TGIF

Owen and Chris and myself have had good week. We had a lovely visit with Suzanne and Amir on Wednesday afternoon. We had pizza at our house, and then went for walk in the park to eat cake. :) The squirrels in the park were particularly tame, and interested in everything that we were snacking on, so much so that Suzanne and Chris were "shooing" them away from their close proximity!

Yesterday, Owen and I went to visit the Occupational Therapist in Hoboken. Hoboken is only 4 miles away, and takes about 10 minutes to drive to...but it can take hours to search for a parking spot in that neighborhood. I bit the bullet and parked at a lot close to my appointment, the ones where you leave your keys and they actually park your car. They balked that I was only planning on being there for two hours, and I basically said, "I've got a newborn baby here, and we have an appointment we are going to be late for if I don't leave right now!" With my purse, diaper bag and car seat, I went down the street to find our destination. I have to get used to carrying so much stuff!! The appointment went pretty well. The O.T. worked on Owen's head, neck, and shoulders. She also observed me nursing, and said that overall, he is strong, in excellent health, and just has this pesky tendency to tighten his jaw. The adjustments that she made were supposedly going to improve his problem. I also nursed in front of her, and she gave me some more pointers how to avoid further injury.

Basically, when a baby nurses, they have two different phases to the process. The first phase is the feeding part, and the second is the "I'm finished eating, but want to nurse for comfort until I fall asleep." Owen is getting how to correctly do the feeding part without causing me pain, but the comfort sucking may continue to revert to his bad habits...which just means he and I may have to skip that part of the process, and I can offer a pacifier or finger to help him work out his need for comfort. She gave me the green light to return to nursing full time.

Today, my parents, Bob and Lee are coming from Cedar Rapids, Iowa to visit for the long weekend. I am looking forward to meeting them in about an hour and a half at the airport. Our weather should be warm and clear, and even Chris is getting a shortened day at work to start the three day weekend.

We got this swing for Owen, but guess who likes it best...even when it isn't in a locked position, Phoebe is more than happy to jump in for a nap!

Here is the new over-the-shoulder sling I got to wear the baby around the house. It is really wonderful to have my hands free, and Owen naps quite happily in it. I even wore it to meet Chris at the train yesterday afternoon, and only got a few stares from folks on the street as they passed by!