Drawing a Blank

I've been trying to blog off and on throughout the day. And yet, I made zero progress. Like, the page was totally blank until just now. I guess that's how it's going to be for a little while, while I do anything but attend to the most urgent need of whichever family member is displaying said need. Meaning, I've found myself going from feeding one person, to getting another to sleep, to changing a diaper, to feeding another person.... you get it. The good news is, I do get to shower once it gets to the point that even a dirty diaper isn't as urgent as my third or fourth day shower. :) And we all get fed eventually!

In reality though, what we're doing right now isn't exactly hard. It's certainly time consuming, but the difficulty comes in trying to go in a hundred directions while sleep deprived. Nothing gets our full attention it seems, but the work isn't particularly difficult. Unless you count me giving up cow's milk dairy. That's no milk, yogurt, CHEESE, butter, etc. That's hard. But it appears that Dash may have a sensitivity to the dairy in my diet, so out they go. I will miss them sincerely.

In Dash news, he is literally changing every day. It's amazing to think about the cellular development taking place in that little body. He's gaining 1-2 ounces a day, and it's very visible. Every night he looks a little rounder and fuller, not to mention cuter. :) He's got a bit of a diaper rash, which is frustrating, and his sleep seems to be rocky at night. He seems to sleep best when held by me (of course, I do not sleep best while holding a baby), but we're both compromising some and making do. His tummy seems to bother him too, which is sad to see (he gets writhy and red-faced and very vocal, even in his sleep). He's nursing like a champ, and we've entered one of my favorite nursing stages: he's still little enough to curl around my body, but he's aware enough that he gets this little barracuda look in his eyes as he looks side to side quickly right before he latches on and starts the sweet "suck, suck, swallow" rhythm that is just so intoxicating to us both. And he places his little hands on me, and I want to melt into him as his eyes roll back and he drifts into sleep. I adore this.

In Ellie news, she'll be TWO next week. I can't hardly believe that we're about to enter our third year with her - I never thought I'd be so lucky in all my life to have someone like her as mine. She's just wonderful, even when she makes me want to scream in the frustration that comes from the attempts to parent and re-direct a strong willed two year old. She's magic though, and she's getting a bike for her birthday. And, my parents got a new puppy, who she believes is a playmate just for her. And the puppy (Knute!) seems to think that it's his responsibility to look after the little blonde toddler. He's already so gentle and protective - we're all hopeful that this is going to be the start of a lifelong friendship.