Guard Duties Resumed
Greetings to everyone.
Needless to write, but it has been a very serious time of historical rainfall along the Front Range. Flooding is rampant and washed-out roads and closed roads abound.
All this going on and newly promoted 1st Lieutenant Ogden must report to the Wyoming ANG base today. Of course, she has to be able to get to Wyoming to report in. I-25 is closed and she is sitting on it three miles from where the Big Thompson River overflowed I-25 (the highway is closed in both directions).
Her orders are for Friday and Saturday this month. Next month and through next year, her orders will be for Friday, Saturday and Sunday of Guard Weekend. This will be the first time I am left to care for and manage Xavier on my own. Whom will I ask "should I feed him 60 cc or 70 cc?" Or, whom will I ask "what do you think is wrong?"
Most likely, Rebecca will come home to find Xavier in his diaper, holding a slice of pizza in one hand and the TV remote in the other. Dad will be sitting next to him in his boxers also holding a slice of pizza.
Levity aside, Xavier is doing well. Today he is four months old. He is growing, and these last two days he has been eating and eating. Every two hours he downs 50 to 70 cc. Though he has not been weighed in nearly two weeks, he likely weighs about 6.5 pounds. It's getting difficult to hold him with one hand as his chest girth is increasing nicely.
Also these last two days he has not been so colicky. I must say, it's like a new calmer, gentler Xavier has emerged. His whole countenance has changed. We are not sure why the sudden (and it was sudden, within hours) change. Our top three thoughts are: the cooler temperatures, the low pressure parked over the Front Range, or the number 2 nipples we are now using on his bottles.
The new nipples definitely have had a positive effect on him. He burps better and he has not "volcanoed" since we introduced them. (volcanoed: (v) when a baby sucks in 50 cc or more of formula, aerates it in the stomach, then sends it back up, sometimes at gail-force speeds. Often thirty to sixty minutes after ingestion)
Of course, the one reason I did not mention above is the prayer. Always, we thank you for it. Great and Mighty is our Lord!
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Rebecca, dressed and ready to go, says her farewells to Xavier. She will not see him again for nearly two days. She looks good in her freshly-pressed uniform with 1st Lieutenant bars. It's the first time since her promotion she has donned the uniform with its new insignia.