A quick keeping-up post:

* I was playing with Allie yesterday evening by holding her so that her front is to my front, then leaning forward so that her back arches back and she looks at her daddy upside-down, which makes her laugh very heartily. With Allie’s backwards-mouth-open position, I saw clearly that her lateral incisors, which are the 2 upper front teeth on either side of her upper center front teeth, are out. They were NOT out on Friday, when the doctor checked her gums and the nurse applied fluoride on her 5 teeth. So sometime this weekend, teeth #s 6 and 7 cut. I knew it was coming because I had been very sore for a couple of weeks again from abrasion/friction during nursing. (She prefers a shallow latch so that she could pull away and see/play with my hair, clothing, etc. while nursing.)

* Allie now uses her little teeth to bite down on baby puffs which she’d only recently learned to feed herself this week. She brings one to her mouth, kind of experimentally, and bites it in half with her front teeth. Yesterday, however, she’s been stuffing the entire thing in her mouth rather greedily. Sometimes two in her mouth, one right after the other, with a delighted smile on her face. Also this past weekend, she learned to sip from a straw the “right way.”

* Pumping has been going well. I get let-downs again, and while at work using the Medela double-electric pump, I get 3-4 letdowns per pumping session, thanks to the tips from college roommie Diana. Who knew I was using the pumps wrong? Apparently I can induce let-downs by rearranging the pumps on myself a little in-between letdowns, and then pushing the “let-down button” to change the speed of suction, and play with the knobs to change things up. Also, I apparently need a non-baby distraction while I pump. Some people let down when they see/hear pictures/videos of their baby. For me, and this is also thanks to tips from Diana, I have to read a magazine or do something totally separate. I guess thinking about Allie is still stress-associated with me. Lately I’ve just been reading “Game of Thrones” on my Kindle while pumping.

* I had a very social weekend. It deserves its own post, since I also have photos. Hope to get to it soon.