Playing alone

I never thought I would be happy about this, but my kid can play all by himself and can entertain himself for a good amount of time.

This morning, McCoy slid off our bed (a big bed, by the way) and walked into the living room.  We have been shutting the gate before we go to bed for this reason.  He played with his toys-- first walking over to his drum and playing it for a little while.  Then he brought one of his trains into our room and shared it with us.  He then moseyed on out and played with some other things.  We were both awake and listening carefully for unrelated toy sounds.  He came back in our room and grabbed a box of tissues (which I didn't know about at the time).  He went back to the living room, and things got quiet.  Very quiet.  So, I got out of bed and checked what he was doing.  He was starting to pull all the tissues out of the box.  I just chuckled a little bit and sat on the ground, using one of the tissues to blow my nose.  Politely, McCoy took another tissue out of the box and came over to me and wiped my nose.  What a sweet, polite little boy!

Bye-Bye Ba-Ba!!

This just in… it’s official!  McCoy is done with the bottle! 

This is wonderful news!  No more pumping.  No more pouring.  No more mixing.  No more labeling.  No more washing and cleaning.  No more finding random parts to bottles around the house.  No more space being taken up by ba-bas!  Yes, folks!  It’s true.  My big boy has moved on!

Everything bottle related will be removed from the kitchen-area in the next few days.  Most is already gone.  We began to phase him off the bottle around 11 months, but there was always some reason why he needed a bottle.  He was tired—he was sick—he was whiny—he was.  But slowly the bottles began to disappear from the cabinet.  First, I took all the 4 ounce bottles away (a long time ago, but it started the process).  He stopped taking bottles at daycare, so we needed less at home.  He was only getting one bottle a day (at night).  So we only needed about six bottles in the cabinet at one time.  And then he started going to bed without one.  And now, there will be NO bottles in the cabinet!  Last week I took the bottle warmer (although I never really used that much… Whit did though).  I even took the bottle dryer rack off the counter.

So we reach a milestone—Bye-Bye Ba-Ba!  We will not miss you!  (at least I won’t miss washing you all the time!!!)

I would say that it was complete by 13 months.  (although I’m writing this at 14 months.)

**I am still nursing though.  At least once a day (at night), but sometime two or three.

breastfeeding for almost a year

I think I'm at that point where McCoy isn't getting what he needs from me.  It's been almost a year of breastfeeding.  I'm very proud of myself for doing it this long even though I've been getting some discouragement from a co-worker and embarrassment from my brother.  I want to share with you (really, so I can remember) some stories of breastfeeding and some feelings I have toward the beautiful gift I'm giving to my son.

I remember having a hard time getting McCoy to latch on at the hospital.  My mom was helping me trying to get him to latch on and after about five minutes, she asked "Is he on there?"  And I told her yes, he was sucking away.  But when I took him off, I noticed a hickey on my breast!!  He wasn't latched on at all, only to have been sucking on my skin!  After we got home, I only remember one night where McCoy was crying and crying and I couldn't figure out why he wasn't eating.  I even woke up Whit and had him come in there to talk me out of giving him a bottle with formula.  He was only about two or three weeks old.  Whit came in and helped me and he nursed just fine.  Other than that one night and the incident in the hospital, I think my McCoy is a wonderful nurser.  We really haven't had any problems with latching on.  He bit for a while-- maybe only a week or so.  But he stopped that pretty fast.  When he bites, he is not hungry and he's only playing. :)  Maybe just bored I guess.  I played on Facebook when I'm bored; McCoy bites his mother...  Weird child.

My favorite time of the day to nurse is in the morning.  After McCoy has been asleep for the night, he usually wakes up about 4:30.  I gladly greet him and scoop him up in my arms and we walk together to my bed.  He lays between Whit and I and I nurse him back to sleep.  I love this comfort.  I feel his body close to mine and I feel Whit's body close to his.  I know that we are all three safe.  I think that this time is more of a routine that we have set.  I know that he doesn't need this "food" from me now.  It's more of a together bonding time.  He is usually back to sleep in about 15 minutes.  I just love sleeping next to him.  Although I have to admit, I get much better sleep when he is not in our bed-- those mornings, though, they are just perfect for cuddling and nursing my sweet baby boy.  Especially if it is raining and dark outside-- that's the best!

I love his face when I'm getting ready to breastfeed him.  He usually scrunches up his nose and starts whimpering like a little puppy... hurry up, hurry up!  I love how his little fingers run up and down my arm and occasionally my belly.  He finds my belly button and sticks his fingers in there as he is concentrating on his task at hand.

My breastfeeding journey is about to end, I believe.  I don't want it to, and just as we were moving McCoy out of our room-- I just kept delaying the process.  I have a feeling I'll do the same thing with nursing.  So it might be when McCoy turns one, maybe later!

Twice as Much, Half Less

Dear McCoy,

Today you are 6 months old. You are half way to becoming one year old. It's hard to believe that 6 months ago you were being born into this lovely world. You have been such a joy and a blessing to have around. You have taught me patience, kindness and most importantly, love. You have taught me to think of others first, and to quit being selfish. You are the sweetest baby around, barely ever crying or fussing. You can always make me laugh, with your little quirks and coquettish smiles. The way you kick your legs and move your arms when you are happy to see me makes my heart melt. You are always learning and always eager to explore the world around you. McCoy, you are almost on your way to crawling. It's amazing to watch you move to get where you want to go (at least, try to get where you want to go). You can move in a circle a dozen times, rolling over from back to front and back again.

You are so many things and you will become so many more. But looking back on this time with you, you are twice as much, and yet you are half less as well.

Your weight and length is twice as much as you were when you were born. You coo and babble twice as much. You roll over and play twice as much. You are twice as happy as you were before. You can sit and stand (supported) twice as much as last month alone. You can see things twice as far and your personality traits are twice as present. You are flirting twice as much, and laughing twice as much too.

But you are half as much also. You poop half as much as when you were first born. Unfortunately you have half as much hair as when you were born (grow back any day now!). You cry half as much and you sleep half as much (during the day). You have half as many clothing changes (thank goodness!) and you sleep in your cradle half as much as before (we are moving you to your big boy crib!).




McCoy, it is amazing how you can be so many things and yet be only 6 months old. I can't wait to see what the next day holds, what the next week brings, how the next month shows, and what the next 6 months will be like. I love you, dear son of mine. You are the center of my world.

Love,
Momma