Weaned...

It's been a long time coming but William is finally done nursing.  Our breastfeeding journey together has ended in part due to lack of interest anymore and (mostly) because of my lack of supply.  I am so happy to have made it to a year.  Although I understand the difficulties so many face, William was a master nurser from the beginning.  We both learned quickly and had minimal hurdles at the beginning.  Definite supply issues from the start and a few bouts of mastitis couldn't stop us from moving on.  I made it through pumping at work and have actually never spent a night away from lil' man (I think this calls for a vacation, right?). 

Over the past few weeks, William has been a little (ok, a lot) less interested.  We were finally down to morning and night feedings (wohoo to no more pumping at work!).  Then we were down to just mornings.  Then, one morning, he just decided he was finished. 

I know it was the right time for us and I'm happy to have made it this long.  I'm sure he doesn't notice much of a difference and doesn't notice the transition.  So why am I sad?  I have mixed feelings of sadness and relief.  Although it's nice to not have to worry about where I'll be and timing feedings and worrying about supply and dealing with mastitis or teething, it breaks my heart to lose some of those cuddles and bonding we shared.  It also reminds me that he's growing up... [sigh]....

I have a 381 day old...

On the 12th of this month, I became a mother of a one year old.  Well, I've been his mother for the 364 days leading up to it, but you know what I mean.  My lil' man is one.  He's no longer a baby, he's officially a toddler.  He's a talking (oh yes, like with actual words!), crawling (walking would be too much work), curious, playing trouble maker.  He brings so much joy to my life it kinda makes my heart skip a beat. 

I feel like my mother when I say, it just went by so fast.  Birth [blink] first tooth [blink] standing [blink] first birthday.  Phases have come and gone and each one gets more and more fun and exciting.  I thought nothing could get better than the cuddly newborn stage, but then he started rolling and playing on the floor.  Then I thought, alright nothing can get better than THIS stage, this is so much fun.  Then he started crawling.  You get the idea.  Each new phase brings so much excitement and fun and pride and love that continues to grow. 

I'm happy in the place the hubby and I have gotten to as well.  I'm sure our 1st year parental survival trophy must have just gotten lost in the mail.  We have successfully made it one year with hopefully minimal harm to our child and each other!  I would go as far to say we have done pretty darn good so far.  Bonus points? 

Happy (late) birthday to my lil' man....Mommy loves you more than you will ever know....

Wordless Wednesday - I can make him laugh

[OK...so not entirely wordless...]

You are so so tired.  Make sure you do not smile or laugh....make sure of it...

OK, even if you decide to look less sleepy, make sure to not smile.

Oooo, mom's funny face and noise gets you everytime.  If you must smirk, make sure it doesn't go any further than that. 

OK....you let that smile slip.  No giggling though.  Absolutely NO giggling.

Oh, man.  Mom gets you everytime!

This boy makes my heart melt.  I can always make him laugh unlike anyone else.  I may not be able to do too much but I can do that and I feel pretty good about that.

If you want to know what brings me joy....

I Can Read

1. Imperfect Birds - Anne Lamott
2. Operating Instructions - Anne Lamott (definitely recommend for any mother's out there)
3. The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins
4. Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins
5. The Audacity of Hope - Barack Obama
6. Mockingjay - Suzanne Collins
7. The Green Book - Elizabeth Rogers and Thomas Kostigen (definitely a book I would recommend for anyone interested in going green)
8. Firefly Lane - Kristin Hannah
9. Baby Proof - Emily Giffin
10. Healthy Child Healthy World - Christopher Gavigan (go out and buy it! wonderful resource for keeping your family healthy while living a green lifestyle!)
11. Heart of the Matter - Emily Giffin
12. Bossypants - Tina Fey (Hilarious!)
13. Prey - Michael Crichton
14. Julia's Chocolates - Cathy Lamb
15. In Defense of Food - Michael Pollan
16. One Day - David Nicholls
17. The Help - Kathryn Stockett (Loved it!!)
18. Dismantled - Jennifer McMahon
19. Always Looking Up - Michael J. Fox
20. How to Talk to a Widower - Jonathan Tropper (I will definitely be reading more of this author!)
21. Queen of Babble - Meg Cabot
22. One for the Money - Janet Evanovich
23. Lisey's Story - Stephen King
24. Two for the Dough - Janet Evanovich
25. Room - Emma Donoghue (Fantastic!)
26. Three to Get Deadly - Janet Evanovich
27. Matched - Ally Condi
28. The Giver - Lois Lowry (just as amazing as I remembered it)
29. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone - J.K. Rowling
30. The Last Time I Saw You - Elizabeth Berg
31. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling
32. This is Where I Leave You - Jonathan Tropper
33. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling
34. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling
35. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K. Rowling (currently listening to)
36. The Art of Racing in the Rain - Garth Stein (currently reading)

Well...I'm making my way thru the Harry Potter series.....but by listening to the audio book, instead of reading.  I listened to the first one and fell in love with the book and to the performance of Jim Dale, who reads each of the audio books.  He is pretty much amazing and even though they are quite long, I think I will continue to listen to them. 

My reading has definitely slowed down.  Football season just finished for my husband but I had been taking care of William in the evenings without the extra help - didn't leave much time for reading.  Fall is here and that means new TV show episodes....I can't resist.  William is also of the age now that anything you have, he MUST have.  This includes books which makes for a very difficult time reading, unless he's already gone to bed.  Even with only a couple months left in 2011, I am happy with the amount of books I've read this year.  I'm already up to about 36, which is (sadly) more books than I think I've read in the last ten years COMBINED!  It feels very good and I'm actually enjoying myself!

  

Disappointed in myself

So William is almost a year old and my weight loss has been absolutely pathetic.  Not that I was so successful prior to becoming pregnant, but I have been very disappointed in my progress or complete lack of....

In January, I wrote about how I was going to start my weight loss journey and here I am, nearly 40 weeks later with the same problem I had in the beginning.  Working out is hard to come by since I'm usually taking care of lil' man in the evenings.  Getting to the gym has been absolutely difficult - although I keep on handing them over the money every.single.month. 

In the spring, I did Race For the Cure and did my best to run most of the 3k and did some training leading up to it.  I was determined to keep on training to be able to run another race in the summer.  Not sure if you noticed but....it's fall now. 

If food wasn't just so dang good, I could at least make some progress on that front.  Alas, I'm still working on my self control, although I am getting better and go in phases of good behavior followed by phases of atrocious eating habits. 

I know WHAT to do.  It's just a matter of DOING IT - what a concept, right?!  I need to stop making excuses and get my rear to the gym (even if it means going before work - GASP - at 5am).  If you see me with heading to a vending machine with a dollar bill or going thru a fast food drive thru, I am giving you full permission to slap me - no...seriously....or yell. 

If I would have kept it up 40 weeks ago and lost just one pound a week....well, you can do the math - I'd be THERE already!  I need to make some permanent changes and make it stick this time!

Anyone else out there struggling too?  Anyone have any good tips or work out help with baby?

Cloth Diaper Love....still...

While tackling some in-the-diaper issues, we used disposables for a few weeks - so we could use Vaseline and some rash cream.  It's so easy to become used to the convenience of disposables after using them for an extended period of time.  You won't get much of an argument from me - they are super easy.  But then I remember why I'm doing cloth diapers.  None of the same chemicals, none of the same waste and they are so dang cute!

So while lil' man was in 'sposies, I took the opportunity to strip them - they had started repelling and we definitely had a case of the stinkies.  I've done an overnight soak before and it helped some, but I figured I would take the time for some serious stripping action.  I boiled all the inserts and then did a soak (inserts plus pockets) for about an hour in the tub in Rockin' Green, with some added boiling water since our water heater isn't set very high.  After the soak, I did a normal wash and line dried them.  Not only do they not smell AT ALL but they are SO white!!  It's like having brand new diapers.  My love has been renewed and we are back on the CD wagon.  :)

Wordless Wednesday - Boat Ride

William - 10.5 months

Discovery

Look what we found in the yard (just before Tressel would have destroyed it!).  We figured we would see what William thought about it....

Do you see the intensity in Tressel's eyes?  He's thinking dinner...

Hello, there!

Can we keep him?

OK, there's no toad in this picture....he's just cute :)

Dinner Time

Dinner time sure has changed in the last year. 

Pre-baby, dinners would be just Adam and me on our stools at the kitchen counter (or let's be serious, in front of the TV).  Nothing too fancy - sit and chat about our days, clean up, relax.  Pregnancy dinners were most likely spent in front of the TV while I balanced my plate on my belly - my patience and back hurt too much to try to sit at the counter.  William was born and eating was around his schedule.  I would try to feed him first, then inhale whatever was for dinner and then go tend to him.  Then we started putting him in the bouncer seat on the counter in between us to talk about our day and to just admire how cute he was.  Then William was big enough for the high chair!  We would pull him up in line with us at the counter (we seriously do have a kitchen table....) and I would take quick bites while feeding him whatever puree I picked out for the day for him.  Every once in awhile, we would give him some Cheerios or some teeny tiny pieces of fruit.  At this point, even those didn't slow him down. 

Now I'm trying to let him feed himself.  Dinners have now gone from about 20 minute sprints to about hour long food play marathons.  It's a good lesson in patience for me while I practice not just saying "Never mind, let me do it."  We sit and he slowly brings one teeny piece of green bean or turkey to his mouth at a time.  It's a miracle if at least half of the food makes it into his mouth.  Mommy is always there to help him, but it's pretty entertaining to just watch him try himself. 

Also - not sure if it's WAY too early to tell, but he is mostly preferring to use his left hand when he does everything.  Can you tell this early if they will be right or left-handed?

You would eat slow too if your fingers were this small and all the adults gave you was a spoon!