Month 5

Five months old! How did this happen? When did he get so big? His zest for life is infectious. His glass is never half empty or full. His will to move is kicking in to high gear. He is going to be trouble. I would expect no less from my offspring.

Milo, meet Eli

Megan and her Milo and Eli and I headed to DC last weekend for Molly's bachelorette party.

Technically this wasn't Milo and Eli's first meeting. They met way back when they were only 6 and 10ish weeks. Now that they are mature 3 and 4 month olds, they had a lot more to chat about.

Eli's Trip to Uptown's Underworld

I lost my earring this weekend. I have my tragus pierced and until recently I never even took it out. I wanted to find a replacement quick so that the hole would not get smaller. Conveniently our neighborhood has two options to buy a replacment, a head shop and a tattoo parlor. Eli and I went to both.

We went to the Head Shop first, but they did not have a good selection of earrings. Next we went to the tattoo parlor. I found what I was looking for but I did have to laugh at myself for bringing Eli to these very "strange" places.

As it turns out Eli LOVES tattooed men. He lit up like a light anytime the workers at the Tattoo Factory spoke to him. He had a grand old time watching me look at the earrings. In the end the piercer gave me four earrings for the price of one! He was so very nice and I would recommend him to anyone in Chicago that needs a piercer.  He also told me he was the only one in the whole state the is licensed to pierce infants over the age of two months (without a gun). Eli was a big hit. The piercer gave Eli a teddy bear. 

How are the dogs?

They are just fine. Thanks for asking!

Eli knows his name!

Eli knows his name from Kenton Kodner on Vimeo.

Obsession

I spend the majority of my days working on feeding Eli. If I'm home, he spends about 50% of the time attached to my boob. I pump once before work, 4 times at work, and one time after work. I'm told some women are able to just pump twice a day. Lies I say. Lies.

Getting milk into this baby has become the central preoccupation of my life. He's gone on eating rampages a few times and annihilated the back up freezer stockpile I made before going back to work. We're now living on the edge with basically only the previous day's milk to rely on.

This is my Playtex pump. I've grown skeptical of its effectiveness. I came home early from work last week when I suspected it had totally crapped out and didn't think I was going to be able to pump enough for the next day.

This is what I affectionately refer to as my lactation room. There is one functioning outlet in this room, and it is on the opposite side of the room from the chair. The Playtex pump worked with an extension cord I brought in so that I could sit in that chair. The hospital-grade relic from the 80s I rented does not so I'm back to sitting on the floor with my back to the door.

The rental pump came in this awesome gym bag.

I've also taken to buying any herbal supplement people tell me will help my supply. When I was in the store renting the pump the sales lady sold me magic beans. Apparently Malunggay is all the rage and is totally helping all women. It also costs one million dollars, but of course it does because it works and is totally worth one million dollars. In front of the bottles, behold a sampling of the pills I take in one day. This is not including the Fenugreek pictured on the right. It made me and Eli reek of maple syrup and also messed up our tummies so I'm not taking that one anymore.

I'm not a competitive person, but I can be a very determined person. I don't train for races like a lot of my friends do--but I am going to do everything I can to make sure this baby's bottle continues to have the good stuff in it.

Parenthood

What is parenthood like you ask? It all about thinking on your feet. You have to work out problems fast or keep guessing when you have no idea what to do next. Yesterday I had a problem that I feel perfectly exemplifies my life right now.

Dad! I need water. WATER! I will throw a fit in about 10 seconds and wake up the sleeping baby!

Leroy! Come here boy! (Give dog MY glass of water) Problem Solved.

So after I fixed that problem I realized I had a different problem. I was dehydrated and had nothing to drink and I was stuck with a sleeping baby on my lap. 

Like I said. This is my life. I give everything I have to all my boys. Unconditional love. Parenthood.