Just when you think you have it figured out...

...something else changes. I remember those days in the first 6 weeks where I was petrified even to leave the house with Michelle and thinking "I know it will get easier". Yes, some things definitely get easier. It is tremendously helpful that Michelle likes her daddy now and can be both calmed and entertained by him. But there was also a time when all she did was eat, sleep, cry, poop. Now there is that interval of ACTIVITY that comes into play. Michelle is sleeping less and less during the day which means I actually have to entertain my child! She will entertain herself under the activity gym for awhile, but after 10 minutes or so, yells at me to switch things up. Yes, it gets a little boring when you can't just get up and move to the other side of the mat or jump into the bouncy seat. We are getting better every day at communicating with each other. For example, she has a particular staccato "uh-uh-uh-uh" that she makes if her bib flips on her face. The best part now is that when I take the bib off, she smiles with delight as we move into a game of peek-a-boo. Nothing is funnier than blowing raspberries at each other during peek-a-boo and today this game threw her into her first outright giggle. Oh, did I mention she grabbed the rings on the mobile of her bouncy seat intentionally for the first time today? Yesterday, no grabbing. Today, grabbing!!! The milestones are starting to pile up literally over night. I wish I could see the dendrites and neurons grow and connect inside her brain!

Michelle has expanded her book interest past the black and white faces of Woof-Woof Baby Flip-A-Face and is enjoying pop-up books and anything else with big colors. She likes On the Day You Were Born but apparently isn't quite ready for Goodnight Moon as she screams and squirms when I start reading. The Very Hungry Caterpillar is a toss-up. Sometimes she likes it, sometimes she gives it the same attitude as Goodnight Moon.

The hardest thing right now is figuring out when to pump my damn boobs! Michelle has settled into a rather predictable sleep routine, but I still can't seem to settle my routine! Almost everyone I talk to says they have the most luck first thing in the morning. Well, Michelle usually wakes up around 5:00 and has NO PROBLEM draining two engorged boobs in a very short period of time. She has also gone back to waking once after 6 hours for a feeding. I usually wake just minutes before she starts to cry which is wonderful that we are in sync, but annoying that I can't seem to wake up with full boobs to pump without her waking up too. So taking the advice of others, when we got up at 5:30 this morning (1 hour after Michelle woke up and dined on both boobs), I attempted to pump because theoretically, there is more milk in the morning after collecting all night, even after a feed. I could barely squeeze out 1 oz. She had nearly COMPLETELY drained both boobs! Yeah. That was pretty much ineffective.

So tonight I am going back to my old way of doing things. Michelle asleep by 7:30. Stay up and pump boobs at 10:30 (usually a good 3 ounces). In bed by 11:00. Possible wake-up call between 1:00 and 2:00. Get up, feed, back to crib (hopefully!). Michelle wakes up between 4:00 and 5:00. Exhausted, I bring her to bed to feed where she nibbles on the all-you-can-eat buffet until I am damn well good and ready to get out of bed!

And who really cares how, when, where or why I pump my boobs? Well, I do. That is my life right now as a breast-feeding mother. Our lives revolve around the boob. So I think "when she is 6 months old, it will be easier because she will be taking solids". And then I remember, that is when her diapers start getting REALLY interesting! Just when you think you have it all figured out... welcome to parenthood!