Caleb Week 5

Wow... it's been a LONG week. You would not believe how much that boy can EAT! And how often he wants to eat it!! I swear he's gained at least a pound in the last three days! He has most definitely inherited his father's bottomless pit of a stomach! I think he must be gearing up for his 6 week old growth spurt. My mom used to tell me that she always knew when we were about to have a growth spurt b/c we'd chub up for a bit and then all of the sudden get longer.

But take a look at how strong he is:

I mean thats some serious height he's getting now when he pushes up! And soooo stable now too!

And he's shown a marked increase in the number and types of noises he makes. He coo's and ahh's and grunts and growls and squeaks. I swear he kept me up half the night the other day just b/c all the new noises kept freaking me out and waking me up. He definitely likes to make noise when he's on the hippo mat and batting at the toys. He's getting better at actually hitting that flower on the right:

It was my Grandma's birthday a little over a week ago so this last weekend we had a shin dig at my cousin's house to celebrate. It was the first time that most of my cousin's got to meet Caleb. All of my cousin Josh's little girls wanted to hold the baby. Adam snapped some cute shots. Here's Caleb with cousin Savannah and Aunt Lacy:

And here's Caleb with cousin Haley:

Caleb and cousin Jasmine:

Cousin Payton and Caleb:
This is me, Caleb and my Aunt Lorri:

You're probably noting the bottle... Right now I'm pumping and feeding Caleb with a bottle. He's still getting mostly breast milk, but I'm having to suppliment with formula b/c apparently I don't let down as well for the pump as I do for the baby. I finally reached the decision to go this route on Saturday afternoon after yet another long sobbing conversation with my Mom.

The problem goes something like this: every time I get a migraine my milk supply goes down. And since I'm breast feeding I can't take any good drugs. So I wind up with a hungry, screaming baby that I HAVE to give a bottle of formula to b/c I can't let him go hungry, on top of a screaming head ache. And then b/c he likes the bottle better b/c its so much easier to eat from I spend the next couple days getting screamed at every time he nurses. It goes: suck, suck, suck, pop off, scream! Suck, suck, suck, pop off, SCREAM!

And every time he latches back on it HURTS. And with the thrush it hurt so bad I couldn't even tell that he hadn't latched back on right one time and so I wound up with a BIG fat blister! And I'm not sure I can express just how much THAT hurts, especially since I FINALLY managed to ditch the thrush so I should have been gloriously pain free but instead I'm STILL hurting. BADLY and getting screamed at only stresses me MORE. And then if I get any more sleep deprived I get MORE migraines and my milk supply goes down MORE. So then every second I'm not actually feeding him, I can't wait to put him down so I can try to get some sleep. And then I feel horrible b/c he's only awake so many hours a day and instead of being a good mommy and talking to him and playing with him and giving him the stimulation that he needs, he's getting stuffed in the swing so mom can get some shut eye. Which stresses me more so I get more head aches.

So I will pump for as long as I possibly can so he gets at least SOME of the good antibodies and enzymes that you can only get from breast milk and formula will not kill him. I was a formula baby and somehow I survived. And this way I'm getting a little bit more sleep and I'm not stressing that he's getting enough to eat and I'm not getting hurt anymore feeding him and now Mommy can be the kind of mommy she wants to be and talk and sing to and love on her baby boy when ever he's awake.

If you think I'm making a mistake I don't want to hear it. I've shed enough tears, thank you.

I need to get some new pictures of him like today b/c these ones don't do justice to the chubbiness I'm describing but right now he's dead asleep and I'd rather chew my own arm off than wake him. ;) But I do have one last one for you from the party:

Here he is crashed out with Great Grandma Shirley: