Night-Weaning Update

We had that one lovely night. Then we had the canines. (cue horror movie music)

The four worst teeth.

One. After. Another. For 2 months.

Finally, they are all through. Yay!

I've been sort of trying to do this approach, where basically you just gently stop letting baby nurse if she doesn't sleep between nursings at night, and don't nurse baby to sleep between, say, 11 and 6. This is for the first 3 nights. We've sort of been stalled here for the last few weeks. *yawn*

Oy.

Dee has spent many more nights in her own bed, but I still have a hideous time putting her back in her own bed if she wakes up at like 3 or 4. I'd rather go back in my bed and sleep, even if it means bringing her with me.

(Also, I'm going to start calling my baby girl Dee, because it's closer to what her name is, and she does sometimes get called this (when she was born, I had thought we'd call her a nickname that started with L, but that didn't really stick). I may start calling J "Jay" here, but I don't know. So for now, I will be going back and changing references to "L" to say "Dee." Maybe. I'll work on it. So please don't be confused!)

November 2, 2012 - Eleven Blissful Hours

Guess who I had to actually *wake up* this morning? (and boy, was she hungry...)

November 1, 2012 - Abracadabra!

To be fair, C took this picture, but I love it so I'm sharing it anyway.

In Night-Weaning News:
L came to bed with us at about 2 or 3, but again, this was the first (only?) waking she had. I just was too damn tired to stay up and nurse her. She slept peacefully and nicely while she was in bed with me, though, so it was nice and snuggly and sweet. She did nurse a good bit, but I still think we're making progress. 

October 31, 2102 - Happy Halloween!

L and J had a great time trick or treating and made out like bandits with 54 and 56 pieces of candy, respectively. They were both tired by the end of the evening, and both demanded to be carried home.  True to form, L was very serious about studying her candy while J was just plain happy!

In Which Dee Did Not Sleep (Through) Last Night.

Yeah...

She was mostly awake and thrashy for the hour I had her in bed with us and she nursed non-stop. From 2-3 am. Though that was the first time she had woken up, so I guess we're getting better?

I'll call this a draw. One night feeding dropped, but one hour of hell.

Pass the coffee, would you?

October 27, 2012 - 18 Months Old!

Height: 32.5" (77th Percentile)
Weight: 19lb, 15oz (15th Percentile)
She has all her incisors, her 4 1-year molars, and one canine tooth. The other canines are working on coming through and boy are they making her cranky.

Other than a cold, she's perfectly healthy and smart. She loves to dance, color, brush her hair, snuggle her babies, and read books. We don't know if she's right-handed or left-handed, as she likes to color with both hands. L really loves her brother and her dog (MacGuyver) and she likes Athena fine as long as she's not getting licked. Her favorite food is cheese, followed closely by scrambled eggs, apples, tomatoes, and lunch meat. She also really likes chocolate. She nurses 6-8 times a day (including nights) and is a very affectionate little girl.

Current words Include (50ish total):
What she says:          What she means (if not obvious):
gog                           Dog
Magogog                  MacGuyver
Afea                          Athena
NO!
get
down                    
baby
brotha                       brother
Jeems                       James
Mama
Daddy
eyes
noh                          nose
booger
nuh                          nurse
seetsh                     switch (to switch sides when nursing)
ny ny                      Night night/ I'm tired
hug                         arm or hug
hat
feet
toes
shoes
boots
cheese
Doodle                  baby doll named Doodle
moo                      (what a cow says)
boo
ruff ruff                 (what some dogs say)
woof                    (what some other dogs say)
hoo                      (what an owl says)
raaaahr                 (what a dinosaur says, or, if louder, what a Delilah says)
keeeey                  kitty
bowl                     bowl or spoon
bahw                     ball
wess                     dress
peepee
poo
ow
thanks
hi
bye
liggle                  tickle
G'pa                  Grandpa
G'ma                 Grandma
beow                 bear
booh                  book
bottow               bottle/sippy cup/drink
loooh!                look
beer
light
puppy

Breasts: By Any Other Name....

Jugs, tatas, boobies, boobs, tits, gazongas, fun bags, dirty pillows, milk factories....the list goes on. I don't think any other body part has as many nicknames. Maybe penis does, but I think breasts win the name game.  Breasts have been on my mind *a lot* lately. Not least because we're getting close to a year after my cousin passed away from breast cancer, but also because I have a friend who was recently diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer. She's just completed round 4 of chemo and is kicking ass. I've recently started reading Breasts: A Natural and Unnatural History. L still nurses multiple times per day/night. As approaches the 18 month mark, I wonder how much longer we'll have before she decides to be done. This morning, I saw this on Facebook, and it got me thinking.

I've been breastfeeding for over 3 years, all told, between J and L.  I hope to get at least 3 more years in between L and future-baby-to-be-adopted. Between the breastfeeding and giving birth (which supposedly also lowers risk by 7%) I've lowered my risk by 29%. Not bad, really.

Then I saw this awesome article on I Am Not The Babysitter (the blog of the mom on that infamous Time magazine cover): Worldwide Average Age of Weaning. According to this article (actually written by Kathy Dettwyler, an anthropologist who has studied breastfeeding in cultures around the world) the global average age of weaning is between 2.5 and 7, but there are a number of challenges in calculating this, especially when including the US in the calculations. I'll let you read the article yourself, as it's very well done.

Here are some other links I've come across in the past that I've been meaning to share, but hadn't gotten to it yet.

On Beyonce breastfeeding, and why it's important:
http://lactationmatters.org/2012/03/13/why-beyonce-nursing-in-public-is-so-significant/

mochamanual.com/2012/03/02/dear-white-women-beyonce-is-our-breastfeeding-moment-please-step-aside/

More from Kathy Dettwyler:

http://www.kathydettwyler.org/detwean.html 

An interesting article about "how old is too old?"

http://dianaibclc.com/2011/02/24/old-enough-to-ask-for-it/

October 20, 2012 - Babushka Baby

This picture of L totally cracks me up. Especially since I played with it in MagicHour.

She and her brother were playing super heroes with hooded capes. She decided that her baby needed rescuing, I guess, and the result is adorable.

October 15, 2012 - Go Broncos!

Stylin' before bedtime!

October 13, 2012 - Pumpkin Festival!

The kids were not their happiest, and the weather wasn't the best, but we had fun and got some pumpkins!

October 12, 2012 - Daddy's Girl

October 11, 2012 - Adventure Baby

October 6, 2012 - Quiet

It's not always a bad thing when the kids are being quiet in their room.

October 4, 2012

L was insistent that I take her picture at dinner the other night.

October 1, 2012 - Giant Pumpkin!

We went to pick up our CSA share, and while we were there we stopped to take a picture with the kids and the giant pumpkin left from the weigh-off this weekend.  It's a little like herding cats, trying to get two small children to look at the camera and stand by a pumpkin at the same time, especially when L has learned that as soon as she hears the "click" she can run away but J likes to make faces and stuff in pictures.

I love this picture. I didn't realize til now that you could see L "flying" off to the side!

September 25, 2012 - Dee's Turn

Here is my baby girl with her babies. The larger one is named Lilah (was also mine when I was young, I got it for my second Christmas) and the smaller one is Doodle (Dee named her that all on her own!).

 

She's really giggling here, I promise!

Yes, there are some HotWheels present as well.

September 23, 2012 - Little Fan

We're trying to teach L how to say either "Touchdown!" or "Go Broncos" with varying success. So far, she touches her head and yells "GO!" It is really, really cute though.

September 14, 2012 - Goofy Girl

September 13, 2012

I think this pretty well sums up the difference between my children.

Halloween!

I'm trying to get through to next week, when I'm home with the kids all week and can craft to my hearts content (I may be in denial about that one...). Here are the costumes I made for the kids last year.

This year, J is going to be Spiderman and L is going to be a dinosaur. I will post pictures this year (promise!).