battle of the bottle.

Audrey has never been a great eater. from the beginning her feeding reflex was underdeveloped and she had a poor latch. for the first couple days in the NICU the doctors had her on a feeding tube because she wouldn't take a bottle, much less nurse. once we got the hang of nursing, everything was better for a while but condistently not so great. she does much better with a bottle than nursing so we've adjusted and found a good balance. well lately she's reverted back to being the most distracted baby ever when it comes time for her bottle. last night was probably the worst case ever. don't get me wrong, it's hilarious, but when it takes almost 30-40 minutes for her to eat 4 oz. it can be a bit frustrating. i have come up with several nicknames to describe her eating tendencies. i'm hoping to get pictures or video of each of these in the future as well :)

the sleeper: she falls asleep, so i take the bottle out of her mouth and she starts making the sucking motions with her lips and tongue, while still asleep. then she realizes that it's not there anymore and cries. wakes up. falls back asleep a few minutes later. repeat. repeat. repeat. i try everything, evvvverything to keep her awake. this usually only happens during her bedtime bottle.

spazzy hands: every once in a while she holds the bottle with her hands for a few seconds before allowing me to resume my position. then comes the spazzy hands. she flings her hands around everywhere and knocks the bottle away, in which milk goes flying everywhere and usually sprays her face.

the grunter: i swear she is the loudest eater. when i was getting up with her in the middle of the night i would have to take her into a different room to feed or nurse because she is so stinkin loud, i was afraid she would wake Will up. she coos, she grunts, she makes strange noises. sometimes the grunting is accommodated by a large poop so then i have to sit there in the stink while she happily sucks away. try to interrupt her meal to do a diaper change and she cries and kicks her legs making said diaper change almost impossible. lovely.

the smile n spill: this has only happened a few times recently and it's probably my favorite one. she will stop at any point in time, look at me, and smile. when this happens whatever milk that was in her mouth spills out and runs all down her face and bib. hilarious.

the smile n sneeze: this is probably my least favorite one. well, the smile n spill is still adorable but not when it's followed by a huge sneeze in which any remaining milk that was left in her mouth from the smile n spill gets sneezed out everywhere. on her, on me, on anything remotely near us.

the lollipop: i think this just happens when she gets bored and needs something new to do. it's also usually accompanied by excessive babbling. the bottle is still in her mouth but instead of sucking on the nipple, she licks it like a lollipop. she wiggles her tongue around and babbles some more, then more licking.

the distraction: sometimes there's a noise or a sound that she must check out mid-bottle, and sometimes there is nothing. either way, she all of a sudden turns her head or launches her body to one side or even forward. all the while expecting me to keep up with her need for a change of scenery. she cries if she doesn't have the bottle still in her mouth when she reaches her new position.

the hum: this has always been the case so nothing new. she hums when she eats. sometimes it's constant and sometimes it's broken up into hmm (pause) hmm (pause, pause) hmm (pause) hmm. and sometimes it's just hmmmmmmmmmmmmm. either way, it makes it difficult to keep a straight face if i'm trying to carry on a conversation while feeding her.

i'm sure there will be more eating tendencies that will develop along the way, but for now...these are the challenges that i face every 3-4 hours during the day.


i also wanted to share the recipe i made this weekend in my crockpot because it turned out amazing and i was so proud of myself. Will ended up having to eat it as leftovers and it was still amazing so that says something. due to problems at the terminal in Green Bay on friday, Will wasn't able to fly out until saturday morning. i found all of this out AFTER i had started dinner, gotten dressed up, set the dinner table, and done another once over on the house. it was frustrating but he was really sweet about it and i tried not to be too disappointed.

4-5 frozen boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 packets italian seasoning (near the salad dressing at the grocery store, not the spices haha)
3 cans cream of chicken soup
2 blocks cream cheese

put everything in the crockpot and cook on low for 5 hours. stir about once every hour so that the sauce doesn't brown on the edges. serve over rotini pasta. since i made more than enough for one meal, i refrigerated the sauce and chicken separately and only made enough pasta for what i needed at the time. then, when i reheated it for Will, i made another batch of fresh pasta, heated the sauce for 3-4 minutes, and the chicken 2 minutes in the microwave. then combined everything together in a large bowl to serve.

Audrey and i had a fun time going to the store and getting all the ingredients the morning of...

and here are a few randoms from tonight, showing off her new outfit from Poppa (STILL in newborn size, but slowly starting to transition to 0-3 size...i've been layering her sleepers with a white t-shirt at night since our bedroom gets really cold and it makes the 0-3 size fit a lot better)