Real advice for breastfeeding moms

Great article about breastfeeding. I don't agree with everything she writes but I think it's a lot more realistic than the introductory chapter to The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding (which I also love, but NOT for its assumption that breastfeeding only hurts if you're doing something wrong).

Single mom weekend recap

Jeff left for an LLM weekend in Philly Friday, and I got up at 5am to get to Albany for a conference for work. Luckily Grandpa Stu and Grandma Joanie came up for the day to hold down the fort at home, and then stayed overnight to spend Saturday morning with me and the boys as well. We took a great trip to MyGym to see if the boys are old enough to appreciate it to the tune of $100/month, but I think the answer is, not quite yet. Only blurry pictures were taken, unfortunately, because there's so much to do and see!

The boys slept well Saturday night but I had nightmares with Daddy Lovebo gone. And probably because I stayed up too late finishing my book club thriller, Defending Jacob. Auntie Tara came over early Sunday for a walk and some playground time. Sunday afternoon the boys and I walked over to the park to cheer on friends Lauren and Scott as they finished up the Strathmore Parks Run. Lauren also walked away with the award for second place female finisher! Then we enjoyed a nice afternoon in our backyard with the boys playing all around us.

There has been a lot of fighting over toys lately. Mostly the walker and the lawn mower, but really any toy one of them is playing with, the other wants. Here's a battle Theo won over the lawn mower.

Get well Grandpa Greg!

This is for Grandpa Greg, who's in the hospital today. We're so glad you're doing better and going home tonight. Much love from all of us here in Syracuse. I wish we could be there.

 Our next-door neighbors, Mo and Jim, have a gaping hole in their front yard next to their deck. Or actually two. I think the story is that their kids just dug them and they haven't filled them in. Their daughter Shannon likes to bury treasures like toy cars, lacrosse balls, and bubble wands in the hole. Luckily my guys LOVE digging in holes for treasure. So we spend some time every time we go outdoors sitting in and playing in the dirt and the holes. This is a ball Beck found in the hole this afternoon.

 We also spend a lot of time at the playground at the park nearby. We have had several sad experiences with older children wanting to interact with Beck and Theo, it seems, primarily because they are neglected by their own parents, and possibly because they are used to parenting smaller children because their own younger siblings are ignored. These children often want to pick the babies up, carry them around, and generally control their movements. Most of the time thanking them for their interest and talking to them about their lives and watching the things they want to show off to an adult, any adult, solves the problem. Sometimes the kids are more intrusive. Tara and Daddy Lovebo and I took the kids to the park last weekend and ran into some kids who not only could not keep their hands off Theo and Beckett, but also got increasingly aggressive with them as we tried to back them up. We eventually had to pick up the kids and leave. These pictures were taken on a day we had the play structure to ourselves!

I think Theo looks so much like his daddy in this picture it's insane.

 Another dirt pile. This is a large raised bed in Mark and Mindy's backyard. Today was the boys' first day wearing their new fancy sneakers from Grandma Joanie and Grandpa Stu. They light up and everything. And after about two hours of playing in the dirt and mulch and hole and everything, their new fancy shoes are pretty... lived in.

Neighbor and carpenter Jake (the guy who built our deck earlier this summer) is rebuilding our front steps. Just as in the deck project, Jake found that most of the structural supports were rotted, so it's turning into a larger project than we'd initially anticipated. But it should be done tomorrow afternoon!

Happenings in and around the House of Lovebo

This week was completely absorbed by watching the US Open (tennis) championships and the Democratic National Convention on television. Whereas the TV is usually on an hour or two in the evening for the parents Lovebo to watch a show we've DVR'd or for Daddy Lovebo to get fired up watching MSNBC, this week it was probably on 5+ hours a day. Consequently, everything else here has suffered. The house needs  some serious cleaning, we are battling sleep deprivation, and we've cooked like one real dinner in the last week. But that Bill Clinton speech was really something, right?!?

Daddy Lovebo has, in the midst of this crazy week, found his inner Bob Vila/Macgyver. Last week he fixed the dangerously off-track silverware drawer. This week he installed bookshelf speakers in the shelves by the fireplace, fixed the broken garbage disposal, and fixed the broken faucet in the shower.  I would like to know what happened to my housework hapless husband. The phrase "I solve all problems!" has been uttered more times this week than I'd like to recall.

My favorite routine with the boys has become putting them to bed, either for naps or bedtime. Especially at nap time, they eagerly climb upstairs when I say "Time for nap!", going into their room and bringing books for me to read. When I say "Who wants num-nums?" Theo brings me my nursing pillow and both stumble over, giggling, to get settled for some nursing. When they have had enough, they get up, giggling, and go to their cribs, reaching up and looking back at me. I pick each one up, kiss him from head to toe while telling him I love him, and then lay him down in his crib and squeeze him all over. I do the same with his brother while the other one, who has clambered back to standing in his crib, watches, giggling. I do this at least a couple times with each until they are too tired to get back up, at which time I rub both their bellies at the same time and blow kisses before leaving the room. There is very, very little crying or even fussing at bedtimes now, and I absolutely love the time with them.

Both boys are enjoying giving kisses these days. One day they were sitting together and touching each other, and Theo leaned over and gave Beck a kiss on the chest. It was very, very sweet.

Beck's first real haircut

Beck's hair has been pretty out of control for a while now. He also gets really sweaty, especially because he pulls his blanket over his head during naps and nighttime sleeping in even the hottest conditions. We decided something had to be done but I was nervous about taking scissors to his sweet little head. Inspired by Sara E and Preston (awesome haircut for an awesome dude!) and Mindy's many years of cutting her own kids' hair, we set the boys up in their highchairs in the backyard and went to work.

BEFORE:

 AFTER:

 

Theo wanted to have his picture taken, too. He is also much better at stopping, facing the camera, and allowing the photographer to take his picture!

Labor Day Weekend fun

Sunday the Grinnell Burch clan made the trek from Mountain Lakes to come visit. We had lovely weather and I think the only family members not to make it in the water were Daddy Lovebo, Grandpa Stu, and cousin Diane. Mama Lovebo had two lovely lake swims with Grandma Joanie, including one with cousin Samantha.

Theo with cousin Sam.

 

Theo with Grandma Joanie. Beckett wasn't feeling being in the water yesterday, so Theo got lots of love in the water!

I put my old nursing stool in the playroom downstairs. I wish I'd thought of it earlier this summer when we had all that road work going on. The boys love climbing up on it to look outside at the cars and trucks.

Theo enjoying his slide in the backyard.

The boys watching Daddy Lovebo mow the lawn in the front yard. 

Beckett mowing the lawn in the backyard.
 

The boys have developed their own unique styles for climbing down the stairs.