and got to that point by constant nursing and making sure she was eating and drinking enough. The other never managed to exclusively breastfeed in spite of trying everything - constant nursing, using a supplemental nursing system, downing copious amounts of fenugreek and blessed thistle and kale smoothies, and eventually taking domperidone. The domperidone doubled her milk production, but still didn't get her to the point of exclusively breastfeeding.
So there's no right answer. These two mothers couldn't just tell me exactly what to do and promise that it would work. But they understood my frustration and my efforts and they just nodded and said, yes, you're doing the right thing.
I hope so because I'm not there yet. But I'm still working on it.
To start, we've really cut back on the formula supplements. Instead of automatically giving Lucas a couple of ounces after every feeding, we wait to see how he acts after nursing. If he's crying for more, then we give him some. But if not, then we don't give it to him and just stick him back on the breast when he acts hungry again. This week we're down to only giving him anywhere from zero to four ounces a day.
I've also been nursing as much as possible and have started taking Lucas to bed around 11 pm for a final night feeding. This lets him suck for as long as he wants, and if I get bored or sleepy, then I can just fall asleep. As a bonus, Lucas loves to lie close to me and he falls into such a deep sleep that I can then transfer him to the cosleeper next to our bed and he sleeps until at least 6 am (and sometimes as late as 9 am!).
Another thing I'm doing is trying to make sure I eat and drink at least a normal amount! It sounds like an obvious thing to do, but at first I was finding all of my time occupied by a baby who never sleeps during the day unless he's being held and I felt like I couldn't find the time to eat. But now I've been trying to make sure I'm eating enough, and today I stocked up at Trader Joe's on easy but healthy things to eat (like yogurt smoothies).
I've also had some beer, which is rumored to increase prolactin levels and so people think that it could increase milk supply. However, by "people", I don't mean doctors or scientists. I figured I would try it and so I had a couple of beers in the past week, and ... who knows. I'm not exactly isolating factors here and observing the effects one by one. So I really couldn't parse out the effects of beer, if any. Actually, reading about it more, it looks like there is evidence that alcohol actually decreases milk supply, even though it might make you feel fuller and you might think you are producing more. So, given that, I think I'll probably hold off on alcohol for now for the most part.
Finally, I've been taking More Milk Plus, which contains fenugreek seed, blessed thistle, nettle leaf, and fennel seed. I just ran out (I had about a third of a bottle from a friend who'd used it), but a friend picked up some fenugreek seed and blessed thistle capsules for me and I'll start using that tomorrow.
And what's the result? I really don't know! I kind of feel like I'm producing more, but not by leaps and bounds. I guess I shouldn't expect to be overflowing at this point, and that the truth is in however much supplement we still have to give him. And since that's going down, then I must be making some progress. But it's hard not to worry. I am trying to be aware of Lucas' needs and not be too driven by my own desire to exclusively breastfeed him - I don't want to starve him! So my current approach is to let him feed as much as he seems to want to when he nurses, until he finally falls off or falls asleep. If he's tugging and complaining, or if he cries a lot when we stop, then that's when we give him a little bit of supplement. Interestingly, this often happens at night - is he just being fussy? Or do I produce less milk in the evening and he truly is hungry after nursing? It's hard to know!
So you can see why hearing other mothers tell me I'm doing the right thing is nice to hear. I have enough of a dialog in my head about whether I'm doing this right. And although J is being completely supportive about my efforts, he also worries too. Neither of us want to be keeping our baby hungry!
(You might wonder why I'm not pumping in addition to nursing. Basically, I don't because I can't. If Lucas slept during the day somewhere other than in the Baby Bjorn, then maybe I could do it. But when it's just me and him, as it is during the day, then I really can't pump. The best I am managing to do is to pump in the middle of the night on the occasions I wake up due to Lucas grunting as if he is going to wake up but then he goes back to sleep. The last time I did that I got about twice as much as I used to get when I pumped. So that's a good thing, right?)
So I will continue to try. And now, Lucas and I are off to bed!
This is Lucas right now - sitting on his daddy's lap, entranced by some simple black and white patterns.
From the beginning, Lucas has been fascinated by the ceiling in our living room, which has long dark (faux wood) beams with embedded ceiling lights in between them. When we carry him around the living room he cranes his neck back so that he can stare at the ceiling. Seeing how much he enjoys these simple high contrast patterns, J found Lucas the display patterns in the picture above and I found him the mobile below.
He also makes real eye contact now. (In the second picture below, I was standing on a chair, which is why they're both looking up.)
He's also starting to make cute coo noises, but we're still working on uploading videos so you'll have to wait to see that cuteness later.
Recent Comments