And The Weaning Begins

I have loved breastfeeding my son for the entire first year of his life.  The time has come however to start the weaning process, meaning, I am ready to begin weaning.  I think if it were left up to the boy he would nurse forever.  He would love to nurse all day and all night.  There are several reasons for me wanting to wean.  First, I am getting very little sleep. Still.  My son has not slept more than four hours in months and the four hour stretch is rare.   Every two to three hours is normal.  Besides being overtired, which I can somewhat handle, I would like to start to try for another child.  I always wanted more than one kid, more than two if I am being honest, and I am not getting any younger.  

I am absolutely dreading the night weaning.  I have read countless forums regarding fertility and many point to night weaning being the key to getting pregnant.  We are not ready for night weaning.  I am not ready for night weaning, so I am starting with the day.  For the past week I have nursed the baby when we get up in the morning and then have attempted to not feed him again until bed time.  I have been successful more than I have not.  There were two days that I gave in.  I want this to be a gentle, smooth transition, so if that means that we don't hit 100% of our goal everyday, I am ok with that.  I am feeling a little more confident today than I was on Friday. Progress.  

The baby is increasingly drinking more milk throughout the day, which was one of my concerns.  I was only able to get him to drink a couple ounces when he first started the weaning process and now he is up to 8-9 ounces.  I found that I had to play around with cups to find the one he will drink the most out of.  I started by giving him a bottle to drink, thinking that this might work as a natural transition from the breast.  I have learned that he drinks much more if I give him a cup with a straw.  I also pay attention to how long it has been since he has had liquid and make sure to give him water while he plays and take breaks to have some milk.  I am sure to give him plenty to eat as well in an effort to satisfy his hunger (offering milk with all meals except breakfast when he gets juice).  

I think that the baby enjoys nursing for comfort more than anything right now.  I would be completely satisfied feeding him once in the morning and once at night before bed.  Right now however, I feed him as part of his bed time routine and then put him to bed (if I am lucky enough to get him to sleep) and he wakes two to three times before I am ready to go to bed.  The pattern continues throughout the evening into the night, all the way to morning.  Night weaning is going to suck. 

I have two strategies that I am willing to employ.  First, I will begin by decreasing the time on the breast by one minute each night.  I have heard that this has been successful with other moms.  If this doesn't work, I will offer a bottle instead of the breast as an option.  Did I mention that I am dreading the night weaning?  Baby steps.  We will stick with the day for now.  Baby steps.

Egg Carton Tree

As promised, here is a picture of our egg carton tree.  We used strands of cranberries to decorate the tree and placed a star on top.

Monday Fun Day ~ Egg Carton Tree

Today we are making a Christmas tree made out of a recycled egg carton.
First, cut the bottom of the egg carton to make rows of your tree (using one egg compartment for the top, then two in the next row etc.) We took a piece from the top of the egg carton to make the trunk on the tree.
Once you have your desired tree shape, you can paint the pieces green.  After the paint dries you can decorate your tree.  You can do this with paint or markers, or for those wanting to go a little further, you can use beads, yarn, pipe cleaners, paper, and almost any craft or christmas supply to adorn your tree.   Have fun with it! I will be sure to post a picture once ours is complete!

Oh What Fun It Is To Eat

Feeding the baby has become fun again!  We went through about five months of delicately choosing foods that with any luck would not bind the baby up.  We got to the point where I was ready to go visit the GI doctor.  I called the pediatrician after two weeks of the baby pooping only with assistance from a suppository, which was painful for all involved.  And then, as if the baby knew what was happening, he started having regular movements.  I began slowing increasing the variety of foods.  Its amazing.  I don't really have to worry about what I give him to eat anymore (aside from nutrition of course)  and he poops daily!  I was a little worried when I started giving him whole milk, as I have heard that sometimes kids can become constipated when they begin drinking it, but nope! 

It is so much easier to feed the baby now.  I basically give him whatever I am eating.  That being said, I do take minor precautions to aide in regularity.  I still give him infant oatmeal each morning and add probiotics to it.  He then usually will have some eggs or whatever I eat for breakfast.  I try to get him to drink a couple ounces of juice with breakfast as well.  I pay attention to the fruits and veggies that he is taking in to ensure that he has enough.  

Some kids are completely off of the pureed baby food at this stage.  We are slowly transitioning.  I am beginning to think that my baby's body is a little slower to adjust to solid food than the average baby and that may have been the problem all along.  So I continue to give him some pureed food along with the finger foods and small helpings of our meals, mostly because I am concerned he isn't getting enough otherwise. I no longer puree our meals.  I just cut everything up.  It is a relief to be able to simply cook dinner and know that the baby can eat it.  Yesterday I made beef stew and the baby ate it up.  The leftovers were just as scrumptious for lunch! The best part is that the baby likes most everything. It isn't always pretty, but its good!

We don't always strip the baby down at dinner time but the first time he ate spaghetti we had removed his shirt and he proceeded to rub the sauce into his belly like lotion.  Therefore, I removed his shirt this evening prior to eating.  Apparently pasta sauce is a good foot lotion as well!

First Flight

Team Rugged was at it again.  As I may have mentioned, my husband is going to buy a plane.  He received his private pilot license and since then, he has not stopped searching for the perfect aircraft.  As much as I am against it, there is no changing his mind.  Once he gets something in his head, he obsesses about whatever it is that he is into at the time (cameras, bicycles, stereo equipment etc.), and then proceeds to purchase whatever he decides upon.  So this past weekend we went to see a plane that is for sale.

After spending about a half hour looking at the plane, distracting the baby while my husband spoke with the gentlemen who had all the info about the plane, I heard the words that I dreaded.  "Want to take her for a spin?" one of the men said.  Of course my husband did and then he turned to me and asked if I would go.  I had never been in a small plane before but I bucked up and decided to give it a try.  I'd be lying if I said I wasn't anxious.

I was trying to put on a brave face, but notice my clenched fists.  I was already sweating and it was not warm out.  At least this plane was a spacious six seater.  I didn't feel unsafe at all during the flight but I get motion sick and I was doing everything in my power to focus on my deep breathing and kept telling myself that I was fine, that we were going to be on the ground in no time.  I made it through the flight without getting sick.  I felt sick for a good hour and a half after the flight though.  The next time we test a plane I will be sure to take something for the motion sickness.  I might enjoy it a little more.

The baby though, he slept through the twenty minute flight and wasn't at all bothered by the bumps and swerves of the plane.  He is such a trooper!

Monday Fun Day ~ A Christmas Wreath

Today for our Monday Fun Day Activity we made a wreath!  Logan picked through different items to ornament the wreath and I put the pieces together.  

To begin, take a wire coat hanger and construct a circle.  Then place small branches left over from trimming your christmas tree around the hanger and adhere with wire, string, or any product that will keep the branches on the wire.  Work with it until you have a shape that you like. From here you can add ribbon, ornaments, bows, flowers, etc.  (whatever you want to display on your wreath).  It doesn't have to be perfect.  Sometimes it's the imperfect shapes that are the most beautiful.

Oh Christmas Tree

It is December and the time has come to Deck the Halls! We continued our family tradition this year by going to Home Depot the first weekend of the month to pick up our Christmas tree.  This was not my first choice, but I was out voted by my husband, whose vote apparently counts more than my own (well, that and he had valid points- therefore it didn't take much persuasion on his part).  If I had it my way, we would have ventured out to a christmas tree farm and cut down our own tree.  I will admit that  the whole 'cut your own' tree experience is probably better appreciated by a child older than one year, so I wasn't that disappointed.

I have always enjoyed Christmas decorating but some years I am more into it than others.  Last year, I could barely open my eyes let alone decorate so I enlisted help from my mother in-law.  She came to visit when the baby was a couple weeks old and the only thing I asked of her was assistance in getting the tree up.  She did a fabulous job.  This year, since the baby is a little older,  I am excited for Christmas and therefore excited about the decorating.

  I put the lights on the tree last night after the baby went to bed.  I figured that would be easier than trying to keep the little guy from getting tangled up in the strands of lights. It seems that every year there is one strand of lights that doesn't work.  Don't you hate it when that happens.  Then you find yourself searching for that one little light that might be causing the issue.  Once you identify the problem light, you carefully replace it while hoping and praying that changing the light will fix the problem.  I am happy to report that there was none of that this year!  I got through the whole tree lighting extravaganza without any faulty lights! And thats not all!  I placed figurines and such around the house and created a centerpiece for the dining table too!  I am very pleased with the way everything turned out.  More pleased than I have ever been.  Yeah! This evening however, was all about trimming the tree together as a family! It feels wonderful to create treasured family memories and traditions.   Luckily, we had some baby safe types of ornaments to put on the bottom of the tree so there was no need to purchase new ones.  These were less interesting than the glass ornaments of course, but we made it through the decorating process without incident!  So much fun!