The Object of Henry's Affection

This week has been a bit trying on the home front. Basically, Henry has decided that the only one who can comfort him is Jeff. The only one who can give him a bottle is Jeff. If Jeff walks across the front hall from the kitchen to the bedrooms or office and Henry sees this, he bursts into tears if Jeff doesn't come to see him. If Henry and Jeff are playing, and Jeff leaves the room to get a bottle, Henry again bursts into tears. It doesn't take more than 5 seconds of Jeff leaving the room for Henry to get upset. If Henry has a wet diaper and I take him into the bedroom to change him, again, tears, tears, hollers, tears, hollers, red face, the works. At first, I think that Jeff was flattered that Henry has made him "the" (not "a") object of his affection, but now it is getting a bit wearing on him. There are some things that Jeff would like to do without it causing a big production (things that require him temporarily leaving the room). And, I...well...feel useless and frustrated. My mom has told me that this is "normal" and that babies tend to identify with the same sex parent; this is why Freud came up with his theories.

Henry has decided to get up somewhere between 5-5:30AM every morning. Doesn't seem to matter when he goes to bed.

To top it off, my milk supply is dwindling. I've been going into school to work, so I'm pumping a little less, I have felt a lot of stress, and with the exception of last night, I haven't gotten much sleep...things that impact the milk supply. My goal has been to try to pump until Henry reached 1 year adjusted, possibly longer because Henry isn't going to qualify for the Synagis shots for this next RSV season. The Synagis shots are expensive, so the insurance companies don't want to pay for them for more than a year. That, of course, means that we have to go back on lock down come November.

I can't remember what happened on Monday. I think that my mom visited Henry in the afternoon. On Tuesday, Henry had his OT appointment with Selah. I was at work. I had two marathon conference calls Tuesday and Wednesday from 7AM to 1PM. Jeff said that Selah seemed disappointed that Henry isn't interested in following her instructions. She wanted to work on pinching, but Henry had other plans. On Wednesday, Grandpa came in the afternoon. Henry had been asleep about an hour when Grandpa arrived. Jeff said that he didn't wake up for another two hours. We assume the 3 hour nap had something to do with getting up at 5:30AM. Grandpa tried to give him a bottle, but again, Henry would only let Jeff feed him.












Yesterday, Grammy visited again in the afternoon. Henry decided that he wanted to switch up our musical selection. He thinks that the buttons on the stereo are fascinating. We had a huge rain storm, which was much needed for the desert. Grammy and I took Henry out to the screened area in front of the front door that's covered. Henry was interested in the rain, but the thunder startled him. Henry played with a table that Alicia brought over, so that Henry could get some exposure to different toys. It is on loan for a couple days. And, Henry played ball in the foyer.




Jeff and Henry fell asleep on the couch some time after 5:30PM. I decided to take a nap in the bedroom. Jeff dropped Henry off in the bedroom around 7:30PM, so that he could take the dogs for a walk. I did get a little bit of Henry snuggle time, which was nice. Apparently, the trick is that he has to be completely passed out to tolerate mommy time.

Henry cried around 10:30PM or so. Jeff got him a bottle. He had a little bit before going back to sleep. And he was up again early this morning. We went for a walk and had family breakfast, which we rarely do on weekdays. Henry had some hash browns and crust from a Trader Joe's quiche. I suspect the crust had butter in it, so we just let him have a couple of pieces. The yogurt is going well...no side effects so far. But we are still being restrained on the introduction of cow's milk products. I think that we are going to try cottage cheese next and see if that goes down OK. The hash browns were a hit, especially when a dabbed a little bit of ketchup on them.

Henry seems to be doing better with Karina. They are occasionally doing parallel play. This morning, Henry offered her a chewed on block, which was very sweet.