"Back To Life, Back To Reality"

Andi survived her first weekend ever without me, and Daddy Bean did great.  Although, when I returned, both were looking like neither of them felt very good.  But, the Bean had very big smiles for me, and was instantly cozy in my arms.  My girls weekend was a big treat.  College roommates, all with young children, stealing away for some R&R, laughs, and a bit of relief from the responsibilities of life. We went snowshoeing, something I haven't done in years.  Luckily, it was the perfect day for it.

(Trillium Lake - Mt. Hood)

I assumed I'd recoop on sleep, and get really rested while away, however, that was SO not the case.  Throughout the night, I assessed and reassessed my work with Andi, as I honestly did not sleep well without her.  I recommitted to more tummy time, more eager feeds, bumbo chair sitting, etc.  As much as I do, I don't feel I'm getting it done.  I've also asked my friends for help, something that does not come very naturally to me.  As my big sentence when I was young was, "I do it myself!"  So, I've asked them to come over when they can to help feed her, or sit her up... whatever, as I can't seem to allocate enough time to it myself.  So, today is day one, and we're just waiting for her to digest her last feed just a bit more, then we'll work on sitting up in the bumbo, and the last half hour before her next feed with be for tummy time on the wedge & boppy pillow.

The new med's don't seem to be drastically improving the leakage, but it is a little bit better.  We still have a few days to determine its effectiveness, but as of this minute, I'm tending to think there's more of a digestion problem.  It seems that the last ten minutes to an hour before her next feed, she seems to get some stomach ache or cramps of some sort.  I keep watching to see if this occurs every feed or not.  It's hard to say, as we have so many other things going on.  But, I'm trying to really take notice of when it happens.

Tomorrow we go to see the wound care nurse again, and honestly, the skin is still red and raw.  They might want to pouch the tube, I dunno.  All I can say is we can't continue to live like this, it's ridiculous.

It's time for us to go pick up MadderBean from his neighborhood doggie daycare.  He's grown neurotic, and we're hoping a day at daycare will help burn off all that bad energy.  He's acting funny at the sound of Andi crying, her hearing aid whistling, me raising my voice to tell Andi 'No!' (grabbing at her hearing aid, or at her button or Mic-Key), and will run outside and sit in the rain and cold, afraid to stay with us.  Yes, I've actually written Cesar Milan.  I know, I'm a dork.  But, Maddux is the best doggie in the world and I want him happy too. Aah, and so there it goes ... [sing along], 'Back to life, back to re-al-ity.'  (Snap).  Neverending.