Baby Chai so far...

Chaiyo is doing great. He's sleeping better, eating great, and of course, growing like a weed. He's absolutely adorable, and Erin and Orren love him. Orren's had a little bit of an adjustment to being a big brother, but nothing major. He's been very demanding and a little whiny, but just typical 2-year-old stuff.

Chai has been on two car trips out of the house, and it went well. He doesn't mind his infant carseat. We haven't tried him in his Radian yet, but that'll come soon since he'll be riding in the car to drop off and pick up Erin before the week is out. I'm glad Erin's school year is over in just a couple weeks. It's not easy with a new baby. He'll be a few months old by the time she goes back to school in the fall, so it'll be 100x easier then. We'll get through these couple weeks that we have to, but I'll be really glad when it's just summer time.

We also know when Chai's first vacation will be. He's going to be like a month and a half old then, or just shy of it. Thak has a drill in another part of the state, and instead of leaving us behind for 4 days while he goes and sees green grass and trees, he's taking us with him! We are SO excited!! Yes, he'll be working all day on Saturday and Sunday at the armory, but me and the kids will be free. We've already talked with some friends who live in that part of the state, and we're going to be meeting up for some fun and playtime for the kids while we're there. The best part of all? Uncle Sam is footing the bill! Yeah, sure, we'll have to pay for me and the kids' food, and cover the difference if the hotel costs more because there are more people staying in it, but the mileage there and the most of the hotel costs, and Thak's meals will be covered! It's amazing! So that's Baby Chai's first road trip. We're so excited!!

Otherwise, once again, breastfeeding proved to be an extreme challenge. Seriously, does anyone actually know how much a 10 pound newborn eats? I'll tell you, it's A LOT, and all I was doing was nursing. I would not get half an hour's sleep before he wanted to nurse again, and he was never full, so after five days of that, we bought a can of formula and began supplementing him with it. It was better already. I also started using my pump instead of nursing all the time, because the pain from nursing was extreme, but the pump was tolerable, and allowed me to heal a little between sessions. Because of doing this, I am pleased to announce that Baby Chai has received more breastmilk than either of my other kids ever did. I only nursed Erin and Orren for one week each, and then went to just formula. This time, we have a really good pump, though, so we've gone ahead and taken a different way with it. Chai is getting mostly breastmilk. In fact, today he hasn't had any formula at all and it's almost noon. Sure, he gets it in a bottle, but it's the way it seems to be working for us. We're all pretty happy with it. I'm downright thrilled to be able to say that I am (albeit indirectly) breastfeeding successfully for the first time.

Chai has also outgrown his newborn diapers already, so we get to sell those. I'm thrilled with that prospect, too. It's not that I dislike our newborn diapers. In fact, I think they're the most adorable things. It's just that they're in amazing condition, and people will pay good money for them, and we're not using them anymore. There's really nothing better than getting paid for stuff you don't use anymore. I'll be making their listing this week. Local moms and dads will have priority since I'd really rather sell locally than to have to ship. As you may imagine, running to the post office with a newborn and a 2.5-year-old is a bit of a daunting prospect. I'll do it, but I'd rather just have my local cloth diapering families come pick these things up from me if at all possible.

So that's about it. What a busy week and a half it's been since Chai has been here. I can't believe how well it's going, but I'm not sure why. It went this well with Orren, too.... a bit rockier with Erin, but she was my first, so that's a given. I think it is safe to say by now that baby Chai is a well established member of the family!