01 December 2007

Snow and baby bottles

Snow. Yup, we’ve got it. It started this morning. Julia and I managed to go food shopping and David went down to work at the beginning of the day but by mid afternoon we were all home. I shoveled some and walked the dog, but I was very happy to get inside, cook, and watch movies (The end of Brother Bear really surprised me.). The precipitation has changed this evening to icy and rain. Can’t wait to get out there tomorrow!

Julia has been playing with the doll bottles she has. She gets into my lap and wants me to pretend that I am feeding her – feeding my baby, she tells me. I asked if she wanted a real bottle and she told me yes. I think she has been slowly edging towards asking for a bottle for awhile but has been too shy, scared of the vulnerability to ask. I brought a bottle home the other day and filled it with warm milk. I held Julia like a baby and she tried drinking from the bottle; however, she really doesn’t know how to suck. She can use a straw without trouble, but getting milk from the tiny hole in a baby’s nipple seemed impossible. I put one of her fingers in my mouth and I sucked on it. I put my finger in her mouth and told her to suck.

From what I’ve read, in China, they cut nipples so that babies get formula as quickly as possible. So there is a chance that Julia has rarely gotten the chance to exercise those sucking muscles. We will practice.

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