snuffly snorty baby nose...

Baby was a fitful sleeper last night...she's usually my buddy, my little warm bean and we sleep so nicely together...but last night I needed to be up and about - trying to finish up a special birthday T-shirt  and breakfast muffins and hang the birthday banners for my 6 yr old Birthday boy (!) and I needed Baby to sleep in her basinet - which she did, but fitfully.  Was she missing me? No.  Turns out, she was just trying to breathe, is all.  Boogers blocking the blow-hole.  Yup.  Happily, we own one of these:

Not for the faint of heart, but then, neither is motherhood! You put the mouthpiece in your mouth and suck the boogers right out of baby's nose!  Never fear, no boogers get anywhere near your mouth - they hardly even make it inside the chamber where the tissue is waiting, mostly they cling to the sides of the 'soft comfort nose tip' and then you need to take it apart and rinse it out.  But it WORKS, and I think it's worth a few minutes of gross-out cleaning so Baby can breathe.  Goodbye old nasal bulb, hello BabyComfyNose!
Does she love having her nose sucked out? No, she does not. She cries.  (Kind of a wimp, this kid) But this thing, this BabyComfyNose is gentle, (I tried it on my own nose, it really is gentle, probably just startles her a bit) and it really works, really cleared her right up so she could go back to sleep, (and breathe!) and I could finish my projects.  Hallelujah! 

Baby talk...so far so good.

So, I had another baby.  Yup, I made a real baby, not another doll, though she is a doll!  That makes 6. (So far.)  I'm amazed.  Here she is sleeping. On her stomach.  (Oh my goodness.)

Do I need to explain here why I put her on her stomach? You want to hear my reasons and rationale? Well,  aside from the fact that over the last century doctors kept changing their mind about whether stomach, side, or back sleeping was/is 'best' and I doubt we've heard the last of that debate, suffice it to say that she's on flat, smooth bedding, I'm never far from her, and this is how she prefers to sleep. Unless it's night, and we're co-sleeping (oh dear) - then she prefers to sleep with her cheek on my breast after nursing (oh for goodness sake).
That's right, that's how we roll around here.  Co-sleeping, exclusively nursing, belly-lying babies -  every last one of 'em.  Well, really, so far, so good.
Would you like to meet her? Here she is: Veronica Autumn Pelagia Sousanis.  7 weeks old. With a bow on top.

She nurses, and BURPS, and nurses some more.  I've FINALLY learned the burping is super important.  Only took about 4 babies to figure that one out.  (They need to be burped? But not if you're breastfeeding, right? Wrong. Burp the baby!) Right from the very first feeding.  Don't bang them on their back, just put the baby upright so the burp can work it's way out.  Pat gently, maybe.

The best burper in our house (and by this I mean the person who can get Baby to burp the fastest and best) is big sister Aurora.  She's 7.  Big for her age, and clever, and very compassionate with the baby - she can't stand to hear the baby cry, and loves loves loves to carry her around.
Here's big sister A wearing baby sister V in a wrap.  (I Love it!)

So far, so good.  Probably Aurora won't be able to do this much longer, as the baby grows, but for now, it sure is nice to have another back to strap the baby to - mine's aching! :)