Roles

Chris often tells me, "We each have our roles." Sometimes I get a little envious because he is the fun parent. Mom is the one they want in they are sick, hurt or sad. Have you ever noticed how Dada is almost always said with a tone of delight? Whereas, Mama is usually in a whiny tone? Landon is our first baby where I have felt like he preferred Chris over me. With Whitney is was a close match between us but I always felt like I had a slight edge. Gavin was hands down, Mama's boy until the age of 2. Ashlyn was like Whitney. Since I spend the most time with them I feel it is my due that they prefer me above all others.

One of life's big disappointments for me has been the fact that I was only able to successfully breastfeed Gavin for any length of time. I won't bore you with the details of why it did not work out in each case. But I would like it to be known that I did everything humanly possible to succeed. Whitney was two months old and still at her discharge weight before I threw in the towel. I was one of those people who had read "The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding" (among many other books) and attended breastfeeding classes in advance. I had envisioned myself breastfeeding my baby for a full year so that they would benefit from the numerous advantages breastfeeding offers. I was devastated and felt like a complete failure when this dream died.

I then committed to bottle feeding with love which basically just meant that I always held them when they ate. I never propped the bottle up or let them hold it themselves once they were old enough. Therefore ensuring that they would at least not miss out on the close human contact. This was hardly a sacrifice on my part though. (One added benefit was that it made weaning from the bottle very easy also.)

When Landon wants to eat he will come over and hang on my leg until I pick him up or if he can manage it he will get on my lap. Then he will violently throw himself back into the feeding position. This is his not so subtle way of saying, "FEED ME!" This is common among breastfed babies but I had not seen a bottle fed baby do it before. Recently he has started to refuse to take a bottle from Chris. He will start saying mama over and over before culminating into a full blown fit. Landon must have some ideas about our roles as well. Mine is Preferred Bottle Feeder. And I am lovin' this role!