I always thought it was pretty straight forward bringing up a kid. Especially one who is 2 weeks old. After 16 days, I’ve come to the conclusion that my knowledge in bringing up a child is as good as my knowledge is telekinesis…which is only what I learnt by reading X-Men and watching Jean Gray fight with Emma Frost. I mean, the amount of info can sometimes be overwhelming.

This is the first time I’m coming across the term Nipple Confusion. Apparently, the kid has the ability to be confused over who belongs to which nipple. It makes sense…I suppose a plastic feel and a human feel is a little different. Unlike other GilaDads I don’t really have the inclination to do a practical test myself. But anyways, it goes that once a kid takes the plastic nipple from the bottle, he would shun the real one, because….it’s easier with the plastic one. All he needs to do is to suck and milk comes pouring down. It’s a lot harder with the real stuff apparently. This wouldn’t be a problem but for the requirement of the demand-supply arrangement between baby and breasts. So the the baby stop getting the real stuff, the real stuff stops producing, and we’re stuck in the realm of baby powder for the rest of the way.

And you’d think it’s natural that a baby will naturally be able to suckle like an expert. Since you know, that’s their job scope right? I mean I watched Discovery Channel and see the piglets naturally flocking to the mama pig and suckling. Human babies? Nope. Not natural. Or maybe it’s my kid. He really takes a long time getting latched and suckling properly. Sometimes, our feed sessions goes into 1 hour and a half because half the time, the dude is getting agitated not getting the milk.

At times, it is impossible to breast feed…especially when Mom is already dead tired and deep in slumber and it’s my shift. I obviously don’t have the goods, so I have to depend on good old milk powder that cost so much $$$. Due to this nipple confusion mantra, I have to mix the milk in the bottle and pour it out into a small measurement cup and feed the kid through the cup.

You’d think it’s easy but IT’S NOT. Half the milk dribbles down his little chin and when he lunges forward at the cup like a black mamba attacking a panda, you end up spilling all over. Apparently he gets less confused over this nipple issue over time. 2 weeks is still a little short, so we’re cutting him slack, but after 2 months, I think the pacifier and the baby bottle will need to do the work already.

So, ends our second week as parents. He’s getting better, he’s growing, and most of all, he is crapping ABSOLUTELY alot. In fact, volume wise, he craps more than he weighs. I think.