It’s been a busy couple of weeks! Well, one not so busy week followed by one week with two visitors, which was a fun whirlwind!

The week before last, I thought I was getting mastitis for the third time. I talked to a lactation consultant who suggested I take lecithin – it’s an emulsifier and the idea was to make the milk more “slippery.” It seemed to work, because with that and using my hot water bottle, I think I warded off two or three clogged areas. This breastfeeding is WORK!

Last week my friend from D.C. visited for a few days, then A.’s dad was here for a few days. Wednesday (July 31st, Ari at 6 1/2 weeks old) was a very active day – my friend and I hiked in Forest Park and toured the Pittock Mansion, trading off wearing Ari in the front carrier. It was a beautiful wooded hike, along a stream part of the way, with a steep uphill to the mansion. I don’t know how long the hike was but the whole adventure took us about four hours. Then, in the evening, we left Ari with A. and his dad and biked to a women’s soccer game downtown! We only made it for the last half hour of the game, so it wasn’t a long outing. On the way back, I couldn’t make it up the long hill to our house so we had to walk our bikes, but overall I had a blast getting out! 15 minutes into the game I said, “Wow, for a whole 45 minutes I forgot I have a baby!” But then I remembered and had to call and find out how he was doing. They had already gone through the milk I had pumped and had thawed a bag from the freezer, as well.

On Saturday night, I got to go out again! Jan and I saw a movie (we picked the shorter one) and A. was alone with his baby for the first time. I kept my phone out on vibrate but everything was fine.

I met with a lactation consultant the day after the hiking and bicycling and she said I should be getting more rest if I want to stop getting mastitis and keep my supply up, so…I’ll keep that in mind! It does make me feel like I shouldn’t be acting like I’m out to prove how much a person can do with a young baby, because we want society to be supportive of women and babies getting rest and bonding time together. But it also scares me when people say to get out with him now, because it’ll be harder when he’s older.

Speaking of rest and bonding, I only have 5 more weeks of maternity leave. 😦 We’ve finally started looking for a nanny so I can sleep in between my night shifts.

A.’s dad did a lot of work on the cars and around the house and yard, and made us enchiladas and eggplant parmesan to freeze, along with cookies and banana bread and other snacks. We followed up on our own yesterday with a large batch of tuna casserole. The freezer is full!

Today I was reading about elimination communication (EC) in my Diaper-Free Baby book. I decided to try it out and a few times when I’ve noticed him squirming and grunting I’ve taken his diaper off and held him over the toilet, holding his legs up in a sitting position, and he’s gone to the bathroom in the toilet three times today! It’s not like I think he’s potty training already, but it’s nice to save a few diapers!

Here are some pictures Jan has taken with her point-and-shoot; I’m not sure of the timing on all of them:

We went to Powell’s…

Had them over for a board game in the backyard…

Went to their house for dinner and sat outside…

Nursed at the tea place…

Here is A. reading the menu at our favorite breakfast place, down the street. Ari is asleep. He’s a great sleeper as long as he’s not in his crib or bassinet!

Ari is so cute in his hooded sweatshirt.

Breakfast the following week at our favorite place again!

Okay, now to my pictures!

This is the only way I got Ari to sleep one day. I stayed in the room folding laundry on the bed. He looks so tiny!

Poor Andrew…but he’s very sweet with him!

Here he is rooting around, time to eat! Look how well he holds his head…

Six weeks!

Here he is on his new tummy time mat. He still doesn’t like tummy time much; he gets really frustrated. But again, he’s holding his head up more and more!

Here he is with my friend, curled up like a little koala:

Seven weeks!

Here’s a new flower in our yard; I think it looks pretty against the house.

The garden is going crazy! Now we have zucchini! And a lot more lettuce and tomatoes!