Firsts

We've had a few firsts these last couple weeks. We introduced Esmé to the bottle, which she took very well. She's pretty much up for anything that has to do with eating. Her parents, however, started off a little rocky with the whole process.

It took me several days to get any milk pumped, but finally got the hang of it and got enough for a feed. (It's really not a very fun thing to do.) Then when the time came to give her the bottle, we couldn't figure out why she wasn't getting any milk out. I suggested maybe she just wasn't sucking hard enough. So we proceeded to encourage her to keep sucking. Poor girl was getting so hungry and was crying and miserable so we decided to give up. But just as Kyle was handing her to me, I suggested we test the bottle to see if it even worked. So I tried sucking on the bottle myself (hey, how else could I test it?) and nothing came out! I took it apart and decided, hey, maybe this little disc inside is not supposed to be in there. Once I removed it, viola! Milk flowed, almost poured, out! Turns out that disc is supposed to be put in only if you don't want the bottle to leak in the diaper bag. Well no one told us that! It doesn't say anything about that in the manual! How are dumb new parents like us supposed to know these things?! In the end, Esmé got her milk, with much apologies from her amateur parents.

We also finally bought a stroller! It's a City Mini that we bought on sale and we love it! Esmé has been out for her first stroller ride a few times and seems to enjoy it, just before she falls asleep that is. We usually put her in her Cree moss bag * which is hand made by Cordelia from Alberta, then cover her with a blanket. It keeps her snugly warm during these cold days.

* Babies were/are wrapped in a moss bag by aboriginal mothers. The bag used to be made from hide and filled with moss or cattail down. The bags were then tied to a cradle board and worn on the back while mother went about her work. The soiled moss would be emptied and replaced when needed. Today they are often made from fabric with padding inside, and usually don't include the cradle board.