How did my baby get old enough to consume things other than breastmilk and her fingers and toes?

If you could read the words on this page of Bella’s scrapbook, you would learn that she had her first food at 5.5 months, just like her brother. I wasn’t prepared so had nothing cooked for her. She ended up with organic pureed pears (from a glass jar - my babies don’t eat from plastic.) She was super fussy after nursing one afternoon and nothing we did for her would satisfy her. I figured she might be hungry so searched for some appropriate food and found the pears in the pantry. Thankful that they weren’t expired, I served them up and she gobbled them down, but was only happy for 5 minutes before returning to her unusually fussy ways. When I changed her clothes a half hour or so later, it was painfully obvious that what she had wanted the whole time was to be naked. She was roasting hot, even in just a tank top and light capris. Poor kid has my internal thermostat.

We’ve kept up the feeding practice anyway, since she enjoyed it so much.

So far, she loves pears, apples and sweet potatoes and hates rice cereal.

Once a day now, on most days, she seems unsatisfied even after nursing. I pop her in her Bumbo with the tray and she babbles away, getting more and more excited as she sees me approaching with the bowl and spoon.

One step closer to weaning my baby. And weaning myself. How sad.

Bella had a crusty eye due to a blocked tear duct. You know the kind…sealed shut and really boogery looking?

The cure?

Breastmilk squirted right in there.

It took me a few tries to get it in because her eyes kept closing. I think she wondered what the heck I was doing. The look on her face said “Hey! I’m trying to drink that!”

It looked better within 2 minutes - completely gone 30 minutes later and it hasn’t returned.

That was 4 days ago.

Apparently there are at least 15 antibacterial factors in breastmilk. It can fight E. coli, Staphylococcus, Enterobacter sakazakii, and Group B Streptococcus. Heck, it even protects babies from cancer! And that’s all in addition to the immunity, enzymes, growth factors and hormones. It’s amazing stuff and I feel so blessed to be able to nourish my babies with nothing but the best. I know it’s not easy for everyone.

Apparently, it also removes eye make up rather well.

Comments are now closed on the kiddie naming contest. The Big Guy and I will deliberate and get back to you. Thanks to all who entered!

My poor little nameless boy has gone from four months of cutting eye teeth directly into the two year molar. I’ve seriously never met a kid who’s teeth hurt so much. He’s up for hours every night in pain and has literally devoured his headboard. It got so bad he was spitting wood chunks onto the floor so I covered it with many layers of duct tape. So he spent a week spitting duct tape onto the floor and is now down to the wood again. Even the heaviest of pediatric OTC drugs don’t work for him. The homeopathic ones don’t touch it. I sure hope his are through before the little girl starts teething!

I have got to take a picture of that headboard. It’s ridiculous.

We took our weekly cruise around Costco today with friends & their kids. Then we were stupid or delusional enough to think that taking three toddlers and three babies with only three moms to a restaurant for lunch was a good idea. Duh. It was actually fun, but the boy’s mouth was so sore and he was so overtired that he was a bit of a crankpot by the end. The girl slept all morning while my boobs were bursting at the seams and then, as Murphy’s Law states she would, she woke up hungry just as the boy’s food arrived. Thank God I had friends there who could help him while I fed her. It was a gong show, but a fun gong show with friends in the same situation so it’s all good.

There was a couple in their mid-fifties or so at a table not far away with a girl in her late teens or early twenties. I saw them looking at us often and didn’t have time to try to read the expressions on their faces, what with the aforementioned gong show happening all around me. Nor did I care if they didn’t like me nursing my baby at the table (quite possible flashing a boob while I tried to stab pancakes with the boy’s fork, but probably not). When they were about to leave the restaurant, the mother came over to our table and asked if she could speak with us. We, of course, said yes. She told us that we all looked like wonderful young mothers and that when she saw my daughter latch on to my breast so readily it brought back great memories for her. She said it was so nice to see us all out together and she was really glad we were doing it because it goes so quickly and we must enjoy it. She was there taking her youngest daughter to lunch. She’s currently in college and was once the tiny baby nursing in a restaurant.

I hope some nice lady was as encouraging to her as this woman was to us. The next time you see a young mother nursing or just mothering well in public, please compliment her. It feels awesome.

ETA:This video is “no longer available” and you’d better believe I’m going to raise hell if it’s because someone was breastfeeding in it.

This video of an obviously ill child (via kind of crunchy mama) and KOCM’s commentary on it got me thinking about extended breastfeeding. Not that I don’t think about it often. I do. I guess she just got me thinking about blogging about extended breastfeeding!

We’ve official made it to our goal of one year without a drop of formula or any other processed foods and, even though they’re my boobs, both of us are extremely proud of that. (I’ve had great support from the BG the whole time - he’s a lactivist too!) We’re also pretty pumped that he can drink out of any cup, sippy cup or straw now. It’s nice to know that when the boy weans he’ll be able to survive without me being home every few hours.

Is every day past a year considered “extended breastfeeding?” If so, I guess I’m already doing it. He was down to 3 nursings a day for the last several weeks. The first one in the morning was the only ravenous one, and the late afternoon & bedtime ones were more sipping for comfort. Since he got his cold on Sunday, he’s nursed no less than 20 times a day both days. It’s a miracle really. With a cup of his favourite smoothie sitting beside him and a water bottle or four around the room, he’ll tug on my shirt and mouth my belly like a fish until I let him nurse. It’s like his body instinctively knows that he needs the antibodies that are only available form breastmilk.

I’m not a fan of forced weaning, and will likely let him wean himself whenever he wants to. I feel like it would be unnatural and kind of cruel of me to just say “Well, kiddo. Today you’re a year old so here’s some milk from a strange four legged hairy mammal intended for their babies. Drink it, would ya?” I’m the mama mammal in this family and I’ll nurse him until he no longer needs it, physically or emotionally.

I’d add “within reason,” but I don’t know what that is. I have a feeling he’ll wean when I go back to work in September, but we’re cool if he still wants to nurse morning & night until he’s 2-ish. If he isn’t ready to wean then, we’ll deal with it then.

What do you think?

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The Dairy Council tells us:
Milk is nature’s most perfect food.
The Dairy Council doesn’t tell us:
Milk is nature’s most perfect food for a baby calf, who has four stomachs, will double its weight in 47 days, and is destined to weigh 300 pounds within a year!
—– Unknown

Hmmmm. Makes you think, no? I drink milk. I don’t particularly enjoy it (with the exception of my daily latte), but I drink it. Why? I guess it’s probably because I grew up hearing that it was good for me. If you think about it, it’s really gross. Cows make milk for their babies. I make milk for my baby. Dairy cows are kept perpetually pregnant to force lactation so that another mammal can buy their milk. I took my grade one class to an Ag Expo this spring and learned all about it. Ew. I’m thinking of attempting to go soy - at least part of the time.

On the topic of mother’s milk, which you know I just love…

I have some snarky remarks prepared for the day someone says something negative to me about feeding my baby in public. I’ve never had a problem at all, and probably never will. If I do, I’m kind of afraid of something like this happening. Because that’s just my luck.

Do you drink milk?
Have you ever thought about it this way before?
What are your thoughts?
Have you tried soy? Rice? Good or gross?