A few weekends ago, we took a trip to Madison, besides offering free beer every night (amazing, I know) the hotel also had a pool. Evan loved the pool. He has an amazing kick that is almost straight legged. That isn't saying much but as a former swim lessons teacher, getting a kid at any age to kick with straight legs is no easy task, and my kid is a natural. I had known that Evan was obsessed with water but he created sentences to describe it. After our first trip to the pool, he was hooked. Every time we went into the lobby, he would go up to the window and look at the water. If you were not paying attention to him looking at the water, he would bring you over to convince you to go swimming. He would say, "Water place". Then we taught him the word pool and that caught on immediately. With language development we have have to repeat stuff a million times for it to sick, but not so with pool.
His love for swimming and all things water stuck with him and now, baths are nearly an hour long. I can't even say the words bath or tub without him ripping his clothes off. In the last week Evan has started to try to float on his back. He will push all his toys to one side and lie on his back with only his little face sticking out. He then kicks his feet and splashes. This ends with me panicking and pulling him up. He thinks it's hilarious. He even puts his face in the water and turns to the side to take a breath. This kid needs swim lessons.
Aside from "water place", Evan's verbal and cognitive skills have taken off exponentially. Not a day goes by where he doesn't practice sentences. His grammar sucks but he's getting there. Today he said "Me get dada" and he got dada. He recites chunks of his alphabet and will repeat individual letters and sounds when we practice with his leapfrog fridge phonics. But the greatest thing he has done lately is count! Yes, my child who is just shy of one and a half can count! My sister and I were reading him a book where the penguin counts to four. We stopped at four and heard this tiny voice say five, six. It was one of the most amazing moments of mommyhood thus far. While he can't line up 6 things and count them, he loves having 2 of the same thing and will count one-two, which is also amazing.
One of my biggest worries as working mom, was being able to practice things like counting and reading, but I've set my worries aside because we are getting there.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Adventures in Extended Breastfeeding: The Lactivist
Tonight Evan went to bed without nursing. About 2, maybe 3 nights a week, he will just snuggle to sleep. I am perfectly ok with that. It means there isn't a struggle, he can calm down without a boob, and he doesn't do his crazy half hour nursing ritual where he switches sides like 8 times. But if you tell that to a lactivist... you are doing it all wrong.
I may be a crazy hippy mom that still nurses her toddler but I'm not a pusher. I'm cool with breastfeeding, I think every baby should get a good 6 weeks of the good stuff, but it's not for everyone and can be really hard. I don't see not breastfeeding as a failure. There are perfectly healthy kids out there that *gasp* drank formula. Even Evan has had a little supplementation of formula and now that I have ended my my sordid relationship with my pump he gets cow milk. It takes more than shelling out your hard earned money for formula to make you a bad parent.
One of my dear friends had run ins with lactivists when her son was very little. They gave her a really hard time for not breastfeeding in public, among other things. I felt so sad for her. I was fortunate enough to not encounter too many lactivists until just recently. (See my post on why I hate lactation consultants here.) Recently I joined a FB group for breastfeeding moms hoping to get more information about extended breastfeeding, what I got was a ton of super opinionated weirdos. Everyone has crazy ideas, my suggestions are always wrong, even if they are words of encouragement and they are militant. Drives me nuts.
Here are the top 3 strangest things I read in the past couple of weeks (I'm summarizing here.)
1.Use your breastmilk for other things. If your baby has a diaper rash put breastmilk on it. Eye infection? try breastmilk. Sore throat? take a swig. Constipated older kid? Have a glass of the good stuff.
Really? really? I'm all for the magical boobie milk but last time I checked, it was food.
2. Pacifiers lead to early weaning, you should really comfort nurse. Before Evan was born, I was antipacifier because I read it inhibits a good latch. Well in the beginning it's always a struggle pacifier or not. Evan loves his pacifier but he's also a milk junkie and won't give up either. And the comfort nursing thing, I can list 10 million other things I would rather do than have my boob in my kid's mouth all day because he wants it. Banging my head against a wall is on my list of things I'd rather do before becoming a human pacifier.
3. Give your milk to an older child, even if its not your own. This woman gave milk to her 4 y/o nephew because he was not feeling well. I think its gross. I doubt that if preschooler Evan wasn't feeling well and I had a lil nursling, I would give him milk. I would reach for the Robitussin before the milk supply. There is a reason kids wean, besides I'm not going to give him milk til he's 20, at least I hope not.
I may be a crazy hippy mom that still nurses her toddler but I'm not a pusher. I'm cool with breastfeeding, I think every baby should get a good 6 weeks of the good stuff, but it's not for everyone and can be really hard. I don't see not breastfeeding as a failure. There are perfectly healthy kids out there that *gasp* drank formula. Even Evan has had a little supplementation of formula and now that I have ended my my sordid relationship with my pump he gets cow milk. It takes more than shelling out your hard earned money for formula to make you a bad parent.
One of my dear friends had run ins with lactivists when her son was very little. They gave her a really hard time for not breastfeeding in public, among other things. I felt so sad for her. I was fortunate enough to not encounter too many lactivists until just recently. (See my post on why I hate lactation consultants here.) Recently I joined a FB group for breastfeeding moms hoping to get more information about extended breastfeeding, what I got was a ton of super opinionated weirdos. Everyone has crazy ideas, my suggestions are always wrong, even if they are words of encouragement and they are militant. Drives me nuts.
Here are the top 3 strangest things I read in the past couple of weeks (I'm summarizing here.)
1.Use your breastmilk for other things. If your baby has a diaper rash put breastmilk on it. Eye infection? try breastmilk. Sore throat? take a swig. Constipated older kid? Have a glass of the good stuff.
Really? really? I'm all for the magical boobie milk but last time I checked, it was food.
2. Pacifiers lead to early weaning, you should really comfort nurse. Before Evan was born, I was antipacifier because I read it inhibits a good latch. Well in the beginning it's always a struggle pacifier or not. Evan loves his pacifier but he's also a milk junkie and won't give up either. And the comfort nursing thing, I can list 10 million other things I would rather do than have my boob in my kid's mouth all day because he wants it. Banging my head against a wall is on my list of things I'd rather do before becoming a human pacifier.
3. Give your milk to an older child, even if its not your own. This woman gave milk to her 4 y/o nephew because he was not feeling well. I think its gross. I doubt that if preschooler Evan wasn't feeling well and I had a lil nursling, I would give him milk. I would reach for the Robitussin before the milk supply. There is a reason kids wean, besides I'm not going to give him milk til he's 20, at least I hope not.
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Adventures in extended breastfeeding: Mil? Get baby boob.
Evan uses a lot of sentences now. But mostly they are ones he learns from us and they are conversational. He has the typical Look over there and I did it. And do you want this? And my favorite... Bite? Try it. But today he put together a sentence himself, well it was more of a question followed by a command. "Mil? Get baby boob." He couldn't have been clearer. Usually he just says "Mil" or Milkie, when he wants milk.
Since I made my decision to breastfeed I have heard opinions and "suggestions" that when they are old enough to ask for it then it's time to wean. Evan not only asks for it, he often just gets it himself. He sit in my lap and pull up my shirt and nurse. Now we have entered a new phase of breastfeeding.
Today, Evan has not left my side, and he has nursed like crazy. He might be teething, I always think he's teething when he nurses like crazy, either that or some developmental milestone, growth spurt, or illness. When we are home on the weekends, he nurses so much that he barely eats food. It does leave me physically drained sometimes, but it is what it is.
When I began, I knew that I wanted to breastfeed for at least a year. I was going to try to wean at the year mark but we have gone well beyond that. Lactation information tells you there is no age that you should wean and that breastfeeding should continue as long as mutually desired. Sometimes the feeling is not mutual, but we joke that if it were up to Evan he would breastfeed well into his twenties. So here we are at 17 months and still going strong. I feel like his need for breastmilk is stronger than ever, actually.
Since I no longer pump and he is not with me most of the day, he makes up for lost time at night and on the weekends. This is called, reverse cycling. It's where a baby will satisfy most of his milk needs at night to make up for lack of milk during the day. I think it happens to a lot of working moms. I was told by one ped that I shouldn't give into it and he needs his sleep, and I should not be guilted into nursing all night. Too late. He will probably nurse all night until we officially wean and I don't see that happening anytime soon. Sure he needs sleep but he also needs milk. Could he survive without it? Sure. But that is not to say that my milk is not filling a nutritional void and he needs the calcium and whatever other nutrients and antibodies that are in my milk. (I really don't know what the nutrient content is, I'm a scientist but not that kind of scientist.)
I don't know how long we will go and I feel like this is just the beginning of extended breastfeeding. He still needs mama's milk even if its just for comfort. But we all have comfort food.
Since I made my decision to breastfeed I have heard opinions and "suggestions" that when they are old enough to ask for it then it's time to wean. Evan not only asks for it, he often just gets it himself. He sit in my lap and pull up my shirt and nurse. Now we have entered a new phase of breastfeeding.
Today, Evan has not left my side, and he has nursed like crazy. He might be teething, I always think he's teething when he nurses like crazy, either that or some developmental milestone, growth spurt, or illness. When we are home on the weekends, he nurses so much that he barely eats food. It does leave me physically drained sometimes, but it is what it is.
When I began, I knew that I wanted to breastfeed for at least a year. I was going to try to wean at the year mark but we have gone well beyond that. Lactation information tells you there is no age that you should wean and that breastfeeding should continue as long as mutually desired. Sometimes the feeling is not mutual, but we joke that if it were up to Evan he would breastfeed well into his twenties. So here we are at 17 months and still going strong. I feel like his need for breastmilk is stronger than ever, actually.
Since I no longer pump and he is not with me most of the day, he makes up for lost time at night and on the weekends. This is called, reverse cycling. It's where a baby will satisfy most of his milk needs at night to make up for lack of milk during the day. I think it happens to a lot of working moms. I was told by one ped that I shouldn't give into it and he needs his sleep, and I should not be guilted into nursing all night. Too late. He will probably nurse all night until we officially wean and I don't see that happening anytime soon. Sure he needs sleep but he also needs milk. Could he survive without it? Sure. But that is not to say that my milk is not filling a nutritional void and he needs the calcium and whatever other nutrients and antibodies that are in my milk. (I really don't know what the nutrient content is, I'm a scientist but not that kind of scientist.)
I don't know how long we will go and I feel like this is just the beginning of extended breastfeeding. He still needs mama's milk even if its just for comfort. But we all have comfort food.
Friday, January 6, 2012
Oh it's a new year?
Considering Evan came home from the sitter yesterday covered in glitter, apparently from a raucous mid-day new year's eve party reenactment, I feel like its not too late for my year in review/new year blog post. We had a lovely 2011/2012 stomach bug, I have an excuse for not posting.
I have to say that last year was a pretty good year for Evan and in turn I had a good year as well.
Sure 2010 was great because Evan was born but the rest of that year he was pretty much a baby (Eat, sleep, poop). In 2011, he became a mobile baby and a crazy toddler.
Evan's milestones:
I have to say that last year was a pretty good year for Evan and in turn I had a good year as well.
Sure 2010 was great because Evan was born but the rest of that year he was pretty much a baby (Eat, sleep, poop). In 2011, he became a mobile baby and a crazy toddler.
Evan's milestones:
- February 2, he rolled over for the first time. I remember the day not only because it was during the great blizzard of 2011 but it is also my favorite holiday.
- Evan got a lot teeth. Between February and the end of the year he grew 12 of them... that is the majority of all his childhood teeth in a year. And we as adults need to shut up about wisdom teeth.
- He learned to sit sometime in Late Feb/ Early March. (Yeah that was around 6-7 months... we have a late bloomer.)
- He started crawling around May or June (or sometime right before we moved, I forgot that quickly.)
- He started climbing shortly after that.
- He started talking somewhere in here.
- He gave up baby food at 10 months (psuedo-babyled weaning if you are one of those hippie moms)
- He turned one!
- He started walking at the end of his 13th month. (Just like my mom predicted)
- Started running shortly after, and became a kid and not a baby anymore.
- He discovered m&ms around Christmas and our lives will never be the same.
There were some other cool things that I did as a mom this year. We started using cloth diapers in August. There was a big learning curve washing those things but we love using cloth. I've also made other attempts to "go green" by cleaning with steam instead of chemical whenever possible.
We went to Florida in February. Evan saw the ocean. We went to a ton of museums, zoos and parks in the spring/summer. I sorta stopped doing all that in August but with a mobile tot, I anticipate several outings this winter. We took Evan camping for the first time this fall. He also ate dirt and started walking on that trip. (Both were very exciting).
All in all, it was a pretty good year.
I don't have any resolutions. New Year's isn't ever that exciting for me, probably because I'm not much of a drinker and this year I was in bed by 10. Besides there isn't much to resolve, I don't feel like I need to better myself in a major way, and if I did, it wouldn't be a resolution. Sure we could all be a little more active and I'm sure Evan will help me get out more (at least on the weekends) as he becomes more of a toddler.
Well maybe this year, I will craft a little bit more if I can. I have a ton of unfinished scarves waiting to get out of limbo. And I hope to blog a little bit more. You can look forward to a few posts I'm planning about breastfeed a toddler, hopefully weaning said toddler, bedsharing and getting a kid out of your bed. And anything else Evan brings up. Cheers.
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