Boobie Munching

So, I wanted to spend some time to reflect on how breastfeeding was going so far.

It's definitely one of my favorite times of the day, which is good because it's taking up bigger and bigger portions of my day. The first day or two, I'm sad to say it was not something I looked forward to. Solomon and I were having a hard time figuring out exactly how to help each other out. We were both trying our best, but not especially coordinated with each other. Solomon also had a cute but unproductive habit of sucking in his upper lip and making loud smacking noises instead of getting a good grip.

Anyway, now there are several things I love about breastfeeding. First are the little faces Solomon makes when he tries to latch on. He mostly always attempts this with his eyes closed, no matter how awake and alert he might be. I'm tried telling him this wasn't especially efficient, but he doesn't believe me yet. So he closes his eyes, lifts up his eyebrows in interest, and then erratically swirls and his head with his mouth wide open hoping he'll hit a boob. He looks like a little baby bird and it melts my heart each and every time. Sometimes he does open his eyes for this process, though. And he's convinced I have hidden boobies- or at least hidden nipples. He's convinced I have one on my bicep somewhere, and strains his head up and back trying to reach it. He also thinks I have one hidden on my collarbone, and tries to find it when burping bores him. If I'm holding him too low for him to find the hidden nipple, he'll squirm and dig his little elbows into me and try to hoist himself up so he can find it.

He's usually confident that Gerard=no boobies, Mama=boobies. Gerard will carefully hand me a sleeping Solomon- who's slept on Gerard for the past hour- and he'll start rooting mid-exchange. As you can see from the picture, though, he hasn't fully mastered the gender distinction in nipples.

I also love breastfeeding because it guarantees me lots of time with my little burrito, even when Gerard is trying to hog him. And burping him usually puts him to sleep on my chest, so I get lots of sweet cuddles! :)