Sleep!

Pretty ironic that I was planning on writing this today then right as I sit down Daniel starts protesting his nap.

Sleep has finally gotten better!  It only took 14 months.  We are still at 2 naps a day, one of which I hold him, but that time he is in the crib is usually about 1.5 hours.  Me time!!

Nights are improving A LOT.  We were at a consistent schedule where he would go down at 8, wake up at 4am to eat, go back down until 8.  We are better, even though there is still some work to do.  Now he goes down at 8, tries to open the door for 20 minutes, then falls asleep and usually doesn't wake up until 6:30am.  The problem here is he won't go back to sleep after 6:30.  So right now we're working on trying to get him down earlier so he can get closer to 10 hours or he will get super cranky at about 8:30.

We will get the hang of it eventually!

Sleeping pictures:

Normalizing Breastfeeding

I have already posted a few times about my views on breastfeeding so I'll try to make this one short.

After thinking about why I'm so passionate about the subject, I have come up with a few reasons but the following is probably the biggest: I'm good at it.  There are so many things involved in being a wife and mother and I will readily admit that I am not good at many things that others are pros at.  Breastfeeding is one area that I feel like I am doing 100% right.  That makes me incredibly proud of my relationship with Daniel.

If you read my previous post(s) about my struggles with breastfeeding you know this was not an easy journey for us at first.  4 very trying months passed before I was able to get in a groove.  I'm so glad we pushed through together.

For that reason I love to help other women prepare and get through the rough times.

I also find it necessary to make sure mothers are not shamed for nursing in public (NIP).  Our society has become way too sexual that individuals are no longer capable of compartmentalizing the nourishing act of breastfeeding from some form of nudity.  It is absolutely possible!  To go on without being too revealing, David has been able to do an excellent job at it.  Our relationship is so strong because he supports my goals with breastfeeding without wondering when its going to stop because there is a relationship we have outside of breastfeeding that keeps both of us very happy.

I no longer NIP with a cover.  First of all its summer and I'm not about to put Daniel under more layers when he doesn't need to be.  Second, I do believe that more people need to see it in order to be more comfortable with it.  It is not something immoral, immodest, gross, etc that needs to be hidden.  It is entirely possible to do it without flashing everyone.

So I challenge you to look past what you might see as something immodest or along the lines of nudity and realize just what is really going on.  It is simply a mother feeding a child and she is being a great mother by doing so.

Can someone honestly think these photos are bad?

1 year old!

I guess its about time I caught up.  Daniel will be waking up soon so I'll see how much I can get in.

Sorry for skipping 11 months, it wasn't much different from 10.  Here are some pictures

We had a joint birthday/graduation party for Daniel and David.  It was great!  Daniel didn't know what to do with the cake at first, but he really liked the frosting.  Maybe it was because I fed him a little before so he would have some good stuff in his tummy before going to town on all that sugar that he's never had.

Inspecting

Enjoying

Sharing

Pretty typical face for Daniel

And now for his actual birthday.  We went to the zoo!  It will be fun for him as he gets older but he still had a great time checking things out.
We kept taking him in and out of the stroller so he could be closer to the glass to check things out.  He must have gotten something in his eye one of the times that he fell down and rubbed his eye because the whole left side of his face started getting blotchy and swollen.  I was freaking out!  It was almost nap time so I just took him into the nursing room at the zoo, fed him, put some breast milk in his eye to wash whatever it was out, and took him home.  When we got home I held him for his nap.  He looked much better when he woke up.

we got him a bubble maker as a bath toy

down for the count

12 month info:
He is a great walker... he is very close to running
So very strong!  He loves to pick heavy things up and carry them around.
Still wakes up 1-2 times at night, especially since more teeth are coming in.
Getting better at eating what we eat
Still takes 2 naps, the first he takes in his crib for usually 1hr30min.  The second is in my arms and it usually around 30-45 minutes.
No longer prone to constipation... yay!!
Still nursing 5 times a day.  So no weaning in sight.
Comprehends a lot even though he doesn't say much other than dadadadadadadada
He gives the best hugs!
Starting to wave
He is such a people person.  He is so social.
He is so long and tall that almost nothing is out of reach for him anymore.  Its hard to baby proof a giant toddler.
He has 6 teeth, with 4 coming in right now.  2 molars and 2 bottom teeth.


 At his pediatricians appointment they weighed him in at 29lbs 6 oz and 33 inches.  That means he grew exactly 20 lbs and 10 inches from birth.  He is off the charts in both.  The dr asked about his vocabulary.  He doesn't really say many words, but he comprehends a decent amount.

 And here are some photos for recap from the last few months

Easter photos-- No shoes... his feet are so fat we can't find any good shoes that aren't expensive

First face plant

New project

starting to look more like David

Tracking my progress

Trying a mohawk

David graduated

Lots of trips to the farmers market

Met the triplets

Saw daddy play

Loved on doggies

Peed on mommy

Love those lips

Went swimming outside and got some freckles

His 1st experience at Yogurt Land

First marshmallow

Favorite thing to do on walks

Slobbery kisses

Spiderman!

Splash pad

So much fun!

What a handsome boy

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 Lots of things to do and decisions to be made in the next few months.  Wish us luck!!