The Trials of Breastfeeding an 18 Month Old

Can I be honest?  This is not my favorite age to nurse.  In fact, I loathe it!  I know- that sounds horrible!  But he is just so handsy!  His little fingers are all over the place- in my mouth, up my nose, in my belly button, scratching me, picking at me, poking me.  He drives me crazy!

Squinty, silly face!

And he grazes!  A little here, a little there, ten minutes later a little bit more.  As I am nursing him right before bed I feel like I am being slowly tortured to death.

So, if it's that bad, why in the world do I keep doing it, right?!  Well, too many reasons to stop for, obviously.

-I know all the health reasons for a toddler to still be drinking breastmilk and I cannot deny them.

-I know that it should hopefully help ward off ear infections, which he is already prone to, so whatever I can do to help seems worth it.

-It is still such a useful tool!  It helps him (and therefore me) sleep at night and calm him if he is especially upset or crazy.

-There are those rare shining moments that he contently looks up at me, his eyes light up and he smiles (nipple still in mouth) and it is precious. (although he does usually follow such a look up with a slap to the face- kinda ruins it.  Oh, wait- these are supposed to be my reasons to continue... oops)

-I don't feel that he is old enough yet to understand why he would be cut off.  I weened Roman at 2 years old and he "got" it.  I don't think it would be fair to him to sever the supply just yet.

-There are health benefits to me too!  Any less risk I can have of getting breast or other female-related cancers is good by me!  Especially since I wasn't breastfed.

-I would get totally engorged if I quit right now!  I know that over the next 6 months he will slowly nurse less and less which will lead to less discomfort for both of us on quitting day.

First play in the snow!

I know this is all controversial.  Some people look at me in amazement (and as though I just grew a third eye in the middle of my forehead) when they find out I am still nursing him (keep in mind how big he is!).  Others try to force a smile and offer a simple "Hmmm," or "Oh" when they find out that I will not let him nurse until he is 4 (which he probably would if I let him) or whenever he decided to quit.  I find very few people who land in the middle with me, but that's ok.  Offending people has never been a factor in my deciding to breastfeed or not, it has always been about my babies, myself and my family and it always will be.

So for now- I will forge ahead for Lion Cub.  I will tolerate his antics (and possibly resort to putting him in a straight jacket) and deal with it.  I will even do my best to have a good attitude about the whole thing!  Although, deep down, I will probably be looking forward to the day that we are done.

Be sure to visit my sponsor- Marmee's Bread Market- for recipes and everything else you need to easily make fresh baked goods for your family!

Aren't you bored at home though?

That is the question I was recently asked by a mom of one of my old friends when we were talking about how I stay home with my boys- all day (gasp)!  I think I actually laughed out loud when she said it!  I guess if you consider non-stop concerts (both singing and playing a wide array of instruments!) from a very musical 4-Year-old boring...

or chasing after the craziest 14-month-old I've ever met...

or cleaning up nearly constant messes...

or trying to figure out how to capture the heart of your child while balancing discipline and punishment...

or listening to silly 4-year-old humor...

or watching your 14-month old truly start embodying the essence of the term "little brother"...

or going on crazy outdoor adventures...

or seeing the world through the eyes of your children...

or trying to study and apply the principles of being a true keeper of the home...

or watching them sleep...

or seeing your boys bond...

or learning more than I ever thought possible by choosing to homeschool (and we are only in preschool! haha!)...

or any of the other thousand things I do in a day...

  If you consider all that boring, then, yes, I guess I have the most boring job on earth!

Tiring?  Yes.  

Frustrating?  Often! 

Filled with joy?  Absolutely!  

But boring?  Never!

A little bronchial pneumonia anyone?

Yup- for three weeks now I have been under the plague of bronchial pneumonia, and as of now, there is no let up in site.  As luck would have it, they cut off our insurance for my husband and myself this month, so heading in for an appointment is a pretty daunting financial burden.  I did manage to take the boys into their doctor and have him prescribe me something as well, but I have been off of the Z-Pack for 5 days now and am actually getting worse.  I have a hard time breathing and have been coughing so hard that I have pretty much completely thrown out my upper back.  Fun.  Something is going to have to give here soon though, I'm not sure I can make it through the weekend.

On a happier and probably more interesting note, however, there are some big changes happening over at my boys blogs!  Lion Cub is moving on up to join his big brother on the same blog, which has now been renamed The World According to Them.  I am really excited about this change (which is still in process as I get links changed, layouts adjusted, buttons made and so forth), and think it will make posting much more feasible since I won't be trying to keep up with both their blogs!

Also, on that same note- I am changing R-Man's online name (which I have never really fallen in love with- it's kind of... well... lame).  In light of his new drum set and his long-time passion for dance, music and banging on just about everything with just about anything, he shall hence forth be known as (drumroll please!  Haha- get it!?  Oh, I crack myself up!)...

Rhythm!  

Fitting, don't ya think?!

Lion Cub is 1!!!

Ok- please forgive me!  I meant to publish this post on Wednesday (his actual birthday!) but it just didn't work out!  I kept it written the same way though because it just reads better that way!  Sorry about that!

A year ago today, I was 15 days "overdue.". 

A year ago today, I woke up at 6:45am with consistent contractions.

(Yup- that was me in labor!)

A year ago today, I rocked through 4 hours of labor (if I do say so myself), walked into my bedroom, climbed into a tub and pushed out a baby in 4 contractions!

In other words, a year ago today, at 11:04am Lion Cub was born!

I don't know where the last year has gone!  It was filled with many long days and yet it flew by!  Now Lion Cub is walking, climbing, destroying everything, laughing, starting to use the big boy potty and showing us new aspects of his silly personality every day!  It is difficult to remember what life was really like before he was here- when we were a family of three and R-Man was an only child.  We went through so much to add another little person to our family and now the fact that he has been in our lives for a whole year just feels surreal!

Happy 1st Birthday Lion Cub!  We love you so much and are so proud of you!  

...now all he needs is a little sister!

Lion Cub's Blog!!

Well, in an effort to keep an up-to-date chronicle of my kiddo's lives I have decided to give each of them their own blog. Many of you have probably already seen R-Man's blog that I started for his 3rd birthday. Now I am introducing Lion Cub's blog:


Much of it is inspired by my bloggy friend Carisa's blog for her daughter Lady Bug. To start out with it will just cover milestones and such, and then I will see where it takes us! I hope you enjoy seeing Lion Cub grow and change as much as we do!

Please Pray

I am sorry there wasn't a new giveaway posted this week for the Summer of Baby Love Blog Party. As it turns out, I came down with a terrible cold a few days ago and now it would seem that Lion Cub has come down with it as well. So far, he just has a stuffed up nose, but that alone makes it difficult for him to nurse and nights have been very rough. We are praying very hard that it will not develop into anything more serious and that he will recover quickly (and that I will as well- recovering from birth alone is hard enough without this on top of it). If you all could keep us in your prayers as well we would deeply appreciate it!

The giveaways will be back next week with a giveaway and review of Sleepy Wraps- I know you will all love them! I will also be introducing my final new meme about babywearing. I also want to apologize for all of the comments I have not been able to follow back yet- I have just been focusing on trying to get better and take care of my family. I will be back full-time as soon as I can!