Otter On the Move

My girl can now stand up, which she does with incredible speed. Though she still needs to hold on for support, standing is the new sitting and she likes nothing better than scrambling up and climbing towards whatever is just out of reach. To be sure, any previous attempts at crawling have been unilaterally abandoned.

The new mobility has resulted in some difficulties, some foreseeable, others not so much. For one thing, Otter now wants to stand everywhere, including her stroller from which she took a dive yesterday. Perhaps it's an early precursor to her mom's proclivity for skydiving, or her dad's early career of jumping off roofs into pools.

More unforeseen were the challenges of nursing. Now I've heard my fellow moms expound upon the joys and bonding time they share with their offspring while breastfeeding. Most of these heart-warming accounts can be found on websites such as La Leche League, though a large number have come from friends. I'm not sure where all these cuddly, nurse-y babies came from, but when I got mine at the hospital, apparently they were out of that variety.

What I got instead is a mountain climbing action baby who fully believes in her ability to multitask, and for whom sitting down to nurse is a gross misappropriation of her time. Rather than settle down for relaxed snack, Otter prefers to climb on me and over to the headboard (which fascinates her), all while keeping my nipple grasped firmly in her mouth. Which, as one can imagine, is not so great. Especially when she feel she's losing her grip and chomps down to keep a hold of her meal.

I've tried every position to facilitate feeding. But more often than not, mealtime ends with me lying back and laughing at her efforts, while Otter plunges bravely on, determined to explore every inch of her world before bedtime.