How Much Milk?

I am beat today. We think Celeste is needing more milk than she's getting at each feeding now: That would explain why she's feeding every two hours or so (plus, I think, as I always do, that she might be in a growth spurt). Hopefully Evelin's body is kicking up the milk production and we'll level off with less frequent feedings pretty soon. Tomorrow, when I'm giving her bottles and Evelin's pumping maybe we'll get an idea (in terms of ounces) of what Celeste needs and Evelin's making.

Last night, she was up very frequently, but after Evelin brought her to our bed after the 2:00 a.m. feeding, she managed to stay asleep (with one big pacification effort around 4:00 a.m.) until 5:45 a.m. Evelin was very happy to have about three hours of solid sleep; I was up more than that, but I'm glad to feel useful (especially since those first few wake-ups each night Celeste is not happy to see me).

I was dragging at work today, which is no good since it is a very busy time, but I think I'm headed to bed as soon as I finish typing this ...

Of course the one thing that could complicate my morning (besides not having enough sleep) is that it's finally snowing for real. Today was one of those "weather events" where the local newscasters practically scream that al-Qa’ida has snow-making guns pointed at us and are intent to disrupt the morning rush hour ... with 3 to 6 inches of snow that may or may not turn to rain at some point in the afternoon.

Instead we got zero precipitation until after the morning rush, and what did come down floated between snow and drizzle and sleet, but never getting too bad. But right now it is actually snowing and it's sticking, so, if nothing else, I'll have to clean off the car in the middle of the night. (And do it quietly so as not to wake any babies whose bedrooms overlook the street.)

Since Evelin knew I was tired (and since Celeste was pretty good for her today, despite not napping much), she made dinner tonight: broccoli, olives and pasta (a recipe culled from an old Cook's Illustrated the other weekend).

We've really fallen into a habit where I'm the cook and Evelin's the baker. She makes fantastic desserts and baked dishes, but, more often than not, if it involves the cooktop, I'm the one making the meal. I'm not complaining; I love cooking — it relaxes me and I enjoy the creativity of playing with different flavors and ingredients (not mention poking around in small ethnic grocery stores) — but it was really nice to not cook tonight. And Evelin is a really good cook, too (on top of being a fantastic baker) ...

Okay, I have to go read the same paragraph about three times before giving up and falling asleep. (I'm currently reading A History of Australian Baseball; it's pretty interesting, even if the Red Sox-related content is very thin, but I know I'm not going to get further than a page or two tonight ...)