The months of Declan: THREE!

Declan started his third month with a trip into New York City! He sat with his big, round eyes opened wide during his first train ride, and catnapped through Central Park and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, completely underwhelmed by the throngs of tourists, the 90-degree heat, and priceless art from centuries past. Even Monet and Picasso did not impress. He did blink awake the moment we stepped into an Uber and screamed loud enough to drown out all of the city noise. After twelve full weeks at home, Mom went back to work just a few days before her school's summer vacay and his big sister finally got her wish and fed him a bottle. He ended this month with his first airplane ride to Texas where he became acquainted with barbecue and sweet tea, doting neighbors and his namesake. Pappy mesmerized him with his drum set, showed him where he keeps the candy stashed, and lulled him to sleep on his shoulder. Nanny's huge smile and endless, expressive baby-talk charmed Declan and sparked his biggest smiles and biggest coos to date! 

"is harmony, is poetry, is beauty"

Kristy Powell Photography

During the month of August, the US Department of Health and Human Services funds a national campaign to promote and support breastfeeding, highlighting its benefits to both mother and baby. And as a breastfed child, and now a breastfeeding mother twice over, I am grateful, amazed, and empowered by breastfeeding  my children. But I am also acutely aware that, sometimes those advantages come after a stressful and teary learning curve, a hungry (screaming) newborn with difficulty latching, bleeding nipples, breast pumps, nipple shields and nipple cream, engorgement, mastitis, low supply, over supply, and a lot of grit. And although breastfeeding is certainly not the only way to nourish and comfort a child, it is one example of the courage, harmony, poetry and beauty within women and mothers. 

"This is a great gift of God: He has given us woman. And in the Gospel, we have heard what woman is capable of, eh? She is courageous, that one, eh? She went forward with courage. But there is more, so much more. A woman is harmony, is poetry, is beauty. Without her the world would not be so beautiful, it would not be harmonious. And I like to think-- but this is a personal thing-- that God created women so that we would all have a mother." -- Pope Francis

First latch with Mary Allison. Esther Edith Photography

World Breastfeeding Week 2014. Kristy Powell Photography

First latch with Declan. Kristy Powell Photography