I'm Still Offering...

although I know it's the end :(

Nate is 13 months. He's been a great little nurser... just from minutes after delivery he figured it all out and has been the model little breastfeeder ever since! (a huge blessing, I know)

But he's been weaning himself for some time now.... not bringing me his burpcloths and climbing into my lap. He's been way too easily comforted by a cup of soymilk and some Cheerios, his burpcloth, a toy car or his paci :(

For the few weeks he'd only been breastfeeding in the morning and at night (occasionally a snack before a nap or if we woke in the middle of the night or wee hours of the morning)!

This last week he's had at least ONE 24hour period he didn't nurse AT ALL!!!! First he slept 12 hours through the night... yippeee!! In the morning he was very content playing and then eating breakfast with us (soymilk, bagel and banana). In the evening I attended a ladies Bible study and then headed off alone to grocery shop (another yippee!!). I expected him to wake at midnight and get in his feeding, but he DIDN'T. In fact he slept IN the next morning and again was content with playing and breakfast.

It was then that I knew that the "end" was nearer than I thought :(

There is such a crazy mix of emotions when the "baby" weans themselves. The realization that he's really NOT such a little baby any more. And that my body is finished providing for him in a very real way.... <tears> And yes, even thinking about Nate nursing still brings a "full feeling" to my chest.

But there are other very real advantages.... dates alone with Daddy can resume;) Chocolate, ice cream, PIZZA... and then exercise to work it all back off!! LOL!! Late night chats with Bible study ladies :)

I knew this was coming.... it was just a matter of time... it's just part of my "baby" growing up :(
Which he is doing soo quickly:)



And I will survive! I've been through this before :( And while reading that post of when Lydia weaned herself, she was almost the exact age of Nate... between 13 and 14 months! Must just be "our" ending time.

In case I haven't mentioned it before, Anna finished breastfeeding the night of her 1st birthday. She looked at me, waved "night night" and walked to her crib and held up her arms to be put in. Chris hated nursing and we survived 10 months... finally my body couldn't make enough for him (and probably wasn't getting any signals from him he needed more) and he started loosing weight :( I was already VERY pregnant with Lydia, so that probably had something to do with it as well!!

And for now, I'll still offer at night... but I know these sweet, nursing cuddle moments are almost gone! And I'll have to be fine with him in my lap reading his favorite board books before bed.

5 MONTHS!!

This last month has brought MANY smiles!! You have become more and more content each week:) The things that make you smile the most:
* Being tickled
* Peek-a-boo
* Chris "talks" to you!
* When you think it's time to eat:)
* When anyone smiles at you FIRST:)

You are weighing about 17 pounds!!

Dressing you has become a little challenging:) First, the seasons are changing so we're pulling out "warmer" clothes... but second you are growing!

You fit into 6-9 month clothes very well, but will soon be OUT of them. You have also been able to fit a lot of Chris' old oneies... some of them are size 18months!!

Here you are in one of Chris' old shirts!! It's size 18months and is a little bulky in the sleeves and shoulders... but you could definitely wear it already! Which is great because you are still on track for using soo many of Chris' old clothes!!

We think that you have a longer torso and "shorter" legs because 6-9 month pants fit you well, while you need a bigger top size:) Anna is built just like that, too!!

You have become the "Drool Machine"!! You are constantly drooling on EVERYTHING (or trying to eat it). Your clothes under your chin are always wet!! You won't here us complain though because drool sure beats "spit up" :) And we know that teeth must be coming... although we haven't seen any teeth yet!


YES!!!! This is what I still wake up to every morning... your cute face... except YOUR eyes are opened FIRST... way too early, I might add!!!

You're last feeding is usually around 10ish and we tuck you into your nice, clean crib. But you usually holler out for us about 12-1am!!

We're still not sure if you wake for more food, because you miss us or miss our bed!! While everyone would LOVE a full night of sleep.... we honestly cherish these last days of sleeping with you.

Yes, I say last because they must soon come to an end with your increasing abilities to move and how much room you're starting to take up:) Oh, and the fact that you like to wake BEFORE the sun.... too early!!

You are still a GREAT little nurser!! Although it's still around the clock!! Although I"m glad because I had a week this month that I thought our milk supply was down... I"m sure those extra 2 and 4am feeding sessions helped out with that situation!!

You are starting to reach out to grab our food and you LOVE trying to drink water from our cups. If you see us pick up a cup to drink... you wave your arms and get really excited, hoping that we'll share!! And we try to if it won't mess up your nursing time:)

This month as it cooled off, you really began to enjoy being outside. In fact, there were numerous times you watched your siblings venture outside while you nursed and you fussed to be finished and then weren't content until you were outside, too!!

You are soooo content watching everyone and even falling asleep outside in the stroller..... it's very tempting some days to homeschool outside, so you are content without entertainment!

And we tried you in the baby swing... a little early! But you love it!! So we watch you like "first time parents" ... LOL!! Worried you might slip through those leg wholes behind you!

You don't go very high. And sometimes you ball-up your little fists and rub your toes ... almost like you don't like it. But you have a smile and look happy:)





You started rolling from your back to your tummy this month... you were trying hard last month to do it!!

But instead of just going from back to tummy, you've started rolling and exploring on your own. It's very common to see a blanket down and you playing feet from it:)

Lydia and Chris rolled, but never as a way to get around.... you definitely favor Anna in this activity. We remember her rolling all over the place, too!!

BTW... you LOVE that crazy train "blanket"!! It gets washed numerous times each week as you bomb it with drool and spit up.

I found it a used goods swap-store at seminary when we first had Anna. I felt like a goofball getting such a "boy" blanket for Anna, but you're our 4th baby who has loved that thing!




When you are sleepy, you still prefer your paci - the newborn ones, not the upgrade that fits your age! You still aren't CRAZY about having it, but once you're sucking on it, you are pacified and fall asleep more quickly (than without it).

And lately, you've been trying to get the paci in by yourself! You are sooo close in doing it, you just need to

LET GO of it once you get it in:) I know, I know... easier said, than done;)

You still prefer to chew on your fingers,hands, and fists. In fact, you've almost convinced me that you're a wannabe thumb-sucker.

And as a warning to what is next.

We've been seeing you start to get your knees up underneath of you!! (In this picture you were a little fussy!) When your siblings started doing that crawling happened soon after!!!

Yikes, I can't imagine all the mischief you will find when you really start moving!!

This last month has gone fast....

We are soo thankful that you've become such a healthy, sweet, cuddly and funny baby boy!! And we look forward to what the next month brings :)

Nursing and Food Allergies

I've been wanting to share about our nursing experience thus far....

Anna was my first little nurser and she was sooo easy.... of course, I was a new mom, a new nurser and not sure how everything worked! I had the soreness as my chest got used to nursing a babe and a little engorgement, but no big problems besides Anna's constant and HUGE "spit ups". Her spitting up was actually reactions to dairy coming through the breastmilk.

Chris was a horrible nurser.... we had latching on problems, more food allergies, he never really sat long enough or was even interested in nursing. After visiting with lactation consultants at the hospital, we finally got him sort of straight and we nursed until my pregnancy with Lydia affected my milk supply... poor little Chris:(

Lydia was another great nurser like Anna. She would take forever to eat... but she did a great job nursing and if you've seen pics of her as an infant, she was well fed:) LOL!!

Thank goodness, Nate has also been a great nurser!! The first weeks my goal was to nurse, nurse, nurse!!! And Nate hasn't stopped!!! I seriously never got engorged with him. I have felt "full" only a handful of times because my little guy eats around the clock!!




Nursing Nate has also been unique because he eats soo quickly!! He takes less than 10 minutes to feed at each nursing session! He's just super efficient!

While nursing Nate has been "easy"... there are always challenges... and ours is food allergies!!! Because Anna, Chris and Lydia all have food allergies, I've again decided to eliminate our problem foods from MY diet (directions given to me by our allergist when our other children were diagnosed!).

An obviously PLUS is that I loose the baby weight FAST... I'm just a few pounds from my whoo-hooo target weight!! But honestly, while it's nice to have the preggo pounds gone, I'd MUCH RATHER keep some of them if it meant my kids didn't have food allergies!!!!


Another CON is that I really have to think about what I NEED to eat. Since dairy, eggs and peanuts are all sources of calcium, fat and/or protein, I have to be sure to eat other foods that fill in the gaps that are left in my diet. I think my lack of energy and Nate's not sleeping through the night might have something to do with my diet... so I'm in the process (constantly) of examining my diet and trying to get in what Nate and I need!!

Another CON is that during these "short" nursing months I have to watch EVERYTHING I eat. I was reminded this week.... I ate a chicken sandwich at McD's ... no cheese... but I don't let the kids eat them because one of the many ingredients is dried milk. Well the next afternoon, Brian was feeling sick and Nate was SOOO fussy. Brian finally remembered eating the chicken sandwich with me and then Nate had a huge spit up.....

MILK!!

Which leads to another PRO which is that through nursing we have been able to predict what allergies each child has had based on what they were sensitive to! This is really nice because the kids don't actually have to consume the "problem" food themselves and we know which foods to test at the allergists.

But........

Totally eliminating

MILK

EGGS

and PEANUTS

is a lot easier said than DONE!! It's a constant battle of my self-control... not eating what I really want to eat... pizza, ice cream or a Snickers bar!!! Oh, man writing that was torture!!!

but it reminds me of two things:

1. food is "just food", needed to fuel our bodies!

2. The constant sacrifices of parenthood, and in my case, motherhood!!! We carry this baby which can be soo hard on our bodies, we go through labor, then we sacrifice daily for our sweet babes!!! I happen to sacrifice some of my favorite foods for this short season!

But the sacrifices don't end after nursing... LOL!! They don't even end when the kiddos go to college!!!! I know of a sweet local mother who has been with her adult daughter since July because of complications from surgery... this mother has sacrificed soo much to care for her!

Just a reminder to me of the sweet and demanding call of "motherhood" !! May I be found faithful to this amazing calling by God!

WW: Nursing "coma"

Nate is soo content after nursing. He just falls sleep while we attempt to burp him or even keep him awake for a bit:)


You can find some other picture posts at Wordless Wednesday, 5 Minutes for Mom and Go Graham Go!!!

Dairy, here I come:)

I have been a little delayed in sharing this milestone b/c I wanted to make sure Lydia was done. But Lydia has officially stopped nursing. The last month or so she'd only been nursing at night, but lately she's only wants her ice water cup :) Ohh, I've been replaced :(

Sure I've got some mixed emotions....DAIRY and peanuts!!!!, fewer moments of snuggling before bedtime, FREEDOM, loosing some sense of caring for my little baby, DATES with Brian that can go past bedtime, she's not so little anymore!!! H aha ha....

She's still not so excited about soymilk. She'll take one swallow and then literally throw the sippy cup onto the floor!! I have been sneaking soymilk into her oatmeal and she been loving the Oh,Soy yogurt made by Stoneybrook Farms and sold at WallyWorld! Anna really had a hard time adjusting to soymilk but will now drink cups and cups a day!! So there is hope for little Lydia.

This ends a pretty long stage of pregnancy and nursing for me.....up until last week when Lydia stopped nursing I had been either/or/and nursing or pregnant since September 2003!! Let's see that is 54 MONTHS!!!!! And that is straight...no breaks...ha haha I was just thinking that the breaks I had were was when I was very pregnant and the older baby stopped nursing (first Anna and then Christopher)!!!