The Littler One

I mentioned several weeks ago that Asher was a screamer and that we were hopefully on our way to figuring out why.

Well.. we have figured out why it seems, but no thanks to anyone on this side of the pond. After this medicine and that medicine, this doctor and that pediatrician, nothing really seemed to be making a difference. He still wasn’t gaining weight and was spending far more time unhappy (read: screaming) than happy.

I was at my wit’s end and was just trying really hard to be patient. I learned with Aed that a lot of things with babies just take a little time to pass, but his low weight gain was really unsettling. Aed never had that same trouble.

Enter: My Dear Old Dad. He had suggested (amongst other things that in retrospect seem like very reasonable suggestions compared to what we were told here) trying to give Asher some formula to see if maybe he was just hungry. I was doubtful that this was the problem. I knew we made hungry babies that nurse all the time, but I was able to successfully nurse Aed for 13 months with no problems. I figured that meant I’d be able to do the same each time.

I tried giving him formula twice, and the first time he played the ‘push it out of your mouth’ game with his tongue and didn’t seem interested. The second time he looked at me like I had just tried to shove a handful of dirt in his mouth. So I continued assuming this wasn’t the issue. We knew he’d take a bottle, so I figured if he was really that hungry, he would have eaten the formula.

So on we went.. Meeting with a doctor every week (a doctor whom I really love and appreciate, actually), and discussing changes and possibilities. And then a few weekends ago in a conversation with my dad on a particularly bad day, he suggested we get a different formula (sans dairy since it upsets his tummy) and make sure to warm it up before we give it to him. I quickly passed this message on to Ian before he headed home, desperate for something to work!

After some coaxing, he took to it and viola! He drank over an ounce! Over the course of that weekend the amount he drank jumped to 3-5 extra ounces per day. The next Monday he had gained 6 ounces, as opposed to his usual two or three for the week. After a full week of being supplemented with formula, not only was he happy as a clam, but he had put on almost a full pound in one week! It seems we found our problem.

It makes so much sense now and I am still baffled that no one here suggested it to me. He’s not gaining weight? Perhaps it’s related to what he’s eating! Genius!

So apparently my milk supply has not been sufficient this time around to keep him growing well. It’s hard saying why precisely, but his low weight gain started at a similar time to when I started running. It’s possible that running just put too much stress on my body.. but it’s also possible that I just don’t have a really strong supply. Who knows.

So our approach now is to nurse first to try to keep my supply up for as long as possible, and to supplement after so he gets his fill. Most likely my milk will gradually taper off, but we’re going to keep it going as long as we can so he gets the benefits of breastmilk.

This does make things way more complicated. I am doing pretty much everything you can do to feed an infant.. nursing, pumping, and bottle feeding, so keeping him fed is keeping us on our toes. But, we are all much, much, much happier and healthier this way, so a little extra hassle is no problem!

We are so enjoying our now almost 4 month old! He is just a cheery little guy and super social. He’s a great little brother and takes an obvious interest in Aed any time he’s in view. 

He loves his Mama and calms right down anytime Daddy is holding him. 

Who says you need necks?? We say who needs 'em!

He’s getting big fast now and is starting to reach for things and LOVES holding on as tight as he can to any piece of cloth he can find. He’s totally going to be a blankie boy :) 

His brother at the same age

He’s getting adorably vocal and is just now starting to laugh, which I love.

I am not a huge fan of the newborn period.. but whoa is roly-poly-baby-dom ever fun!

My First Try..

At a bunt cake! (I continually spell bunt with a 'd'.. as in bundt and I can't figure out why!)

(EDIT: Thanks to Kate's comment, Ian discovered for me that bundt IS spelled with a 'd' when referring to the cake! It seems I should trust my instincts!)

I don't think this is actually my first try. I have a vague recollection of making one several years ago, but this is the first one I made and was also really excited about!

This is just a regular old pound cake, but it was so darn good. It came out without sticking a ton and was a delectable recipe. It will definitely be a repeat in this house :) Also very dangerous though.. Since there's no chocolate, my brain tells me it's not really a dessert. So I treat it as a snack instead of a cake :)

I totally forgot!

In mid-August, we took a trip to Edinburgh to get Asher’s passport and some other documents all squared away. While we were in the Big E, I thought it would be a good idea to look for some running shoes.

We all know what a wonderfully inexpensive and practical town St Andrews is, so naturally, it was necessary for me to look elsewhere for these shoes.

I found a couple shoe stores that would work, so we tried to figure out how to minimize our walking (only because it took longer walking and we were counting on being home in time for a nap!) to get to one of them from the Consulate. We ended up using one of our train tickets twice and riding part of our journey home to a train station that was closer to the store we wanted.

Now, if you’ve ever ridden the trains here, you’ll know that if you are at a station that is just a stop along the way, the trains don’t actually stay put for very long. It’s not like they’re going to take off with your leg still hanging out of the door, but there is a definite rush to get on and off the train.

I normally push the buggy and had been doing so for the ons and offs during this day so Ian could lift from the front. This time though, Ian was pushing and didn’t realize I had put the brake on so that the buggy wouldn’t go anywhere while the train was moving. Feeling the rush and being himself (gorilla logic.. as he calls it.. and also a real hatred for inanimate objects), when the buggy wouldn’t move he just shoved it harder.

Well.. that led to the front wheel being jerked and pushed and eventually pulled right off of the buggy!

It landed down in the tracks..

I didn’t realize what had happened until Ian pointed it out after we were off the train, and when I saw the lonely wheel down there I laughed so hard. And then I saw Aed sitting there all leaned forward and weird, but also not really caring, and I laughed even harder. Asher was pretty indifferent too, though he was sleeping so he didn’t actually know what was going on.. (he's in the back under Aed.. in case you were wondering :)

We both held our breath as another train came and left, but all was fine and the wheel was far enough off the tracks that it didn’t get squished. Fortunately, things fall into the tracks enough that they are prepared to deal with it and were able to get our wheel back for us.

We made it home all in one piece :)

This was Aed’s first time on a bus or a train and he loved them both! The bus took some getting used to, but he had so much fun on the train. This is a ‘I’m ready for a nap’ picture, but cute nonetheless.

A Party for Two

I thought it would be fun if, in addition to our family birthday party, we also had a bigger birthday party with friends. For some reason, Ian had a hard time understanding why we would do this, but it all seems very logical to me :). He came around in the end, and we decided to do a joint birthday party again this year with Aed’s due date buddy, Ellie. Because they get a kick out of very different things, we had a combined ‘trucks’ and ‘cute jungle animals’ theme :). It worked out really well!

(Although now that I think about it.. zebras aren't really all that jungley are they?)

I wanted to do a banner for them instead of buying one, so I painted some letters and a little truck and monkey based on the decorations to hang above the food table.

Food was pretty simple this year. Joy had just given birth to her new little Ian not quite two weeks before the party, so I took care of the eats on my own. On my own meaning.. me and the people that live with me :)

The part I most enjoyed, of course, was the cake!

It was SO HARD for Aed not to touch the cake. He hovered right next to it talking about the trucks
from the moment he saw it :)

I had a vision of what I wanted it to look like with the two themes. It didn’t quite hit the mark, but as usual, I was experimenting with things I have never tried before, so I think it came out pretty well in the end.

The animals and trucks were made by doing Royal Icing Transfers. Basically, you pipe royal icing onto waxed (baking) paper, let it harden, then peel them off and use them to decorate the cake. I thought this would be much easier than trying to decorate directly on the cake. And it was.. until it came to the putting them on the cake part.

My royal icing never quite dried, so I ended up having to get my x-acto knife out and cut around each shape and put them on the cake with the baking paper still stuck to the back :) Ian and I decided that if they had just had one more day to sit they would have dried all the way and been fine. So now I know for next time. I also know that it is very important to make extras, and keep them far, far away from the toddler’s reach!

We had a great turn out and had way too many people in our little living room :)

But it was really fun, especially because so many of these little kiddos were at Aed and Ellie’s party last year too. And four of them, including Aed and Ellie, have new siblings or ones on the way this year! I love that even though this is a fluid community, we are growing together.

Little cutie patoots!

So we lit candles, and sang to our little two-year-olds. They held onto their toys and stared while I laughed at that intimidated look on their faces.

I think this is fun.. but I'm not totally sure..

Aed talked about singing Happy Birthday to You for DAYS after the party. I even sang it to him a few extra times just for fun :)