Newborny afternoon.

Newborny afternoon.

Recently, I've found myself mourning the loss of cuddly sweet lazy newborn days. We spent a lot of time on the couch lounging around in Oliver's first weeks, just sort of alternating between sleeping with him nuzzling our necks or nursing. Various copies of The Week were strewn about the living room, and of course the laptop played a prominent roll.

At about 4 or 5 months old, Ollie stopped sleeping upright on us, in "tummy-to-tummy" pose. He'll fall asleep in cradle hold while being walked and rocked around or nursed (preferably both, if he could have his way), but just gets too excited if he's up with his head to my shoulders, chest, or neck. He also kicks his feet and pushes up with his usual bounce, which really isn't conducive to sleeping.

This afternoon after Natalie's craft fair, I nursed him to sleep on the living room couch while the sky darkened around us. I laid down on the couch as best as I could, and just sort of dozed off with him, all bundled up in his favorite blanket. It was so dreamy. Then, he stirred a little and woke me up, but stayed asleep. I then had the bright (read: stupid) idea of trying to lift him upright so he would nuzzle against my collar area and lay on my tummy, just like those newborn days. He didn't appreciate the scene change. Lying on the couch with him was newborn snuggle enough, of course. I just got carried away.

Natalie's craft fair was so awesome (even though I'm secretly-on-the-internet wondering if I'm one of her secret-on-the-internet gripes about the craft fair process... ) But! I even tried kombucha, which is some bizarre but tasty hippie concoction. It's bacteria! grown from a mushroom! brewed in a dark cabinet! not appetizing at all! But the potential health benefits far outweighed the skeevy so I sucked it down. It just tasted like ginger. The health claims reminded me of how in the early Hike For Discovery days, Coach Sharon, Scott from Chicago, and I used to poke (well-intentioned) fun at Gookinaid's founder, the bionic Bill Gookin, because he would recommend Gookinaid as the cure for any ailment under the sun. Granted, it did kind of work, even on my morning sickness (after Bill's recommendation, complete with an explanatory Gookinaid And Morning Sickness handout and some free samples) (I don't know what I'll do when I run out of samples and actually have to pay for it). To quote Scott, "It cures everything! From hangovers to syphilis!" This statement is not approved by the FDA. Or Gookinaid.

I should tell Bill about kombucha. Maybe he'd make a handout.

And, to tie this all back to the Newborny subject, you all should know that I survived on Gookinaid free samples (the not-my-first-choice fruit punch flavor) and mashed potatoes during labor and the immediate post-partum recovery. Labor was like a hyperbole of my pregnancy food aversions (=everything except mashed potatoes). I may sit around and try to force my 7 month old to snuggle like a newborn, but I certainly hope I never again see a meal of just Gookinaid and mashed potatoes.