The end of an era

I think I can officially say that Nate has weaned. It's been over a week since he nursed, and it's been a few days since he has latched on at all.

I've known that it was coming to an end for awhile now. Nate was only nursing twice a day for quite some time, and then he started dropping a session here or there. It was never consistent. Sometimes he would nurse at night and other times during the morning. Occasionally he would nurse twice a day. Every now and then, he would nurse during the middle of the night. But it all dwindled down over the past month. Sometimes he would go 24 hours without nursing. On our flights to Seattle, he nursed for a moment but wasn't very interested. On the way home, he wouldn't nurse at all.

I've read up on nursing strikes, because the breastfeeding literature out there states that babies rarely self-wean before even 2 years old! But it's clear to me that this is not a nursing strike. It's been a gradual process. It's been 100% Nate's decision, so I am okay with it.

I am really grateful for the 14.5 months that we shared breastfeeding. It was a long road, and at the beginning it seemed like I couldn't possibly make it through a week of breastfeeding, much less a year! But we persevered, and my little boy grew and thrived on my milk. The times we shared nursing included frustration, elation, crying, laughing, snuggling, sleeping, hours and hours of staring into deep blue eyes, and what feels like an eternity (and the briefest possible moment) of soft, sweet baby skin curled up against me. I always knew that I was giving Nate a gift by nursing him, but I never realized that it was a gift to me too. I will always cherish those memories.

Seattle!

Warning: Very long post ahead. Grab a cup of coffee (why not your favorite Seattle brew?) and get comfy.

We headed out to Seattle last Wednesday. Our trip out to Seattle was fairly hectic. The flight to Boston was delayed by 3 hours, which meant that we were going to miss our connection to Seattle. Luckily for us, the gate clerk re-booked us on a flight to DC before I even had the opportunity to call the 800#. By the time I called the 800# to rebook, I was told that we were flying to DC and not Boston. Pretty awesome service there (thanks American Airlines)! Unfortunately, the DC layover sucked. We had less than an hour between flights and we had to go through security again before we could get to our gate. Nate's toy, affectionately known as Buzzy McCrinklewings, is apparently a terrorist. We had no idea, but carrying a musical blue bee toy in your diaper bag is grounds for a major search. Rubber gloves were worn. Wands were waved. Poor Buzzy was carried with delicacy as though he were a bomb, ready to explode at any moment. It would have been funny if it wasn't so infuriating. I suggested that they just throw Buzzy away so that I could make my flight, but they took my bag and held me hostage until they were convinced that Buzzy was safe. I had told Erik to hurry along to the gate while they did a cavity search on Nate, so once they released us, we had to RUN to get to the gate. I had gone to the gym that morning and wore my ass out on the treadmill. I was not prepared to run with a toddler strapped to my chest in the Ergo. But I did it and made it to the gate in time to board. Whew.

Flying out to Seattle was kind of rough. It never got dark! We hadn't thought about the fact that the sun was not going to be setting on the west coast until after we landed. Ooops. So Nate stayed awake until past midnight Eastern Time. He passed out the moment we got in the car, at least. We survived that long flight with lots of snacks, a DVD player, and awesome flight attendants (thanks Alaska Air).

Our first day in Seattle was somewhat low-key. We went down to Pike Place Market and looked around. We grabbed a bite to eat at Piroshky Piroshky, whose food tastes at least as good as it smells. We did a lot of worrying, because our friend Robin had missed her layover at JFK the night before, and was robbed while she was sleeping in the airport. We were all sick with worry for her, but she managed to get to Seattle and have a fabulous time despite not having an ID or her own money. We constructed a plan to cook Robin a fantastic dinner, feeling as though it was the least we could do. So we made chimichangas, got lots of beer and wine and had a great time when she got there.

Day 2 was the highly anticipated trip to Mount Rainier! It has to be one of the most beautiful places in America. Unfortunately, we had a parenting faux pas and we forgot our Ergo! Oh no!! *sobs* I was so disappointed. We had planned to do lots of hiking, but instead we did a short hike which was cut even shorter due to a huge amount of snow blocking our path. Erik was carrying Nate on his shoulders, and I was not keen on the idea of him walking across the snow with Nate in such a precarious position. So we didn't get to do a ton of hiking, but we still got to enjoy some beautiful views at Rainier, and a little picnic in the back of our Scion Zipcar.



When we got back from Rainier, we got ready for a night out! My sister's boss agreed to babysit for us so that we could all go out together! Hurrah! We ate Indian food, drank beer, and bar hopped. It was a ton of fun. Nate did okay with the babysitter. She said he had a bit of a hard time going to sleep, but she "had a little talk with him" and he finally chilled out. ;) Thank goodness!
Day 3 was the 4th of July! We filled it by visiting some Seattle tourist attractions, including the Space Needle and the Experience Music Project and riding on the monorail. Nate got to see Michael Jackson's jacket and glove he wore when he debuted the moonwalk. Pretty cool! One of the coolest things at the EMP was the Jim Henson Muppet exhibit! I was very excited to show Nate Bert and Ernie in person! And we got to play with some puppets and perform "Mahna Mahna" with our puppet band, Mud Garden. We totally rocked out. We were also able to get into a music demo room, where we got to play with guitars, a keyboard and drums. We all loved playing the instruments.
We finished the day up with the American tradition of cooking out (and by that, I mean that we let Casey and her boyfriend grill up some tasty burgers for us). The group went out to watch the fireworks and Nate and I stayed home. I was exhausted! On Day 4, we headed out to Ballard for their Sunday market. Ballard is such a cute neighborhood. It feels small and cozy and it reminds me of Chapel Hill. It's also the home of the famous Cupcake Royale! Since it was a special cupcake occasion, we had to let Nate (and mommy) have a small cupcake. We also hit up some of the cute shops in Ballard, where we decided to try on some hats.


On the way home from Ballard, we stopped at Thai Tom for lunch. They have the best Thai food, possibly ever! While they were cooking our food, we ran over to Red Light, where I got an awesome vintage mod dress.

Then, Casey and Robin sent me and Erik out for a date night! Wahoo! We had a nice dinner out, followed by drinks at a local bar...and I got to wear my new dress! It felt almost like pre-parenthood days!

Day 5 led us to the Coastal Kitchen for a fabulous breakfast. They made the cutest pancake for Nate (no picture, sorry). We all raved about how wonderful our food was and then we headed out for the Seattle Aquarium.

Nate and I got to meet one of my online friends, who I have known since I got pregnant! Her daughter is just 2 weeks older than Nate.

At the aquarium, we visited jelly fish, an octopus, salmon, otters, and more. Nate had a great time and wanted to run around by himself as much as possible. He is getting very independent.

After the aquarium, we went on an Argosy boat tour. It was a warm afternoon and a sunny day- perfect weather for being out on a boat. Seattle is a beautiful city to view from the water. That night, Erik stayed in so that the girls could have a night out. We got cosmos and had girl talk. Our last full day in Seattle, we visited the Uwajimaya Asian market. Wow, talk about a HUGE market. They had so many cool things. Their fish selection was the largest I have ever seen in a supermarket. It would be a great place to shop to make your own sushi. We ended up eating there too, and Nate eyed all the noodles and sushi, but chose to eat his own cheese crackers instead. His loss!After the Asian market, we headed back down to Pike Place to wander around some more. There is so much stuff in that market. The vendors are really nice too. It would be fun to shop there with unlimited funds!

We (meaning Erik and Casey) grilled up some more fantabulous burgers and hot dogs for our last dinner in town. We said goodbye to Robin, who miraculously was allowed to board with just a police report as evidence that her purse had been stolen. Erik, Casey and I stayed in and relaxed and chatted before we all had to say goodnight, which led to the inevitable goodbye in the morning.

We were so sad to leave Casey and Seattle behind. We had such a fun time! I think Nate really enjoyed everything we did, even if he slept through some really cool things. :) We all loved spending lots of time with Casey, and Robin too, even though we get to see her more often. I hope Casey knows how much we appreciate everything! She rocks!

14 month letter

Dear Nate,

You turned 14 months last week. Yes, last week. I am sorry that it has taken me this long to write your letter. My excuse is that we were traveling on July 1 and I didn't get a chance to write a letter to you while we were finding out that our flight had been delayed by 3 hours, or while I rebooked us on another flight, and definitely not while we got stuck in security at Reagan National Airport which meant that we had to run to make our flight. I was just too busy dealing with all of that to write. I hope that you will forgive me for being almost a week late this month.

I am too tired and excited from our vacation to think of much to write... I just want to tell you that I love you so much and I am so happy to be your mom. You bring so much joy into our lives and into the life of everyone who meets you. Thanks for being my son!

I love you!

Mama

Megan Grace

Baby Megan Grace was born yesterday at 4:34 AM. Her parents had 10 sweet minutes with her before she was taken away to heaven. Since I got news of Megan's birth, she and her parents have been on my mind constantly. I keep finding myself thinking of them, wondering about those moments they had with their angel and hoping that they are finding strength in each other and in their friends during this difficult time. Please take a moment to pray for Amber and Steve and their sweet baby girl today.

Adventurers!

If you couldn't tell from my post below, we are heading out on a big adventure soon. We are going to visit my sister in Seattle! All 3 of us are piling on an airplane and flying across the country.

I am choosing to look at it as a big adventure because the idea of traveling with a toddler is pretty damn intimidating. I absolutely do not want to be those people on the plane that everybody else hates. But, we really have very little control over that. We'll do everything we can to make the flight comfy for Nate - we borrowed a DVD player from a friend, I've got some new toys for him to check out, we'll bring some books, and lots and lots of snacks. Most of the flight is after his bedtime, so I hope that he'll be able to fall asleep and stay asleep for most of the flight out there.

We've got all sorts of fun things planned for our trip. Nate is going to see so many cool things, and he's going to spend tons of time with his Aunt Casey and his honorary Aunt Bina (as I type that out, I realize it sounds like Robin is Casey's girlfriend. She's not. She's my honorary sister). I am so excited! It's Nate's first big trip! I know he won't remember it, but I have a feeling that Erik and I will never forget it. :)

Still dirty hippies!

Our weekend was full of wearing Nate in the Ergo. I've been making an effort to wear him in it more in an attempt to burn more calories (because surely doing anything with 24 pounds of toddler strapped to your back has to burn more calories) and in an effort to "train" for our upcoming vacation to Seattle. We'll need to wear Nate a lot while we're there, so I wanted to be sure that I was up for the challenge.

Saturday, we went to Lake Johnson and I walked the entire trail with Nate in the Ergo. Unfortunately, we didn't get any pictures of him in the Ergo, but we did get some pictures at the boat house, where we got some water and took a break.

Today, we dedicated ourselves to thoroughly cleaning the house. My mom taught me that you never leave a dirty house when you go on vacation. So we spent time today doing laundry, vacuuming, mopping, dusting, etc. It was a lot of work! I put Nate in the Ergo so that I could focus on cleaning. I guess all the hard work wore him out!
He got a really good nap in too. I was surprised that he was able to stay asleep while I ran the vacuum, did laundry, etc. My back must be quite comfy.

What not to say

For some reason this morning I got to thinking about the things that people say to pregnant women. I don't know what it is about a pregnant belly, but it seems to just set-off the verbal diarrhea in people... and people say the most inappropriate things to pregnant women! So here is a handy-dandy guide of what not to say to a pregnant person, whether that person is a total stranger or your identical twin sister. Trust me. No matter how well you know someone and love them, if you find yourself wanting to say any of these things, just bite your tongue.

• You are so tiny for X months pregnant! This makes a woman feel like there may be something wrong with her baby. Why am I so small? Is everything okay? Don't say it.
• You are so big for X months pregnant! This is just mean. It's hard enough to deal with your body changing without having people tell you that you are huge.
• Are you sure you're not having twins? Ha ha. You are so clever. You think nobody has said that to her before? Women today have ultrasounds. They are high quality. There is no second baby hiding in the uterus. This is just another way of saying "Wow, you're huge." Don't say it!
• You look like you're about to pop! Ugh, seriously? If a woman looks like she's about to have a baby any moment, I can just about guarantee that she is uncomfortable and irritable. Please don't piss her off (or make her cry) by saying this!
• Are you excited? I know, I know, it seems harmless enough. I'm guilty of this one myself. But think about it. Of course she's excited. And if for some reason she's not excited, she probably doesn't want to talk to you about it and you probably don't want to hear it.
• You're still here? aka You haven't had that baby yet? These phrases come up during the last few weeks of pregnancy and they drive women up the wall. Yes, she is still pregnant. If you are a friend, she will tell you when she has had the baby. Also, if she's at work, the odds are good that she's still pregnant. So please, don't say this. It's only going to annoy her.

These are just a few of my suggestions. And yes, the last 5 were all said to me at some point during my pregnancy. And yes, it either hurt my feelings, annoyed me, pissed me off, made me cry, or some combination of those. Feel free to add your own in the comments!