Saturday, May 29, 2010

My Pecan Tree

It's grown since last year! It's now just a bit taller than my waist.

Lantana closeup

Backyard.

My "Dallas Red" Lantana

Backyard.

22 1/2 weeks!

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Weaned!

It is done. Emma is weaned. Over all the experience went very well and we only had a few rough days. I wanted to remember this and also have a record for Emma so in addition to blogging I have kept a written journal.

On April 21, 2010, a Wednesday, I decided as I nursed Emma at naptime that this would be the last time. The next few days I wrote about here.

Then on April 28, I did nurse Emma again. She had a couple of rough days and each day at naptime she was becoming more and more upset. On this day she was crying, begging, pleading to nurse. I wasn't feeling great myself, I was upset and I think we both needed that connection one more time. So I told Emma we could try to nurse to show her that the milk was all gone. She latched on and started to nurse. Immediately I felt the tension in her body melt away, she was calm, relaxed and peaceful. She only nursed a few minutes before she was fast asleep. I rocked her for a long time and enjoyed the moment. It also made me feel better to have that physical connection again.

The next day at naptime I was prepared and brought a cup of milk to Emma's room. When she asked to nurse I reminded her that Mommy's milk was all gone but she could have some milk from the cup. She accepted this and took a few sips of milk. There were no tears, she was calm, and naptime was very peaceful.

Over the next few days and weeks Emma would ask to nurse but always accepted my explanation that Mommy's milk was gone. We continued to talk about Mommy's nummies, milk, and nursing but she was not upset when I refused to nurse her. One day I forgot the cup of milk and she didn't ask for it, so we've dropped that at naptime. She never drank much of it anyway and she doesn't seem to want it.

On May 11th I took Emma with me to an Attached Parenting meeting. At this meeting there are lots of nursing babies and toddlers so I was interested in how Emma would react. She saw a baby nursing and asked me to nurse several times. Finally she would not be distracted so I let her attempt to nurse. She latched on but it was as if she had already forgotten how to nurse. She did try and latched on several times before I asked if there was any milk. She said no and stopped nursing. She was just fine, and I think by letting her see for herself there was no milk made it much easier for her. It was very painful so I'm glad she didn't nurse for long!

So that's it, Emma is weaned. She still talks about milk, and my nummies. She likes to hug them and pat them. I never thought I would nurse for so long. It's been the best mothering experience I've had so far. I know it's helped Emma to be as healthy as she is, and helped us establish a wonderful bond. I love her so much, I just hope I can continue to mother her in other ways so that our bond continues to deepen.

Monday, May 17, 2010

I'm still here!

Sorry for the lack of updates. I'm working on a few new posts and I hope to get them up this week! Emma is keeping me very busy but this is her last week of Mother's Day Out so I've been using all that time to get other things done. Check back soon!