Sometimes I wonder how I manage to function through the day on less than 5 hours of sleep, and then mornings like yesterday’s happen where I accidentally sleep in. I slept in so late that there was barely enough time to get the kids and the house presentable for Early Intervention. I don’t necessarily have to stay up at night, but it’s the only time when I can focus long enough to get my work done without constant interruptions from the kids.

Recently I’ve had to stay up to give Liliana whatever pump feedings she missed during the day. Since Liliana doesn’t do very well at night with feeds, I have to do them at a very slow rate; since the formula could go bad, I have to put it in her pump’s backpack with an ice pack. If I can wake up early enough to get all of her feedings in during the day, I can just give her water throughout the night. It would be much easier for me this way, but of course the transition is the hardest part.

Damien still cries at night sometimes. I’ve actually started to nurse him instead of exclusively pumping his milk, and there have been a few times where he falls asleep during the feeding. He’s fallen asleep with his bottles before, but it’s a bit ridiculous when he falls asleep at the breast during the first 3 feedings of one day. We’ve had to wake him up sometimes and we try to restrict his naps so he can sleep at night, but still there have been a few times when I had to nurse him at night. I’m fine with it because he might not be getting enough milk during the day; he sometimes gets too distracted or would rather have a bottle.

The kids are doing well with other foods. Grandma Kim got an extra mesh feeder so now we have 2. Damien loves it. He sucks on it and sometimes chews on it; whatever I put in the mesh feeder usually becomes pulverized, except if it’s apples. Damien doesn’t like the fresh apple pieces so much when compared to mango or peaches. Liliana has been trying the mesh feeder and then giving it to Damien when she doesn’t want it anymore. I guess it’s a bit similar to how I’ll give Liliana a popsicle, she’ll eat it for a while, and then give Daddy or me the rest when she’s done.

During today’s Early Intervention, I brought out both mesh feeders with a piece of frozen peach in each; Liliana took both and was putting both of them to her mouth. She eventually relinquished both of them to either Damien or myself, but she did do some drinking and apple-eating. She also tried some Gerber fruit leather that Sean got while we went grocery shopping the other night, but I think they were only tastes because she kept expelling the pieces.

We had both the nurse and OT during today’s session. We discussed Liliana’s progress and future appointments, along with suggestions and possible strategies for her feedings. One of the things we agreed on was that if we get Liliana to just 4 feedings a day instead of 5 (and not having to feed her every 3 hours), I could do a table meal with Liliana around noon because she should be hungry, and then dinnertime can be her social eating opportunity where she can try new things without pressure.

Another thing we talked about were possible discussion topics to cover with the nutritionist; one was high-calorie juices, like Splash, that we could try to get samples of, and the other was…I don’t remember. Liliana had my pen so I couldn’t write it down, but perhaps someone wrote it down on their session notes.

Anyway, Damien has been getting around. He really enjoys crawling to the bathroom or to the kitchen, two places he shouldn’t be without direct supervision. When he’s in the bathroom he tries to crawl into the shower; when he’s in the kitchen, he likes to splash in the cats’ water fountain. He might be getting past the point of finding fun in the water fountain because today he spent a good 10-15 minutes sitting on the kitchen floor and banging a toy frying pan around. He sometimes crawls toward the cats’ food or tries to stand up using a chair.

Oh geez, Damien is already pulling himself up to standing by using the Nap Nanny or our couch. He has some trouble with the grandparents’ couch, but I’m sure that this upcoming week he’ll be able to do it. It’s surprising to see how fast he’s become mobile. He’s definitely become a troublemaker!

Liliana’s cutting more teeth on the bottom…the canines? Anyway, Sean and I have several things to do today in preparation for our vacation and I haven’t taken pictures yet of the kids this week. Maybe I can post pics tomorrow!