This Week

It is a little hard to get started here, since we're already three months in to the Benji Adventure, but let me write down some impressions of my Benji this week.

I guess my first impression is that you've had a little bit of a cranky week - though not too terrible.  We went for your second appointment with Dr. P our Chiropractor on Monday morning.  I happily reported that I thought that your difficulty latching on the left side had resolved itself completely after the first visit!  I also thought you had been less irritable over the past two weeks.  In other words, what she had done two weeks prior seems to have helped you!  She adjusted your sacrum, which was a little crooked again, and then went to work on your neck and cranium.  It wasn't quite as dramatic as at our first visit (more on that later), but as soon as she stopped you were happy as a clam.  In fact, you were very patient in the car seat for a good while when it was my turn and then happily sat with the front desk staff for the rest of my appointment.

But later this week we've had some new cranky times again.  Moments when it seems that nothing will make you happy, not even nursing.  Your diaper is dry, you've just eaten, you don't want to lay down, you don't want to sit up, you don't want to nurse more. At these moments - mostly in the early evening or around 11 am - you seem only to want to yell like a stuck pig!  But you've also had some very patient moments, too, so I guess it is all balancing out.  You definitely seem to prefer us being on the go - although you might cry when you're first put in your car seat, you are generally happy if the car is moving or if we are actually out in a new place walking around.  And we did a lot of that this week.

Monday: After our appointment at Dr. P's we went to Costco to buy you and Danny both big boxes of diapers.  You were very content and awake and cute throughout the trip and all the way home.

Tuesday: Unlike in past weeks, you aren't content to fall asleep in the car seat when we take Danny to Jenni's in the morning and then give me an early morning nap there when we arrive home.  But I can hardly complain, because once you did go down in your bed around 11:30, you stayed asleep until about 3.

Wednesday: Again you were very patient through our morning errands - dropping off Danny and going to the tax office.  Even the major poop-out that happened sometime in transit didn't phase you.  After a much needed bath, you weren't terribly content to sit around the house and showed no signs of wanting to nap, so off we went again to the grocery store.

Thursday: Again, you were quite content on our quest for a new coffee carafe or coffee maker throughout the day.  And you seemed to enjoy our time at Gena and Leo's for the playgroup. You were very awake and showing no signs of napping throughout our visit, so we just continued our search for the coffee maker in the afternoon.

Today: OK, so after a whole week on the go, what was I thinking?!? That you would just be content to lay down in your bed and take a regular nap this morning? Oh no! Unfortunately, I was rather exhausted (thank goodness your Mommy took Danny with her on errands).  After after many cycles of nursing and sitting up and laying down and not sleeping and nursing seemingly to the point of sleeping but not and sitting up and laying down and the bouncy seat and nursing some more, you didn't really settle into a nap until well after one in the afternoon! And even then, I had a dream that you were awake and I was desperately tired trying to stay up with you (clearly my issue, not yours).  But then you slept until 3:45 and woke content and patient, up for a long drive across town and back and happy to hang out with Mommy and sit in the bouncy seat while I prepared dinner.

So clearly, as of the moment we don't have much of a schedule for napping or nursing or anything like that. I don't think I'm much of a schedule keeping mom.  I guess so long as I don't completely ruin your ability to nap in a bed (as opposed to on the go), the schedule will probably come once you head to Jenni's in July.  I think that's probably what I did with Danny, too, and he has almost always napped well for Jenni. We'll see what next week brings!