Little Bear in an Irishman's Cap

This is for Lorraine. I know you've seen this outfit already, but I think we had to take the cap off before we saw you at Stina's? He hates it. But I love it. So he wears it.

I am mean. :)

Midnight Feedings

The Bear is going through a growth spurt. The kid is taking off like a weed, and I'm trying my darnedest to keep up with him. He woke us four times last night to nurse. I don't know if it's humanly possible for a baby to tap its mother completely dry, but this kid is well on his way to doing just that.

DH gets up with me, the blessed man. He's really a superfantastic partner to me. He went on paternity leave for two weeks after Bear was born, and when he returned to work I promised him that I would handle the feedings on my own. I wanted him to get a good night's sleep once he was working again, and I figured I could take some sleep depravity since I was the one on maternity leave. (Love those afternoon naps with the babe!)

DH decided several weeks ago that he was going back to joining me in the nursery for every overnight feeding. (What a guy, huh?) So every time we hear Bear on the baby monitor, I leap out of bed as though sleepwalk-running from a towering inferno. DH is right behind me, mumbling and stumbling while he puts on his robe and grabs his watch. (We don't have a clock in Bear's room...why, oh why, do we not have a clock in there?) DH times the feeding and generally helps keep me awake while the Bear has his midnight meal. I usually end up falling asleep at some point during this bit. The ocytocin usually gets the better of both me and Bear, and we both end up cat napping during this little meeting. DH keeps us both focused, gets us back to bed without hurting ourselves, and does the 5 S's with Bear to get him back to sleep.

Were it not for my hubby being a highly evolved male, getting up with me to feed the baby, I'm sure I would have done any and all of the following things by now:
- put the baby back to sleep in the bathtub
- stubbed my toe so badly on the stumble back to bed that it would be a stump of its former self
- put a white turban on the Bear's head instead of diapering his fanny
and/or
- generally gone mentally insane from the sleep deprivation

DH keeps me humming along for these midnight feeds. Granted, he often falls asleep on his own watch, but that does not diminish the power of his protection over me and Bear. He makes the whole thing work, and for that I am eternally grateful. :)

Sister

I have always said that my younger sister is the best present my parents ever gave me.

It holds true even more now that we're getting older. How wonderful is it to have someone in the world who totally, 100%, unequivocably, truly gets you? Who knows you better than you sometimes know yourself, who cheers you on when things are tough and celebrates your victories more than anyone else in your life? Sis keeps me accountable, she makes me giggle, and she makes me think about who I really am and who I am capable of being.

My Sis is here for a weekend visit to meet Bear. This qualifies as a Big Deal. I cried like a big sap when we saw Sis in the airport and I was holding my son in the Moby, waiting to introduce them. My heart was flip-flopping, waiting to introduce these two special people. Aside from DH and my saintly mother, there is no adult on the planet who means more to me than Sis. To have her meet my son for the first time was a moment I'll never forget. And later, seeing the tear stains down her beautiful face from her tears of joy made me realize that it was an equally huge deal for her to meet Bear.

More on Sis later...

I've got to hop along now...DH took Sis out for a run, and Bear and I have some serious prep work to do. We're off to a pumpkin farm for punkins and fresh air later today, and I have to change a very messy diaper. Yikes!