Breastfeeding 15 months plus

I have heard of sibling rivalry. In fact, I've lived it. I have three sisters and a brother. To this day everything is a competition (of love of course) right down to who says happy birthday to someone else first.

William is all about that. He was born in 1/3 the time Amélie was. He weighed more, decided to walk around the same time, and his best accomplishment has been successful breastfeeding and going strong.

Now some of you are just appalled. Stop reading, go away and look up porn or something. Seriously. I know you think I'm kidding but your disgust at my still breastfeeding my toddler is going to get as much respect as porn is. (By the way porn doesn't get that much respect in case you are confused or something ...)

If you are still here it is because you are curious, supportive, or bored. Either one of those is totally fine by me.

For those who think : breastfeeding your 15 month old son? omg that is so much work and is going to ruin him. He'll be SO clingy. Here's the truth about that. My husband was bottle fed and he is about ten times more clingy to me than my son. Just. Saying. ;) lol.

It isn't gross to breastfeed your child. Period. World Health Organization recommends breastfeeding up to two years.

Sidenote : I had another damned link about formula but I hadn't read it yet and now I can't find it so I will add it later.

The reason this post is even coming up is because I recently was given the DIRTIEST look by some friends when I told them I had to run home to nurse my son and put him to bed.

"You're STILL breastfeeding?"

I took that to mean : What the F is wrong with you? Your son will grow up to be a loser and will never leave your house. Ever. That is disgusting and you are a freak.
My response was : Yes. (shrug)

But MAN that seriously chapped my ass (borrowing an expression from Eileen because I'm SURE I've heard her say that before.) I'm still angry and probably hurt. I shouldn't be I know. I'm really doing an awesome thing for my son. I mean should I just up and criticize THEIR choices?

"He doesn't sleep his nights??"

I took that to mean : OMG You are CRAZY. I let my kids cry to sleep from a very young age. I stopped that nonsense right away because I needed my sleep. I wasn't putting up with that bullshit. 

My response : Amélie just started sleeping her nights and she also potty trained herself completely without my assistance in any way, shape or form. In fact, my mom jokes that DESPITE me Amélie potty trained. Including night time bedwetting.

I weighed myself the other day (yesterday) and I weighed 110lbs. Wanna know what I did to lose 50 lbs? I baked cinnamon buns and homemade bread. I also cooked with lots of butter and ate lots of meat. And by lots of butter I mean I keep it stocked in my freezer and I'm going to die of a heart attack when I get older. Or diabetes. I did no exercise. Zero. Seriously I jogged up some stairs (twice) yesterday and I feel like my legs are DYING but ... I weigh 110lbs. I also breastfed and am still breastfeeding. Since I like butter so much I'm going to keep breastfeeding.

I don't give a hooty hoot hootbutt about you having to feed formula because whatever reason you had. I'm sure it's a brilliant and fact filled reason (no sarcasm. honest.) I really don't appreciate the frowny faces or the rude comments and especially the talking behind my back (or to my face in a negative way) about the fact that my son still likes breastfeeding. Grrrr. I swear to God that he will not suffer a horrendous personality disorder from breastfeeding. Has it ever occured to you that maybe it's not the breastfed babies that have the crazy personality disorder? (Omg this could be a whole other blog post)

When I say I need to go home to nurse my son to sleep, all that is required is a "See you in a few" if I'm coming back to the party or whatever, or a "Okay :) TTYL" (Happy face required) Then ... when I leave you talk about the f-ing weather. Unless you want to be supportive then you can say whatever supportive thing you have to say like. Good for you! Or you may also talk about how ridiculously hot I look because ... I know you want to. And it's okay.

I worked super hard at breastfeeding Will in the early months. Amélie quit at 5 months because I had horrid PPD. I perservered and with a super supportive husband we are still going strong. Okay mostly Corey is just super duper lazy and breastfeeding Will to sleep is easier than rocking him. So basically we are uber lazy, BUT on the upside we are doing him a HUGE favor.

Now. I didn't want to tell you this but ... I think you should know. We also let out kids sleep in our bed. WHAT?! Yup. Mostly Amélie just falls asleep there because her bed is uncomfortable or something. Whateves. We move her to her bed she's Awesome. Will comes to our bed after I get up to NURSE HIM the 2nd time or something because it's seriously easier than walking across the hall to put him back in his bed.

After typing that, I'm realizing just how lazy I've gotten. I'm worried though. If I do any physical exercise I might wither away ... hm. This is an interesting dilemma.

Oh. And I'm not looking for comments about how to wean/make my son sleep his nights. But if you have a funny/supportive comment then feel free.

Oh and one more thing. It is completely acceptable to make fun of me behind my back (and to my face) when I am CERTAIN of fact but you can prove me wrong. But seriously. That's the only time. Ever. Got it? I will ... find out. BAHAHAHAH

Why the hell am I still typing on this post? I should be sleeping. Seriously. I say that a lot. Seriously.

One last thing. I didn't post any of the many incredibly benefits of breastfeeding because I have to assume that since you know SO much about it that you can comment rudely to my face about it that you are more than aware of the incredible benefits of breastfeeding. I mean ... you wouldn't make an uneducated comment would you?!

Well, okay another thing if you seriously are just not knowing then I want you to cite your references because ... really ... they are questionable.

Omg and because I don't want the bottle feeding mamas to assassinate me in my sleep, this really has nothing to do with bottle feeding whatsoever.

Oh my god it's late. This post is now done. The end.

At this point I'm not sure this post makes any sense anymore. I'm posting it anyways. You're welcome.

Many Things

- My bread is heavy. I realize that might not make sense to many of you but it's heavy. Kneading too much? Not letting it rise long enough? Luckily, my aunt said she'd show me the trick!

- I currently have so many Scentsy bars in stock that when I have to decide what scent to put in I just go with Rootbeer float. I should have gotten more rootbeer float.

- I'm SO SO Excited for the new catalogue/fall/winter scents to come out. Just two more sleeps!! EEEEE.

- My cinnamon buns ... I tried a new recipe. Lame. I think I'll stick with the recipe that Dot gave me. I like those ones. YUM! I was going to make some today but ran out of flour and I need a trick to get the 'sauce' on the bottom to stop collecting.

- William has been waking up earlier and earlier. I am actually not pleased by this, despite his earlier bedtime. He also headbutted my head while nursing the other morning. GAH.

- Amélie hates wearing clothes. HATES it. As soon as she knows that mémère or one of her matantes are here though she races to get panties on.

- She and Will LUV their Mononcle Devon. Okay actually they basically adore all their aunts, uncles, relatives and anyone that comes over.

- Amélie's fish are still gross when the filter isn't changed and I hate having to remember to feed them but recently Amélie's 'Aladdin' (her betta) died so she got a new one and he's blue. So, blue.

- I go back to work soon and I need the money but not looking forward to it. Sigh. Once I get into a routine it'll be fine I suppose.

- Amélie decided she didn't want to wear diapers after her 3rd birthday so she stopped wearing them even at night. I'm impressed ... except now I have all these girlie pull-ups.

- I seriously need to put up my cupboard doors.

- August is 10% off month for Scentsy.

- Corey is so cute when he's nerdy.

- Going to the movie theater sucks. It's expensive, the popcorn is stale and gross, it's expensive, too loud, people bring their SUPER whiny kids to adult movies, omg it's also so expensive.

I may add to this list later. Most likely I won't though.

Play Dates

I haven't been on a play date with my kids in a long while.

I feel guilty.

There are quite a few people that I would love to go visit! My kids make it difficult for me to sit down and relax. Although these people are cool, relaxed and have a similar sense of humour to mine, I just can't relax when I have to chase my 14 month old son around.

In my own house, I know where all the dangers are. I know what direction he can safely go and I know what he won't touch and how he'll react when I scold him. When I bring him other places, there are an infinite amount of things for him to get into. Although their children are similar ages, their children don't react the same way as Will does. Will is everywhere at the same time. Literally I need to follow him around at other people's houses or else he will destroy something or hurt himself.

I'm not saying he's violent (although witness a tantrum you might think otherwise), I'm saying he's just learned what's okay to play with at home and what's not okay. He can go in the fridge and get himself a fruit and he knows that's okay. He can climb on the couch and sit down but he's just learning not to jump on it. Our house is small and with just one move I can see him almost anywhere unless he's in a bedroom. If I shut all the doors in the house, he can't go anywhere I can't see him, but he can still explore and learn things on his own. All my friends have nicer houses haha.

I get super stressed when I can't see him. Maybe I'm just paranoid, or maybe I'm just aware of what trouble my kid can get into. It makes play dates really stressful for me. So those of you who wanted play dates with me ... bear with me. Maybe I should invest in a leash ...........

Morning musings

I'm really not a morning person. Really not. But there's something about waking up to pick a baby out of a crib and help a toddler out of her 'dirty clothes' that makes it all worth it. I wasn't a breakfast person either, but watching Will chomp on some homemade toast while Amélie sucks back about 3 yogurts makes me smile. I even manage to sneak some food myself. Today it was cereal and cheese.

I don't even mind the one hour of cleaning that I do before computer time (although when Corey works nights it becomes one hour of cleaning whenever I get to it).

I've also been cleaning up my facebook profile page, deleting old posts, when I came across one from Enjoying the Small things about her daughter Nella's birth. I cry no matter how many times I've read it. She really makes it easy to just be happy to be myself and actually enjoy the things that make me 'unique', like my Star Trek fascination, and my sporadic creative moments.

I don't feel guilty about not cleaning my house all the time either. I never used to buy anything nice for Amelie because I knew she'd get it dirty, now ... if I see a dress on sale (has to be pretty awesome sale) that I know she'll enjoy, I'll buy it if we can afford it. In fact, I recently purchased an adorable black dress (for next year) but Amelie spotted it amongst my groceries and whipped it out, gasping as if she'd just found buried treasure! By the time I'd come in with a second helping of groceries she was wearing it, pleased as punch. I'm pretty sure that if I'd paid 30$ for that dress (original price) it would already be stained, but since I only paid 7$ ...

I'm looking forward to spring. Amélie already picked out a pair of rubber boots, but unfortunately the shipping cost didn't make it feasible, so hopefully I can find them somewhere else! There's something about spring that makes me feel ... good. I don't know how to describe it and even when I try to think about it ... all that comes to mind is me standing outside in rubber boots, surrounded by melting snow, being very pregnant and inhaling that spring air. Amélie running through puddles and playing in the 'moat' Devon made to keep water away from our house. I imagine me walking in to work wearing sandals, because I really like wearing sandals! I'm excited for spring.

But, I'll enjoy winter at home with my two little spring babies. I'll be grateful for every second that I get to spend with them, and with my niece.

We all know that kids grow up to fast. Wasn't it yesterday that I was begging my mom to buy me anything other than a sweatsuit for my first day of school? Or to go out on a date? Where did this walking baby come from? And this self-proclaimed 'big girl'?

Sigh.

Is it possible to be this happy, even with laundry constantly piled on the couch, toys strewn across everywhere, dishes in the sink and kids running around half naked?

Turns out it is!

Will is 9 months!

Will is 9 months. Well ... alright, I'm late with this update post, but seriously, I was otherwise busy. But ... in these pictures he was living his 9th month. As in ... at the end of this ... he was 9 months old... well ... I probably have newer/closer to the 2nd of February pictures, but they aren't on my computer yet so ... this is what you get. I may come back and add more later.

This month, we went to a play/date immunization get together to talk about vaccines where Will saw his 2nd cousin pulling herself up. So. He insisted that she simply could NOT best her ... and decided to do the same thing. Now he 'runs' along the couch and 'reaches' for other objects but not quite walking. Oy. Do they grow up faster the more you have?? He also refuses to say mama ... well ... not true but up till the 2nd he hadn't said it and would reply with Dada ... when I would say ... maman?? He would laugh.

Will pretty much skipped the whole ... pablem/mushed food thing, which is good ... because my blender is mentally handicapped. I had made pears, carrots and apricots and ... something else ... oh yeah. Butternut squash. And he does like his cereal in the morning ... well ... occasionally. At his mémère's insistence I fed him bananas and was rewarded with a happy baby with ... really stinky poop. He pretty much eats what we eat ... except in teeny tiny pieces. He still breastfeeds and no he doesn't sleep through the night and NO I don't want to change that. But thanks.

sleeping ...

not sleeping!

skipping right into solids ....

giant baby Jesus ...

Let me outta here!!

Good parenting ...

from Sweet Baby K (the giraffe that is)

30 days of truth ~ Day 11 - Something people seem to compliment you the most on.

Easy. On how perfect I am. No?

hmmmm ....

Alright then, I'm funny. Or Sarcastic. Or easy to make fun of or ... you know it generally has to do with laughter. But really.

Sometimes I get some good one liners, I'll admit. Maybe my sarcasm is right on once in a while, but trust me ... sometimes it's WAY off. Awkward.

Actually. It's still funny. It may be funnier when I'm the only one laughing. If any member of my family is with me, I know I won't be left hanging and they will laugh at me regardless ... but still.

Is it possible to be passionately humorous? I lost my way for a while. After Amélie was born, I was definitely not as funny as usual. Then over the past few months, since Will's birth, things are settling back in. Or ... I think they are? You know, even during Will's birth there are some seriously funny moments. Come to think of it, my entire day today was filled with laughter. How is the world going to handle me AND my mini-mes? And my husband is funny too ... a family of clowns ;) I'll take that any day.

The Boy. 8 months old

Well, I puzzled and puzzled about whether I should put a post about my Boy, (all of 30 minutes really) and decided. Duh. Yes. Am basically talking/writing for my own pure enjoyment and I want to talk/write/read/listen about my Boy. Here he is in all his awesome glory.

Cruelty to siblings - not really. Amelie wanting to feed Will is all.

Fail! Parent trying to see/take a picture of Will's tooth. What for? My own selfish amusement.

We promote violence/self-defense at a young age

Big boy playing with his toy! He WAS dancing but obviously ... that is a video

Because he has a rooster in his hands.

What. The. Hell. is on my head?

What do you mean that isn't an appropriate food for an 8 month old?