Bittersweet

It’s a bittersweet week with Jake just a few weeks shy of his first birthday… One…. Wowzers!.  With a goal to nurse my little monkey for a year,  I had no idea that it would be an experience that I would come to enjoy.  Rewind time back 10 months and I wasn’t sure that nursing was for me.  Fearful that he wasn’t getting enough and that I wouldn’t be able to provide what he needed.  Fast forward to today and I’m in love with the little breaks in the day, sometimes quiet and sometimes not, sometimes snuggly and sometimes a battle. Jacob’s grown from a  6 1/2 pound sleepy head to a 20 pound little man on the move.  With Aiden and Chris officially on their spring break, I figured this week would be as good a time as any to start to wean my little guy.  We are VERY routine and our schedule is very predictable.  As such, I knew it wouldn’t be easy. 

Friday was my first step, dropping his regular afternoon nap time feeding.  I offered a sippy cup with milk in it’s place and held him just the same.  Sweet as always, he curled up and played along.  Saturday morning I dropped his 5 am feeding.  He awoke as normal and talked himself back to sleep {although feeling like a guilty Mom, I watched that monitor until the big boys were awake}.  While the mornings now start a bit earlier, he seems to be adjusting well.  I’m hoping to drop one more feeding before the week is over and would like to gradually tapper down with the remaining two.  Having pumped for a year for Aiden and Chris, the whole “weaning process” is new to me.  I of course scoured the internet for suggestions and have been inquiring with every young mom I see.  Is it a big deal?  Yes and no.  I’ve come to the realization that his needs for me are changing.  Nursing is an awesome gift but independence is as well.  He’s close to walking and growing all too quickly.  And to think, at this time, one year ago, I was packing my hospital bag and anxious to meet him. I’ll savor these last few days for sure!

Here’s a moment of nursing resistance….

Aiden and Chris are staying busy in their world of pretend.  So lucky to have a built in playmate and best buddy.  They love getting creative with their Lego’s and are super stars at building cars, trucks and space ships.  They are enjoying reading the Magic Tree House chapter book series and enjoy a craft project here and there.  Chris’s favorite question to ask is “When you were little did you _ _ _ _ ?” He loves to compare his world to our youth.  Aiden on the other hand loves to inquire about what we would do if we were him.  For example, any time he has a treat he says “If you were me, would you eat it all now or save some?”  He is all about saving things special to him for later.  Life is never dull and there are always hundreds of questions to keep us talking….

I’ve been busy wrapping up a few projects….

Here’s a peak.

Some homemade Easter baskets for the boys.  Mike helped with the construction and I fancied them up.  These are solid.  Poor kiddos may be handicapped by the weight of their baggage at this years egg hunts!

My longstanding trunk refinishing…. A whopper of a project, started before I was pregnant with Jake. This puppy was coated in a waxy black cardboard glued around the entire chest.  Inside and out.  Lots of scrapping, dust, gunk and days and days of manual labor and here’s the final product.

 

Oh how I love refinishing fun!

And just for a chuckle, I couldn’t resist….