Nursing Has Never Been Easy

I've concluded that my body has a difficult time with breastfeeding. The milk is there, but boy, do I have trouble with the whole breastfeeding process! It seems as though I've experienced every type of nursing issue out there. Currently, I'm dealing with reoccurring plugged milk ducts and milk pores and an unexplainable sharp pain, sometimes a burning feeling after feedings. Nursing wasn't a walk in the park with Lilly but it's been quite a battle with Mia. I made it 13 months breastfeeding Lilly but have only been able to survive 8 months (and still trying to continue) with Mia.

Breastfeeding has been a trial in my life. It's taught me perseverance and complete dependance on God. When I'm in pain it reminds me of my weakness and what I am without Christ. I'm very much aware of my physical needs. I want to be relieved from the pain! I'm also aware of my spiritual need for a savior. As a sinner, only Christ can save me.
Ephesians 2: 4-5 says,
"4But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved—"

And Ephesians 2:8-9
"8For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast."

So what am I doing now with feedings? The plan is to gradually transition from breast milk to formula. I went out to buy my first can of formula and baby bottles. There are so many different types of baby formula and bottles! I'm entering a world that is completely foreign to me! Formula is SOOOO expensive! Thankfully we only have a few more months to go before she's 1 year old, and then we can start whole milk.

I'm a little nervous about transitioning to formula. I'm praying for a smooth transition for me and my milk supply and that Mia will take it well. I know formula is still good and Mia will continue to grow as a healthy baby. I don't want to look down upon feeding babies with formula AT ALL. I tried hard to feed my babies breast milk because it's supposed to be the most nutritious and I was able to produce enough, but formula is a really good alternative, especially considering the circumstances.

I'm pretty sure I'll be a happier mom with this change to formula. I hope Mia will still be a happy baby too! :D

Membery

Lilly likes to play board games and card games. We've been playing a lot of Memory lately, and she's pretty good at it! Lilly calls it "Membery".

Mia standing against the wall

She's got strong legs for a little baby:

Mia Standing Against the Wall from Dave Cheng on Vimeo.

Da Da Da ... Na Na

We love listening to little Mia babble. Right now she's just saying two consonants - Da and Na. She'll say it really sweetly, "Da da da da." And then she'll say it with an angry tone, like when she's hungry, "NA NA NA NA!!!"

Mia Talking And Clapping from Dave Cheng on Vimeo.

Big Lilly, Little Mia

Or Large Lilly, Mini Mia.

I forgot to schedule a 3 year old well check up appointment close to Lilly's birthday so we just went in last week. We knew she was a sturdy girl and always seemed pretty tall around other 3, even 4 year old girls. It turns out Lilly is pretty tall for her age! She's in the 75th percentile for both height and weight at 38.5 inches and 34 pounds. Lilly's always been above the 50th percentile for height and weight ... haha and head size since she was a baby.

Lilly likes going to the doctor. She's interested in all the tools and procedures the nurses and doctors have to go through. This 3 year old visit was the first time they took her blood pressure. When the nurse got the stuff out she knew exactly what to do! She stuck her arm out and said, "I have one of those at home." Heehee She does have one of those blood pressure things in her doctor set. Then at the end of the visit she had to get a shot. I wasn't sure if she was going to be as brave as the time she got her flu shot and didn't cry, but sure enough she was brave and didn't cry again! She looked really worried though and then said, "Ouwah. It hurts." Lilly was fine after that and then was ready to pick out a big sticker for doing a good job.

Lilly is our tall, sturdy girl, while Mia is our mini Mia. She looks so petite. Some people are surprised when I tell them Mia is 7 months old because she looks smaller than their chubby 3 month old babies! Don't let her size fool you because this little girl can eat! She drinks milk 4-5 times a day and goes through about 2 baby food containers (sometimes more, breakfast sometimes less) at each meal. Mia will cry or scream between spoonfuls of food if you're not feeding her fast enough. Heehe although she's pretty quiet when you give her some of her least favorite foods like green beans. Mia must have a fast metabolism because just as quickly as she takes in food, she cranks it out. We're pretty much guaranteed to find something extra in her diaper at every diaper change.

We thank God for our two healthy girls!

Stranger Anxiety

Mia has had stranger anxiety since she was 3 months old! That seems a little early, doesn't it? I know it's typical for a 7 month old baby to be a little anxious around people they don't know because they're more aware of their surroundings and people, but Mia's been crying at strangers and even grandparents since she was just a few months old.

Mia's usually found sitting close to mommy or on mommy's hip, but thankfully there have been times when she'll let other people hold her or care for her. I've dropped her off in the nursery twice and she's also had 2 babysitters. I'm hoping to get her more used to going to the nursery and staying with sitters! She's definitely at a stage where she wants to play and explore.

Little Mia is always so smiley at home! We can just look at her and she'll smile. I wish this was the case everywhere we went!

Girl Scout Cookies

Just yesterday we received our two boxes of Girl Scout cookies. We bought one orange box (Do-si-dos) and one purple box (Samoas). I asked Lilly which one we should open first and she said the purple one. I think she chose that one because she likes the color purple and she saw the picture of the cookie with chocolate on it.

Tonight after dinner I said we could all have a Girl Scout cookie. Lilly went on to explain that the orange box were the "man cookies".

Craigslist

I put 9 items up for sale on Craigslist. I don't think I'll do that again. I've been getting so many emails! I'm too nice and feel obligated to reply to each email ... "Thanks for your interest", "Someone has already claimed it but I'll let you know if it falls through." It takes up a lot of time and is pretty stressful! Next time I'm going to do it in waves, smaller waves. It's hard to keep track of everything. Last night Dave said this was my part-time job because I was on the computer, on the phone, and looking out for people at the door.

It is a good feeling to get rid of things that we're not using. There's a sigh of relief and a sense of accomplishment when a sale is completed.

March Already?

It's hard to believe it's already March! Daylight savings is in 2 weeks! It doesn't feel like spring is just around the corner, but we are having some 40 degree weather here this week. It was so refreshing to walk with just a fleece jacket and the sun shining.

It seems like we just celebrated Lilly's birthday but that was in the beginning of February. She had a good birthday. She turned 3 on the 3rd of February! Lilly's grown up so much this past year or even just these past couple of months! Dave was away this past weekend and when he returned he said Lilly's saying more complex things, like using different words and making longer sentences. She's more interested in learning letters and writing. I think she can recognize all of the letters. She'll say, "A is for apple!" and "D is for daddy and donut!!!" and "Q has a tail. Q is for queen!" It's also neat to see how her drawings change as her fine motor skills develop. She likes to draw happy faces. Heehe the eyes are usually far apart and the mouth is a straight-across line. I've seen her saw a sun, kitty cat, and ice cream cones.

Lilly's into princesses, ballet, cooking/baking, and the color pink. PINK! She thinks anything pink belongs to her. I've said a few times, "Lilly, just because it's pink doesn't mean it's yours."

Last night, Dave and I went on a date to see the comedian Brian Reagan. He's a funny guy and it was an entertaining show! There was one segment where he was explaining how he has said things to his kids that he never thought he would say to another human being. I think all parents can relate to this! I thought of this because of my pink statement to LIlly.

Mia is 7 months old right now. She's our little petite baby but eats about 5 baby food jars a day. She loves fruit but sometimes cries through eating her veggies. You can never feed her fruit fast enough. It's like she wants to drink it up! Mia still has no teeth but she's chewing on everything and still our drool baby. She wants to get places and gets in crawling position but hasn't figured out how to move from there. Mia's favorite toy is this small plastic chicken that makes a soft rattling sound. She's such a jolly little baby. Well I guess she's mostly jolly around home and people she knows. Sometimes she cries when strangers look at her or when it looks like they're going to pick her up. She's silly.

I guess this blog entry will just be a mix of random thoughts and updates. I'm hoping this will be a jumpstart to blogging more regularly.

The next post will have to be about putting our house on the market ...