Josephism.

Ok, so that's silly, because Josephine doesn't say anything too funny.  (Although she has been heard around town saying "baby," "momma," "daddy," and "hi.")

But, most of what Josephine has been saying lately is "Ow."  Because, she has been hitting her head one million times a day.  It is just so easy to forget how much babies this age hit their heads.  Crawls near the armoir, hits her head.  Shimmies under the piano bench, hits her head.    Pulls up on the coffee table, hits her head.  It is bananas.  Seems she can't make a move without a bonking.

Poor Jogini.

Eleanorism.

"Mommy, me a pumpin'. A pump, a pump, a pump-pump-pump. Me a pumpin', but my nipples hurtin' bad. A cleanin' my pumps. Well, my one pump."

(This is going on while Eleanor sits on the toilet naked, "pumping" with a handpump.)

It's that day again.

Today is National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day. It's been a really hard few weeks for me, and a pretty hard day specifically. And, of course, it's hard for many people we know and love. Please keep them (and their children) in your thoughts and prayers. (Mary said it beautifully - "they are mothers of more children than they put to bed each night.")

So what if I do?

So freaking what if I stop pumping right now? I am not saying that I'm going to. But, so what if I do?

I have over 1,000 ounces of frozen breast milk.

Which means, given that that would last about six weeks, Josephine would get breast milk until 11 months.

That also means that I've pumped approximately 7,000 ounces of breast milk in the last nine months.

I am sorry, in case you didn't notice the first time, that's 7,000 ounces.

So, let's say for the first three months, I pumped eight times a day for 30 minutes each. That's FOUR hours a day. Times 30 days a month (give or take). Times three months. That's 360 HOURS of pumping.

Let's say six times a day for the next three months. That's 270 HOURS of pumping.

Let's say four times a day for the next three months. That's 180 HOURS of pumping.

That means, over the last nine months, I've spent 810 HOURS PUMPING.

So, that also means that I've pumped give or take 540 times.

That also means, if it takes me 10 minutes to set up, sterilize, clean up, etc. to pump, I've spend 5,400 MINUTES PREPPING. That is 3.75 DAYS SPENT PREPPING TO PUMP.

On the up-side however, if formula costs $100 per month, I've saved my family $900 DOLLARS in nine months.

So, take that. So what if I stopped today?

Windytime.

That is what Eleanor calls a windy day. She says, "Nice day, Mommy. No rain. It's WINDYTIME!"

The only bad thing about windytime is that our internet has been spotty. But, we're back in touch now. I took the girls out Wednesday for some pictures in and around Historic Sykesville. I planned to take their pictures together (in these beautiful fashions a la Maura Bayly), but Eleanor couldn't sit still for 10 seconds. Windytime is just too exciting. But, here they are!