Battle of the Wills!

I know it's hard to believe that this sweet face is already giving this mama a run for her money..but he sure it!  This being a mom stuff is hard.  Don't get me wrong, it is absolutely the best things ever, but it is hard work!  Now truth be told I am quite a stubborn person.  Have been since I could talk.  My husband, also pretty stubborn.  Well when two strong willed, stubborn people create a baby the chances of the baby being easy going are well..slim.  You might have an idea what I'm going to say next.  Kason is stubborn!  At only 12 weeks old he is already showing his personality.  Although he is such a good baby, he is a tad bit on the stubborn side.  I'm sure my parents are going to sit back and have a good laugh over the next 18+ years over the sweet payback they are witnessing.  

Our first major battle has to do with these...

Yes, those are all of the bottles we've tried to give Kason at one point or another.  About a month ago, Duane started trying to give Kason a bottle in the evening.  Since I will be going back to work in a couple of months, we knew that he needed to get used to taking a bottle.  As a new mom, this was not something I anticipated being a problem.  I had NO idea that some breastfed babies struggle with the concept of a bottle.  Kason would take about an ounce of the pumped milk and then just scream.  We tried three different types of bottles, different times during the day, different holding positions..nothing seemed to work!  I was getting more and more stressed out each time and would just end up nursing him.  After all, I had what he needed and wanted, so I felt bad not giving it to him.  We gave up on the bottles for a few weeks because of just plain frustration.  The bottle break lasted up until yesterday.

I'm helping with VBS at church.  It is over 3 hours long and Kason usually eats every 2.5 hours.  Immediately I foresaw a problem.  I would either have to leave my group to nurse Kason, or he would have to take the dreaded bottle.  Luckily, my incredibly patient mom was also going to be helping at VBS.  She was able to keep Kason with her and attempt the bottle feeding.  Yesterday Kason (as expected) took an ounce and then started screaming.  This time though, I did not give in and nurse him.  I think it made it easier that I was out of the area where he was being fed..but we'll just act like I was strong!  After a lot of struggle, Kason finally gave in and took 4.5 ounces!  Wahoo Kason!  I'm one proud (and relieved) mama!  Today he only fussed a little before giving in.  I'm hoping by Friday he'll be taking a bottle without a hitch!  I feel so much more at ease knowing that if I need to be gone for longer than 2.5 hours, Kason will not go hungry.

  And in case you were wondering..this is the bottle that eventually worked for us...

Another battle happened about 3 hours ago.  Kason is still sleeping in our room at night.  Judge me if you'd like..but I'm just not ready for him to sleep in his own room quite yet.  He is sleeping 7-8 hours in our room, which is great!  We will probably move him to his crib in his nursery in a couple of weeks.  I decided today that I am going to lay him in his crib for naps so that he gets used to it.  I have done this before, but I always rock him to sleep and then lay him in the crib.  Today I could tell he was getting tired so I went and laid him in his crib, turned on his sleep sheep, stuck the paci in, and walked out.  He laid there cooing to himself for about 15 minutes.  After that, the crying started.  And kept going and going and going.  I went in ever 15 minutes and put his paci back in, no luck.  It was so hard to listen to him cry.  FINALLY, after about 45 minutes this was what I saw on the monitor...

And then I walked into his nursery and saw this sweet sight..

I know some don't believe in letting a baby cry it out, and I don't either when the baby is super young. However, I do think it's important to teach a baby how to put themselves to sleep.  I'm hoping this will get easier every day.  He ended up sleeping for an hour and a half in his crib..which is a new Kason record!

Although we may have a stubborn baby, I'm happy to report that we are making huge strides!  We love this little boy and all of his characteristics (even the stubborn part!).  We can't wait to learn more about him!