Liam,
Last week, I took Chloe, our cat, to the animal shelter. I adopted Chloe in the August of 2003, so I'd had her for 6.5 years. When I adopted her, I knew that the prevoius owner had given her up for something hading to do with having a baby... I guess that I should have known that something would go wrong sooner or later if I had a baby...
Even before you were born, Chloe peed on things. Within just a few weeks of getting her, she peed on my brand new couch. Later, she actually peed in/on my purse, a pair of my shoes, and repeatedly on one chair in the living room. These were not accidents; she definitely did it on purpose. Still, she was a well-behaved cat, so we kept her.
After you were born, the peeing continued. She peed on the chair more, until we threw it away. When we got a new chair (that looked just like the old one) she peed on the new one within minutes of it being assembled. We had to get rid of the recliner after she peed on it too. For awhile, the only piece of furniture to sit on in the living room was the couch. She peed on your activity mat and a pile of your little toys (that you played with when you very little- like less than 3 months old).
As you got older and became more mobile, Chloe went into hiding. She definitely didn't like being chased by you. I know you never meant to hurt her. You just wanted to touch her and be her friend. But, she didn't like this. She would bat at you with her (thankfully) clawless front paws, and hiss. Then, generally, she'd run upstairs to hide where you couldn't get her.
The final straw was when she peed on Mommy and Daddy's bed. I decided I just couldn't do it anymore. She wasn't living a good life in our house. She was living in fear. It wasn't fair for her to be in our house anymore. She needed to be in a house where she would be the center of attention. So, I took her to the shelter. I cried all the way there, and cried the entire time I was filling out the forms. I cried all the way home. I cried, even though I know that this was the best thing to do.
I have no idea what will happen to her. Because of her history of peeing, they may not have put her up for adoption at all. But, I'm hopeful that they did, and that some lucky person will take her home and give her the attention she needs. It's not your fault that she's gone. I knew that this was coming for a long time. Like your daddy said, lots of other people would have gotten rid of her long before I did; I really have her SO many chances.
The thing that made me the saddest happened later the day I took her to the shelter. When you and I got home at the end of the day, I was carrying you upstairs. As we walked up the stairs, you began to wave, assuming that Chloe would be sitting at the top of the stairs, like she was every other day before that. Obviously, she wasn't there. You did it again the next day. I guess then that you forgot about her, because you didn't wave for her again.
You're my sweet boy, Liam. I love you more than I've ever loved anyone else. Maybe someday when you're older, we'll get a different pet. I don't know. We'll see.
Love,
Mommy
Thursday, February 25, 2010
No more pumping!
Liam,
I've been pumping milk for you, at work and after you go to bed, for almost a year now. (Well, actually over a year, since I used to pump during the night sometimes while I was still on maternity leave.) My supply has been dwindling, and you're totally doing well with whole milk, so I decided to stop pumping this week. Tuesday, Feb. 23 was my last day of pumping. You'd been taking 4 oz. to daycare each day, to drink in your sippy with breakfast. I still have about 10 more bags of frozen milk at home, which you'll drink over the next couple weeks. We're still nursing in the morning and evening, and I hope we can continue to do so for as long as you'd like. I love our special time together. It's one of the only time you sit still and let me snuggle with you. :)
I'm so proud of myself for nursing you for so long. You never had a drop of formula, and I'm very proud of that too. I feel like I've given you the best possible start in life.
Love,
Mommy
I've been pumping milk for you, at work and after you go to bed, for almost a year now. (Well, actually over a year, since I used to pump during the night sometimes while I was still on maternity leave.) My supply has been dwindling, and you're totally doing well with whole milk, so I decided to stop pumping this week. Tuesday, Feb. 23 was my last day of pumping. You'd been taking 4 oz. to daycare each day, to drink in your sippy with breakfast. I still have about 10 more bags of frozen milk at home, which you'll drink over the next couple weeks. We're still nursing in the morning and evening, and I hope we can continue to do so for as long as you'd like. I love our special time together. It's one of the only time you sit still and let me snuggle with you. :)
I'm so proud of myself for nursing you for so long. You never had a drop of formula, and I'm very proud of that too. I feel like I've given you the best possible start in life.
Love,
Mommy
Monday, February 22, 2010
Eating and ear infections
Liam,
You've never been a big eater. Even back when you were completely breastfed, you rarely nursed for longer than 10 minutes. (I had read that the norm was more like 20 minutes.) You never ate much babyfood, and now that you're eating all solid food, you don't eat much of those either. You finally went over 20 pounds last week! Yeah! I think you're still in the 4th percentile, but at least you're gaining! You don't realloy eat any vegetables. You'll chew them up, and right when I think that you'll swallow them, you spit them out. Mealtime is definitely a struggle. I think you'd be happy if you could just get by on cheese and peanut butter toast.
We went to Red Lobster yesterday, and you chowed down. You had a biscuit, chicken fingers, and fries. I don't think I've ever seen you eat so much in one sitting. :)
You're on amoxicillin twice a day for the next SIX weeks, for maintenance. You've had double ear infections for the last seven weeks. You first took amoxicillin, and then Augmentin, and then finally they did injections (three times in a week) of Rocephin. You poor, poor little guy. We'll see how they look six weeks from now- hopefully you won't have to get tubes.
I hope you start to talk soon. You jabber constantly, but no real words. I know that you have lots to say, and are trying so hard to talk to us. I konw that you'll do it soon.
Love,
Mommy
You've never been a big eater. Even back when you were completely breastfed, you rarely nursed for longer than 10 minutes. (I had read that the norm was more like 20 minutes.) You never ate much babyfood, and now that you're eating all solid food, you don't eat much of those either. You finally went over 20 pounds last week! Yeah! I think you're still in the 4th percentile, but at least you're gaining! You don't realloy eat any vegetables. You'll chew them up, and right when I think that you'll swallow them, you spit them out. Mealtime is definitely a struggle. I think you'd be happy if you could just get by on cheese and peanut butter toast.
We went to Red Lobster yesterday, and you chowed down. You had a biscuit, chicken fingers, and fries. I don't think I've ever seen you eat so much in one sitting. :)
You're on amoxicillin twice a day for the next SIX weeks, for maintenance. You've had double ear infections for the last seven weeks. You first took amoxicillin, and then Augmentin, and then finally they did injections (three times in a week) of Rocephin. You poor, poor little guy. We'll see how they look six weeks from now- hopefully you won't have to get tubes.
I hope you start to talk soon. You jabber constantly, but no real words. I know that you have lots to say, and are trying so hard to talk to us. I konw that you'll do it soon.
Love,
Mommy
Monday, February 1, 2010
Getting closer to weaning
Liam,
We are now down to just nursing in the morning and evening. On weekdays (starting today), I nurse you on one side in the morning, and then I pump the other side when I get to work. Then in the evenings, I nurse you on one side, and pump the other side before I go to bed. On the weekends, I nurse you mid-morning too, rather than pumping. You seem to be dealing very well with weaning. I'm hoping that I can continue like this for awhile, but there's just no guarantee that my milk won't dry up quickly with such a reduced schedule. (Up until this week, I was pumping one side mid-afternoon at work, or nursing mid-afternoon on the weekends.)
I feel like weaning you will be the end of your time as a baby, and so this makes me very sad. I feel like it will also be the end of you really needing me. Obviously, deep down, I know that this isn't really true, but right now it feels like it is. I love you so much, and I have enjoyed our nursing time together and am sad to see it draw to a close. I'm so proud of myself for making it over a year, and I know I've given you the best possible start in life. I love you.
Mommy
We are now down to just nursing in the morning and evening. On weekdays (starting today), I nurse you on one side in the morning, and then I pump the other side when I get to work. Then in the evenings, I nurse you on one side, and pump the other side before I go to bed. On the weekends, I nurse you mid-morning too, rather than pumping. You seem to be dealing very well with weaning. I'm hoping that I can continue like this for awhile, but there's just no guarantee that my milk won't dry up quickly with such a reduced schedule. (Up until this week, I was pumping one side mid-afternoon at work, or nursing mid-afternoon on the weekends.)
I feel like weaning you will be the end of your time as a baby, and so this makes me very sad. I feel like it will also be the end of you really needing me. Obviously, deep down, I know that this isn't really true, but right now it feels like it is. I love you so much, and I have enjoyed our nursing time together and am sad to see it draw to a close. I'm so proud of myself for making it over a year, and I know I've given you the best possible start in life. I love you.
Mommy
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