Quick Before I Get Sidetrack'd

It seems that the time has come to move Little from the breast to the cup. I don’t necessarily think she is self-weaning, but she has begun to be more interested in other things than in nursing. She is constantly in motion these days and there are so many new and exciting things to explore – even if it’s just exploring, again, the same pillow she’s been in love with since she was itty bitty.

Before Little was born I was planning to nurse until six months. Those first few days and weeks I thought we would be lucky to make it to six weeks. Once we reached the six week goal I pressed on to three months. By three months things were going very smoothly and I decided we could do at least a year. As we’ve drawn closer to the year mark I’ve wavered as to whether we would be ready to give it up at one year or if we might continue on for a while. Now, at ten months, I think I’m ready to move on and she seems to be at a point where she is receptive to the idea.

It is getting more and more difficult to get her to lie still for a complete feeding; most nursing sessions leave me feeling frustrated and as if I’ve wrestled an alligator to get a few ounces of food in it’s mouth. So, on Tuesday evening we took the first steps of the weaning dance. This will probably be a slow dance, one that doesn’t end until she transitions to whole milk around her first birthday.

Mixed feelings rule the day with me right now. On one hand, it will be nice not to be “tied” to her schedule. On the other hand, I will miss those few minutes of snuggling every few hours. On one hand, I won’t have to nurse every hour because she won’t be still long enough to fill up her belly in one sitting. On the other hand, I won’t be a nursing mommy anymore. On one hand, she will get to experience the fun of being in control of her own cup. On the other hand, I will have to pump milk until she is a year old. On one hand, I recognize that it is part of her moving from “baby-hood” to “toddler-dom”. On the other hand, I don’t want her to grow up so fast. On one hand, I’m sure it will be a tough transition for her. On the other hand, I’m not entirely convinced that it won’t be an even tougher transition for me.

As my friend Diane said the other day, “I guess this means it is time to have another one.”

There are a couple of neat contests going on right now that I thought I would bring to your attention. (And maybe I’ll win one of them, too!)

First, Steph at Adventures in Babywearing is giving away $120 worth of baby gear from Mason & Matisse. What a great baby gift it would be for my SIL Lu (and then I would get to use it when our next one comes along)!

And then, 5 Minutes for Mom is at it again. This time they are giving away an adorable ribbon tutu from Tutu Fantasy. This would be a great gift for an awesome little girl I know or to hold on to until Little is big enough for dress up!

Hopefully, I’ll be back with a real post later today. Stay tuned…

I have been menu planning for a while now, so I thought it’s about time to jump into Menu Plan Monday at I’m an Organizing Junkie. I menu plan in an effort to minimize the number of grocery store trips I make per week. Every Sunday Matt and I determine what we would like to eat for the week and I assign a meal to each night; I usually end up moving meals around and, often, push meals to the next week due to unforeseen circumstances (more leftovers than expected, unexpected meals out, etc.).

Anyway, here is what is on the menu this week:

Monday: Country Fried Steak (Southern Living recipe), mashed potatoes & gravy, green peas, homemade biscuits

Tuesday: ground beef burritos, tortilla chips and salsa

Wednesday: leftovers – burritos or nachos

Thursday: Oven-fried Parmesan Chicken Strips (Southern Living), mac & cheese

Friday: pepperoni pizza

Saturday: lunch – pizza leftovers / dinner – waffles

Sunday: lunch – eat out / dinner – eat with Life Group

Here’s to your week being filled with good eats!

Matt spent the last few days attending a conference in Portland, Oregon. After his sessions ended Saturday evening he took the MAX (light-rail public transportation) to the other side of the river to wander around in a shopping area downtown.

As he walked up the street he was approached by a man asking for a quarter or fifty cents. Matt told the man he was sorry, but he didn’t have any change and continued walking along the street. Several minutes later, Matt was walking on another street and was approached by the same man asking for a quarter or fifty cents. Thinking it was odd that a panhandler was asking for such a small amount, Matt asked what he was planning to do with the quarter. The man replied that many times when he asked for a small amount someone would give him more than that. He told Matt that just the week before he had asked someone for a quarter and they gave him a twenty dollar bill. He went on to detail the number of various kinds of currency he has received over the last couple of years – probably 15 twenties, 7 or 8 fives, and lots of ones.

At this point Matt asked if he just walked around downtown asking for money. The man replied, “No, I’ve got a studio apartment.”

I laughed out loud when Matt repeated the last sentence of the conversation. He went on to tell Matt that he had applied for public housing at some point but was turned down. Could it be that all those quarters added up to too much income?

I’ve come to the realization that children are gross. When you have children in your home gross things happen that you would never have believed possible. From food stains (on me and her), to cleaning vomit, to changing diapers, you never know what a day might hold.

Over the past few days I’ve cleaned semi-dried, sticky banana; crunchy, dried out chicken sticks; and various other identified and unidentified foods from Little’s highchair. Bath time has to be part of the nightly routine because there is always banana, apple, peach, or some other sticky substance in her hair. I always seem to be finding cheerios in the living room floor, and sweeping under her highchair three times a day wouldn’t be enough to keep the floor free of crumbs and dropped food. And on top of it all, she ate her first handful of dirt Monday when we were in the neighbor’s yard.

She better be glad she’s just so darn cute!