Getting to know you

To state the obvious, G and I have never been parents before so in a lot of ways we have no idea what we're doing. On the flip side, Bennett has never been a baby before either! Needless to say we have a lot of figuring each other out to do. We've spent the first two weeks loving on the little guy but also learning many lessons... sometimes the hard way. Bennett has spent his first two weeks eating and developing early childhood obesity, but more on that later.

happiest after eating

There really isn't a lot going on in B's life besides bodily functions so I'll apologize in advance for the nature of this discussion. I'll also apologize to my son if he ever reads this. Stated simply, B has a gas problem. We think this is partially due to his voracious eating habits that involve lots of gulping and slurping (read: air swallowing). I would try burping him after eating but nothing much ever came of it. Then 30 mins later he would wail uncontrollably and we had no idea why. Eventually one of those times an enormous belch came out and he calmed down. (I need to give full credit to my mom here for drawing that connection.) Now that we are conscientious burpers, he hasn't had a meltdown!

(Major overshare to follow in this paragraph, consider yourself warned.) According to my research via La Leche League, the other cause of little B's abhorrent table manners (besides genetics) is that I apparently make too much milk. The poor thing has to gulp and fret just to keep up with all the milk that is shooting out. We have also taken measures to address this but apparently they take a few weeks to work. My only theory as to why I have an oversupply is that I was supposed to have twins but Bennett got hungry in the womb and ate his brother. My body seems to think it's feeding two.

Our other big lesson of late was in how to properly bathe a tiny baby. Naturally I purchased all of the required gear ahead of time so we had a little tub that was suited for a newborn sponge bath. We wrapped him in towels to keep him warm and did everything by the book and he reacted as if he was being waterboarded.

this makes me simultaneously sob and gut laugh

It was horrible for everyone involved. To get us back he also projectile pooped. (I didn't know that was possible but the boy was intent on revenge.) For our next bath I climbed in the big kid tub with him and held him the whole time, while still wrapped in towels. While I wouldn't say he enjoyed the experience, it was MUCH better. And no pooping!

still nervous but not melting down!

We are learning, albeit slowly. Thank goodness B has never had expert parents to compare us to.