Rhymes With Orange

Sixteen Months

Internet, I have cabbage in my bra.

Why you may ask? Because on September 8th, the day Danny turned sixteen months old, I decided to wean him.

It's been coming for a long time, and I've been stalling the inevitable because he wasn't ready. I wasn't ready. Tuesday at lunch time, I was trying to nurse him down for a nap. He began standing up while still attached in some strange downward facing dog nursing pose. I felt myself growing angry with him and wishing he would just stop touching me. The anger & resent surprised me, and I knew it was time.

It's been almost forty-eight hours since then. I'm in horrible pain, but my spirits are high. Also, cabbage really helps, strangely.

I will miss nursing Danny. The relationship we built is so special. He's my beautiful boy, my champion nurser, and I struggle to keep him from wrapping me too hard around his chubby little finger.

Upside down. Inside out.

Where have I been? What have I been doing? Did I finally lose it from lack of sleep and run away to join the circus?

These are probably just some of the questions that you, dear Internet, might be asking. Or you might just be wondering what to have for dinner.

Shortly after Danny's birthday, my mom came down to stay with him so that Mike & I could go away for a few nights to a beautiful place in Arkansas. It was wonderful. There was sleep, long walks, adult beverages, sleep, uninterrupted conversations, sleep, sleep, and also sleep. And also a lot of pumping. I had no idea I was nursing him so much, but after dumping almost 30oz each day, I swore I was going to wean him! (Uh, yeah. Right. We're still nursing fyi) We came home to an exhausted Nana and a clingy baby, but they survived.

The beginning of June, mom drove to Atlanta to visit her sister for a week. And we decided to move out of our apartment. We rented a storage unit and began packing.

June 20th, Mike left for Qatar for 6 months. I spent the next week packing and hauling boxes to the storage unit. June 26th, mom, Danny, both the cats & I packed into mom's suv with a crap load of stuff and drove back to Michigan.

Once we arrived in Michigan, things got ugly and Mom & Dad decided to separate. It had been a long time coming, but it's still been very hard.

So, here we are. Living in my old bedroom in my mom's house. Danny is so big and has grown so much since his birthday. I've been stressed and too unimaginative to write. I wish I could promise I'll write more now, but I can't. Not yet. My world is turned around, and my rock --my heart-- is far away, and my head is spinning with the idea of crazy changes such as buying a house, weaning Danny, and even fathoming another baby. So for now, know that we are okay. We are doing our best to be a family of two missing one.

 

We'll be fine. We have grass to explore.

One Year...part two

So...I really had all the best intentions in the world to post cake pictures after Danny went to bed on Friday. Apparently though, turning one was so tramatic that Danny has not stopped whining, fussing, screaming and throwing fits since. He has also decided that non-liquid food is evil and refuses to eat anything unless it comes from a sippy cup or me. Spoons are the work of the devil.

This too shall pass, right? Right?? Lie to me. Please.

Cake was fun. Danny poked the frosting till it was covered in tiny finger prints and then refused to eat any of it, his friend Emily did a little better and smeared herself with pink frosting in the process. It was super cute though.

 

The hats stayed on for all of 3.2 seconds.

 

 

 

This year went by too fast, but I'm trying my best to treasure every minute.

One Year

Happy Birthday beautiful boy!

 

 

 

Cake pictures to follow later on tonight =)

A month's worth of memories, crammed into a 15 minute post.

 In exactly fifteen days, Daniel will be one year old. The reality that he is no longer a baby is beginning to set in, and I find myself having to resist the urge to approach people in Walmart and beg them to let me sniff their newborn baby's head.

About eighteen days ago, Danny took his first steps. Now he's toddling all over the house with great confidence. It's crazy to watch him let go of the coffee table and toddle to the bookcase where he will begin perusing the books, trying to decide which one he wants to eat today. Yesterday, it was The Chronicles of Narnia; today The Complete Works of Shakespeare and New Knits on the Block. His tastes are very eclectic. He's getting so good at walking. The farthest he's made it without falling is from the coffee table into the kitchen (about 15ft.) It blows my mind.

This past month, he's been discovering that he can communicate with his hands. He points, he claps, he hits, he plays peek-a-boo, he pokes, pinches and waves. He especially loves to clap. Clap for the kitty, clap for the Wiggles, clap for Daddy, clap when Mama stubs her toe, clap for infomercials. It's great to exit the bathroom only to find him sitting on the floor in front of the door, clapping =D He likes to wave at me when we're nursing, and in the morning when Mike leaves for work, he sits in front of the door waving bye-bye and sobbing. It's so sad, my heart breaks a little more each time.

 

He babbles constantly. Dadadadanananana! Whoa! Ayeah! Bah-bye? Nunu. Gat? Wee! No actual words yet, but we'll get there. He's so fascinated by babies. We were at a picnic this last weekend, and there were several babies there much younger than he was, and Danny was absolutely enamored by them.

 

We still do not sleep. He typically sleeps from 9:30pm-12am, and then nurses on and off till 6am when he will sit bolt up in bed and begin singing and patting my face. I have tried everything. Nothing has worked so far. Someday, I will sleep again. And it will be beautiful. I wish I could get more time to blog more often, but he doesn't nap either. Right now, he has been asleep for 30mins, and I know I'm pushing my luck.

 

He's just so busy. Everything is wonderful, everything is exciting. I love watching him figure out how the world works. Seeing the world through his eyes is spectacular, and I'm doing my best to soak up every moment.

 

 

Easter Sunday after church. He found exactly four eggs, put them in the basket and then spent the rest of the hunt dumping them out and putting them back in =)