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| Got milk? |
Weaning a child from the breast or a bottle takes a lot of patience and effort into letting that child know that enough is enough and it's time to be a 'little' big boy now. I would really seriously love to start weaning Noah from nursing before his second birthday, but I don't think it's going to be that easy. This kid loves milk, but because he knows I'll nurse him...he doesn't drink a lot of it. I know that he could be a whole milk drinker, but he still prefers mother's milk. There are days when I wish for him to stay little, but life goes on. I need to put an end to nursing and give him more milk, water, juice, etc. It's not the stigma of nursing that bothers me it's the fact that I am getting pretty exhausted of nursing him at night. Sleeping with his silent guardian, and his wooby helps him sleep, but sometimes he'll wake up in the middle of the night (and it's usually around 3am) knowing I'll give in to nursing him. I need to just be strong, and let him cry in hopes he'll immediately go back to sleep.
Well...after reading Emily Rapp's story, Notes From a Dragon Mom in the New York Times yesterday, I don't think I should be complaining as much about anything! We as mothers tend to complain about every little thing our kids do. Whether they are 16 or two years old. The bottom line is kids are kids. I nursed all of my girls until they were almost two and a half!! So why am I complaining about how long I should nurse Noah. There are worse things going on with other people's children that I wouldn't have a clue as to how these parents are feeling.
Reading her story about her sweet 18 month old son having Tay-Sachs disease, and most likely not going to live to see his third birthday made me realize a lot of things. Things such as it shouldn't matter if the little ones get their clothes dirty, and spill milk on the floor. It shouldn't matter if I let Noah watch cartoons for two hours in the morning, and eat oatmeal and bananas for breakfast, lunch, and corn dogs for dinner (almost everyday!) It shouldn't' matter that I let him go to bed at 9:30 pm instead of 6:30 pm. It shouldn't matter if his toys are scattered all over the living room floor when company comes over. It shouldn't matter that I have dirty dishes, dusty furniture, a ton of laundry to do, or hardwood floors that need to be swept (that's what my three older daughters are for.) I have learned to put all of that aside when my Noah is awake to give him hugs, and spend quality time with him, and all of my kids.
I've been around the block three times, but he's a tough cookie with a lot of energy. He can be persistent, but is the sweetest little boy I know. It shouldn't matter that he'll sometimes wake up at 3am to nurse. He's still a little boy who's learning to be independent, and like a little child...I am still learning on being patient. Like Emily, I consider myself a dragon mom. Living in the moment while our boys are still little, and enjoying every euphoric moment with them...no matter how long they are here on this earth.
Life teaches you a lot of things when you move to a new state, meet new friends, spend moderate time on the internet to read about stories like this one and they usually are an answer to our prayer. I count my blessings every morning and looking at my son at this moment while I'm typing this fills my heart with so much joy, and gratitude. I give thanks that I thus far have healthy children, and I will NEVER take them for granted.
Reading her story about her sweet 18 month old son having Tay-Sachs disease, and most likely not going to live to see his third birthday made me realize a lot of things. Things such as it shouldn't matter if the little ones get their clothes dirty, and spill milk on the floor. It shouldn't matter if I let Noah watch cartoons for two hours in the morning, and eat oatmeal and bananas for breakfast, lunch, and corn dogs for dinner (almost everyday!) It shouldn't' matter that I let him go to bed at 9:30 pm instead of 6:30 pm. It shouldn't matter if his toys are scattered all over the living room floor when company comes over. It shouldn't matter that I have dirty dishes, dusty furniture, a ton of laundry to do, or hardwood floors that need to be swept (that's what my three older daughters are for.) I have learned to put all of that aside when my Noah is awake to give him hugs, and spend quality time with him, and all of my kids.
I've been around the block three times, but he's a tough cookie with a lot of energy. He can be persistent, but is the sweetest little boy I know. It shouldn't matter that he'll sometimes wake up at 3am to nurse. He's still a little boy who's learning to be independent, and like a little child...I am still learning on being patient. Like Emily, I consider myself a dragon mom. Living in the moment while our boys are still little, and enjoying every euphoric moment with them...no matter how long they are here on this earth.
Life teaches you a lot of things when you move to a new state, meet new friends, spend moderate time on the internet to read about stories like this one and they usually are an answer to our prayer. I count my blessings every morning and looking at my son at this moment while I'm typing this fills my heart with so much joy, and gratitude. I give thanks that I thus far have healthy children, and I will NEVER take them for granted.
This photo was taken when Noah was about seven months old. I wish I could freeze frame this picture and that they can all stay young forever, but life goes on.
Life moves on.
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