The End

of breastfeeding, that is. Sorry to be so dramatic. But it feels dramatic.

My story of nursing Jonathan begins with a baby born three weeks early, jaundiced and sleepy, unable to latch or suckle and tongue-tied on top of it all. Jonathan never latched at the hospital and the nurses finally convinced me that he needed to have some formula when, on day three, he still hadn't gotten anything to eat. As you can imagine, I felt terrible - that my baby might be hungry or uncomfortable and that I wasn't able to address that need.

But I was determined to breastfeed, even though I could see that to some well-meaning people, I seemed stubborn and inflexible.

"What's wrong with formula? Stop stressing yourself out. It just doesn't work for some people."

True. And for the record, there is nothing wrong with formula. But breastfeeding was important to me. And it was going to work for me. And if it wasn't, I needed to know that I had given it my all.

Lactation consultants set me up with a complicated supplemental nursing system at the hospital and coached me through various hurdles over the phone in the weeks after we got home. Pain and engorgement tried to get the best of me, but did not succeed.

At first, we celebrated small victories like Jonathan taking formula/milk from the supplemental nursing system. Then came successful transfer straight from me with the shield. Then the glorious moment, over a month into the process, when we didn't need the shield anymore.

Without a doubt there was some luck involved. I am lucky that my body knew how to make milk. I am lucky to have had access to lactation consultants from Northside Hospital, and an amazing support group of breastfeeding women at Mom and Me meetings on Tuesdays. I have a lot of wonderful friends and family who have breastfed that I can look to as role models. And most importantly, I am so lucky to have a supportive and loving husband who encouraged and assisted me every step of the way. Without just one of these factors, we may not have succeeded.

But it still bothers me to hear "You're so lucky you could breastfeed." Because the work that Jeremy, Jonathan and I all put in to make this work for our family deserves more respect than that.

And 14 months later, it was all worth it.

Thanksgiving

We had a great, if hectic, Thanksgiving. Jonathan took a perfectly timed nap and we headed over to my parents' club, where we always do Thanksgiving with my family. It was such a beautiful day, we were able to eat outside under a tent, which was a nice change.

My dad took a family photo of us, which turned out ok. Jonathan is the happiest little guy and yet lately has been quite sullen in pictures. So here is our best shot:


Lunch was yummy but as usual, stressful for me to try to keep Jonathan fed while also feeding myself. That child loves to eat!

He also quite enjoyed placing green beans and other assorted foodstuffs on top of his head. Then some of the kids came over and played with his hair with greasy hands - who needs hair products?! My sister-in-law catpured some pretty cute photos of that whole situation so here they are, stolen off of Facebook (thanks, Kim!):




Later we went over to my parents' condo, enjoyed some quiet time while Jonathan napped, then enjoyed some chaotic time when he woke up and all the kids got back from their movie. All in all a great Thanksgiving with our happy little boy. :)

I know it is a cliche, but I really am so thankful for everything that we have, from a wonderful little nuclear family, to our big and supportive extended families and all of our great friends. We are lucky and we know it!

Some more pics of Jonathan being silly at the club:

Walking!

Jonathan has been so close to taking his first steps for such a long time. He's been crawling for over three months and cruising like a champ for even longer. But each time it looked like he would let go of whatever he was holding onto to go for a toy, he would let go with one hand, step towards it with one foot, but timidly keep that other hand on the table, not quite brave enough to take the plunge.

But not Sunday! Sunday, while we were at my parents' house, Jonathan took about 4 little jerky steps, all on his own. His sweet little face lit up with excitement as we all held our breaths and watched. Each day since then he has repeated his performance, if only very briefly. His balance is actually pretty good - maybe because he is almost 14 months already.

I find myself really looking forward to him truly walking on his own. I imagine the fun times we'll have with our little toddler. He'll wobble around adorably, so proud of himself. He'll run up to us for snuggles when he falls down. Jeremy and I will walk with him between us, bending down to hold his little hands.

I am loving this age of new exciting things - walking and talking. Each day I can't wait to see what he'll do next.

The Zoo

We took Jonathan to the zoo today. I think he enjoyed it, but he wasn't quite as smiley and excited as I expected. I think he may have been kind of amazed and shocked at all the animals he saw. I'm pretty sure he just assumed they were all weird-looking dogs ("oyggies") since that's the only animal he's ever seen before. In addition to "Oyggie" he did keep exclaiming "Wow" and "UpBoi!" (Oh boy?) and doing a lot of pointing. My sister Jennifer and her cute daughters Claudia and Rebecca came and we grabbed dinner at Nuevo Laredo afterwards. It was a lot of fun!

Halloween and Weekend with the Daniels

So we actually made it to the neighborhood Halloween party this year! Last year we made a huge effort, getting little one-month-old Jonathan into his doggy costume and dragging him out into the cold rainy day. We made it halfway to the party and turned around - too cold and too rainy for our little guy. And we missed another opportunity to socialize with the neighbors.

But this year was different. We got Jonathan into his monkey costume, he tolerated the head piece and we went to the neighborhood party! It was fun and Jonathan looked cute. He and our neighbor Sammy, 17 months, were both monkeys so that was pretty adorable.

No trick-or-treating this year. Let's be honest - it would have been for us, not Jonathan. Next year, when he is 2, I think we will go to a few houses for sure. I can hardly wait!







This weekend we went to the North GA mountains with friends Jodi and Justin and their little girl Sydney, 7 months. We had a great time even though it was sooo cold! But we stayed at a really nice cabin with a beautiful view and a hot tub so we made do somehow.

Cute stuff Jonathan does

Jonathan has started throwing tantrums lately and it is bizarre to see our happy go-lucky little guy totally break down in fits. So instead of focusing on that, let's make this blog entry about positive, cute things Jonathan has done lately!

- We were playing in the basement at the bottom of the stairs when all of a sudden Jeremy appeared at the doorway at the top. Jonathan looked up in surprise and squealed, "DadAAAAAA!!" It was the first time we were sure he said that word with meaning behind it.

- He has started taking a couple of quick steps from me to Jer and vice versa. We aren't really considering them his first steps because he has zero balance and really just falls forward into our arms. He gets so excited when he does it though.

- The other morning, I had Jonathan in my arms and we were saying goodbye to Jer. Jer kissed Jonathan and then he kissed me, a little peck on the lips. Jonathan watched this and did a little double take. He looked at me with these big wide eyes, gave a little smile and buried his head in my chest.

Looking forward to staying at a cabin with Jodi, Justin and Sydney this weekend in Blue Ridge. Pictures from that (and Halloween) to come!