Summer Son

Kaleb & I went for a nice little walk today around uptown Charlotte. Speed Street is going on (a bunch of vendors and giveaways) a few blocks from the apartment so we took a much-needed stroll before it got TOO hot out. I couldn't keep the strangers away from gawking at my baby & his little shades...too cute!

PURPLE crying...AHHHH!

I've been warned about the lack of sleep: Not so bad! 1-2 hours here and there add up to a manageable amount. Besides, i'm not exactly running a marathon, right? I've been warned about the long breast feeding sessions: Kaleb latched on from day 1 and has it down to a science! 15-20 minutes of hard suckling and he rolls over like a drunk on a bottle, milk dribbling down the side of his mouth and all. I've been warned about the incessant diaper changes: Yes, i've been sprayed with both pee and poop and i find it to be just about hilarious every single time...the boy's got great aim! One thing i was never warned about, but which has turned out to be the most shocking to my new motherly system is the CRYIIIIIING. Kaleb is and has been an absolute ANGEL ever since he was born. He just stares at you with those deeply soulful little eyes and melts your whole world away. "Precious" and "sweet" do not even begin to describe his demeanor. Sure he whimpered, maybe even boo-hooed a little, when he was hungry, but that was it. As of the past couple of days i think he has cried more than he has in his whole entire life--LITERALLY!

Last night i hit a wall. I hadn't eaten in about 7 hours, Kaleb was crying even though he had just eaten minutes prior, his diaper was dry, had been sleeping off and on throughout the day, and Trav had just gotten home with our (hot) dinner. Why wouldn't he stop crying?!?! My normal soothing methods wouldn't work. Trying to rock him to sleep seemed to make him even more upset; so did trying to give him more to eat. Getting frustrated only seemed to upset me even more (look at that face...how could I be anything but completely enamored?!). Maybe i should've accepted Trav's request to take him but if i couldn't do anything to calm him down i knew he couldn't! I instead accepted that glass of wine he offered and Kaleb and I both sat there, he in my arms, crying together, eventually soothing each other to sleep.

There had to be an explanation for why my perfect angel just randomly started screaming his lungs out. I looked at the pamphlet of PURPLE crying that went along with the video they gave us when they released him from the hospital. PURPLE stands for: Peak of crying (usually around the 2 month mark) Unexpected, Resists soothing, Pain-like face, Long-lasting, Evening. Kaleb's crying fit the descriptions to a T. What a relief and a shame at the same time. So there's nothing wrong with my angel... but that face! I can't bear it! It's times like these when i long for my mother or grandmother or cousin's house to be around the corner so i can just go and vent and hand him off for a little while (and maybe even cry myself). Time to look up plane tickets! Parenting is not, in fact, as easy a job as it looks on the surface...they never warn you about the heartache! WHERE'S MY VILLAGE???

PICS!!!

The Breast is the BEST!

I apologize to anyone offended or turned off by this post, BUT.........I am absolutely AMAZED at the functions of a lactating breast! I always thought going into this breast feeding endeavor that you just put the mouth up there and get to it, but OHHH was i wrong! From the lactation consultant at the hospital to the one on the phone who i called yesterday out of concerns that my supply was getting low, they have offered me a world of information about something seemingly so simple. Interesting factoid #1,453,986: After about three weeks of lactation, the breast (like a computer) automatically starts making only the exact amount of milk that the baby needs; only when it is emptied completely over a 24-48 hour period does it start to increase its supply, allowing it to continue to meet the needs of the infant. WOW! Drink up, Kaleb!

...or am i just at that point in mommy-dom where poopy diapers & leaky breasts are the most interesting part of my day??????

Four Weeks Ago Today...

...i was in the hospital bed, hooked up to a myriad of machines, IV poking my wrist, monitors beeping, laughing at Trav walking around filming EVERYTHING (including the nurse: "this better not be on facebook tomorrrow," as she continued to shave me!)...ready to go??? "AHHHHH...breathe," i told myself. This was it, no turning back now. In less than an hour there would be three of us, no longer the two we had become so accustomed to. We took a minute to remind ourselves of this, stared at each other as we said it, hoping maybe to evoke some kind of tumultuous emotion, but it wasn't there. It was time to turn the page on one chapter and welcome another. But, OHHHH, what a chapter was it going to be! A child...OUR child...in a few minutes?! WHAT?!?! I kept thinking i should be more nervous, anxious, TERRIFIED than what ensued instead, which was a quiet calmness spreading over me. In truth i was more nervous about the anesthesia i was about to receive BETWEEN THE VERTEBRAE IN MY BACK than anything else. But there wasn't even much time to worry about that. Time flew by, even that CP time we spent waiting for the MARVELOUS Dr. Nicholson to come and get the whole show started. Then i was off to the O.R. and the rest is history!

Dr. N tugged a 4 pound 12 ounce Kaleb Cruz Taimane (tie-MAH-nay) Washington out of me at 1:32pm yelling and screaming and life, as they say it, has never been the same since! Yes, i'm biased but, no, i have never seen anything so perfect in all my life. He IS cuter than any baby you or I have ever come across and that is pure fact (right, Kaleb!). And i know this to be true because my mother, his grandmother, told me so (which, by the way, proves another fact that i have been avoiding all these years: MOTHER IS ALWAYS RIGHT!). Mother also suggested that i start some kind of online medium to display all this cuteness as it unfolds, especially for all those friends and family members who aren't here on a daily basis to witness it. I hesitated for a while (no need to exploit the child before he can even talk!), but relented, if only to share a mere glimpse into the pure innocent sweetness that our little boy blesses us with every day. LEAVE COMMENTS. ENJOY. LET KALEB BE A REMINDER THAT EVERY MINUTE OF EVERY DAY IS SO PRECIOUS IN THIS MIRACULOUS JOURNEY CALLED LIFE.

Love & Kisses,

Chrissy D. W., a.k.a. The Proudest Mommy Ever