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Daphne

breastfeeding, the breast things in life are free

Booby Trap

finn

If baby Finn could talk, his favorite phrase would be “I WANT BOOBS!!” You’d think that it means he wants milk, but no, it’s the boobs that he’s after. Well, occasionally he does want the milk when he’s hungry but he only takes about 6-7 full feeds a day. The rest of the time, he just wants to use me as a human pacifier while letting the milk trickle out of the side of his mouth.

I tried giving him a pacifier and it worked for a couple of days until he realized that hey, this feels plasticky and wrong. So we played the spit-the-pacifier-out-while-I-stuff-it-back game, which I obviously lost because the spitting part is so much easier.

For him, every successful spit = 10 points.

For me, catching it in time = 5 points, aiming it into his tiny mouth = 5 points. If it falls onto the floor = -50 points + I have to go rinse it.

It’s a stupid game.

So, boobs. Thanks to his obsession, the entire area from my shoulder down to my waist is now a demilitarized zone. Unless he’s hungry, he’s not allowed to smell it or touch it or look at it or go near it. Which means I can only carry him facing forward and keep him as far away from THE ZONE as possible. The cradle hold against my chest? Impossible unless I want them to come under attack.

And by attack, I mean that he’ll burrow his head furiously into my boobs and suck on my t-shirt in a frenzy. He’ll be all “2 layers of clothing are keeping me away from these boobs? Imma eat them, nom nom nom…” It’s cute and terrifying at the same time.

Last weekend, a friend offered to hold him for a moment and she made the mistake of going for the cradle hold. My son took it as a cue for feeding time and started attacking her boobs. Even though I’ve just fed him 10 minutes ago and there ain’t no milk from these particular boobs. It was just awkward on so many levels.

I’m going to have to teach him the see-no-touch rule.

milestones & musings

Dancing into the new year

2013

If I had to describe 2012 in one word, it would be…intense. I imagine that when I look back at 2012 several years later, it’ll be like “remember that epic year, what was that, 2012? Man, that was intense.”

I just read the post I wrote this time last year and if 2011 was the year I found myself, 2012 was the year I lost it again.

Too many things happened this year, epic ones. Good and bad ones. Ones that I’ve written about at length, ones that I’ve mentioned briefly and ones that I couldn’t quite find the right words for.

For starters, I went and had another baby this year. If I had to choose a defining moment in 2012, this would be it. Just like the other two monkeys, baby Finn is the love of my life and if I had to redo the year all over again, I’d have him a thousand times over. But still, having babies (even a third one) is the kind of life-changing experience that throws your world into absolute chaos.

I’ve got people who tell me that “you’ve already got two kids, one more can’t be very different.” Um, it’s like telling a guy who got shot twice that a third bullet to the knee wouldn’t hurt at all. Oh, trust me, you’ll feel the pain and in fact, the cumulative pain from 3 wounds will make the third one extra painful.

I still struggle with the breastfeeding and the depression and the long, sleepless nights that go on and on and on. Plus I have two more kids who still need a lot of love and attention. I guess it’s all the little things like  how my house is one giant petri dish of nasty bacteria so everyone falls sick easier. They also feed off each others’ grouchiness and with another person to add to the mayhem, let’s just say that the stressful moments are intensely stressful.

But then the awesome moments have also been intensely awesome. Many times this year, in spite of all the frustration and stress, I found myself looking at everything I had and felt truly thankful for all of it. Recently, Truett came to me all excited after watching Lilo & Stitch and said “Mom, ohana means family, and family means nobody gets left behind. We must always stick together, right?”

He’s right.This is our crazy little family and I love every bit of it, madness and all.

Tomorrow, it’ll be a brand new year and I’ve decided to dance into it because it’s going to be a good one.

Kidspeak

Gems from a three-year-old

body language

Kirsten: Dad, I think you need to bathe.

Husband: Hey, I did bathe ok.

Kirsten: But your face is very dirty.

Husband: This? It’s my stubble, not dirt.

Kirsten: Um, you need to wash it.

Husband: Ok, ok, fine, I’ll go shave.

***

Kirsten: WAH.

Husband: Wah what?

Kirsten: WAH, why your hair so handsome ah?

Husband: Hahahaha, I went to cut my hair. Thanks for the enthusiasm.

***

Kirsten: Mom, look at my barbie language. *sashays and shakes her bottom*

Me: Is it like a new dance move?

Kirsten: No, barbie language means backside.

Me: Are you like high? What shows have you been watching?

Kirsten: Ariel! Look, Ursula says “Barbie language”. *shows me the clip*

Me: Ohhh, it’s BODY language, not barbie language and it doesn’t mean backside.

Kirsten: Body language means shake your backside?

Me: Um, no. Sort of. Wow, this is difficult to explain. Body language means you’re talking with your body instead of words. So it can be shaking your backside or other things like eating or sleeping.

Kirsten: *looks confused* I think never mind lah.