Surgery, Leaving E, Rolling to the Right

I was away from Eamon today longer than I have ever been. Six hours. One of my bestest friends was having surgery (outpatient), and I wanted to be there to support her and her partner, pick up food for them, etc. E woke up around 6:00 this morning and I fed him and left. TJ took care of him until 9:00, at which point my stepmom, Gwen, arrived to take over so TJ could work. I got home a little before 1:00 and promptly nursed him and put him down for a nap. (I had pumped once while I was out.)

I was excited to find out that in my absence E had rolled over to the right for the first time, from both belly and back. (He's been doing full rolls for weeks now, but always to the left.) Gwen is taking full credit, and I think she should!

Later this afternoon I was trying to tempt him to roll to the right by putting toys just out of his reach. I put one in front of him to see what he would do, and he was trying with all of his might to figure out a way to move forward. He dug his toes into the ground and tried to push off, meanwhile reaching with his arms. It was really something. He's more than ready to be on the move, but I think it's going to be several more weeks till he gets there. He can have all the time he needs as far as I'm concerned!

He didn't eat much while his grandma was here, which surprised me. I figured he'd eat more solid food than usual since he was missing a nursing session, but I was wrong. She gave him yogurt as a snack around the time I would've nursed him, but he wasn't that into it, and he usually loves yogurt. He also didn't eat much lunch. It's very unlike him, and caused me to wonder if he's more aware of things than I realized.

I'm also going to be away from him on Friday evening for another fairly long stretch. Two times in one week. :( I wish there was some other way he would take breastmilk. Maybe I would feel less like I was abandoning him. I know I shouldn't feel that way--he won't starve, after all, and lots of moms have to leave their babies every day--but I'm just not used to it.

It was great to get to be with my friends this morning, though, and I'm glad to report that the one who had surgery is recovering very well. My girls . . . I love them.