Hittin' the Bottle

Last Friday we toured one of our two hopeful day care center picks. We toured our top pick--located in a neighboring county about a 25 minute drive away--during my pregnancy, and we have been on its waiting list since that time. Our second option, and the one we visited on Friday, is affiliated with the hospital where I work and is located an easy walk across the street from the hospital (and also walking distance from home). While it's not quite as modern and its curriculum is not as kumbaya-tastic as our first choice, it is significantly closer and more convenient and will allow for me to pop over to nurse Arlo at least once a day (fingers crossed that my crazy work schedule will allow for that). Arlo's name came to the top of the waiting list for our second choice last week, and with my maternity leave drawing to sad and wistful end, it was time for us to make our final decision... The closer center is the obvious choice.

Arlo has been exclusively breastfed for these first two months of his life (with the exception of a couple of breastmilk syringe feedings in our early breastfeeding days). With day care looming in our too-near future it was time to finally introduce the bottle. Arlo could take or leave his pacifier, so I must admit that I was worried that he'd rebuff the bottle with similar indifference. I had envisioned a woeful scenario in which he refuses to take his liquid nosh from a non-boob decanter, but nope! After a few lippy noms of the bottle nipple, he was on his merrily sucking and sated way. I teared up a little--a strange mixture of pride over his new accomplishment and sadness over his newfound independence from me. Sigh.

The introduction: Bottle, meet Arlo. Arlo, bottle.

Arlo's first bottle = Daddy's first feeding!