Rambling Rhodes

The New Now

While we settle in to life with Zoey now at home, we're encountering some of the unexpected realities of caring for a baby who is still quite small and who steadfastly refuses to eat on any terms save her own. She seems to consider eating to be an annoying impediment to sleeping rather than an existential necessity.

Currently, she will only bottle feed, having apparently decided that breastfeeding is simply too much work; she much rather prefers sitting upright with a bottle in her mouth.

She's also very particular about which bottle nipples she'll deign to sup upon. She wants nothing to do with the free nipples the hospital provided--and I use the term "free" loosely here, considering the eventual final hospital costs--and instead prefers the softer Medela nipples that cost $5 for a three pack. I sometimes wonder if she's going to taste the nipple and then spit as if she's sampling a fine wine.

She also feeds in increments so tiny, it can take her nearly two hours of intermittent feedings to finish a mere two ounces of milk. While my wife and worry about such insignificant intake, Zoey seems to think it's just the right amount, thank you very much, and I guess we don't really have her expertise, so who are we to question her?

She sleeps as though she's doing a live interpretive version of the story of Rip Van Winkle, to the point I sometimes have to grasp her hand to get a reflexive response that confirms she's still with us.

When she is awake and alert, she has some of the most inquisitive looking eyes I've ever seen. She can look at once both incredibly thoughtful and simultaneously bored out of her mind. That sounds like a criticism, but trust me, it's adorable:

Posted by Ryan at May 6, 2011 02:40 PM | TrackBack