The end?

Its been three days now since Luke last nursed. Some of you may be surprised to hear this is only happening now. We have definitely heard more than a few comments along the lines of “is he STILL nursing?!?”. And up until a few days ago, he was. I was determined to nurse Luke until he was 2. There are a huge number of benefits to maintaining breastfeeding through the toddler years. And our main indicator was Luke himself. I always believed that he would stop nursing when he didn’t need it anymore. As long as he felt it still necessary, I would continue nursing him.

So for the last couple months, we have been following a ‘don’t offer, don’t refuse’ policy. I would follow his lead, and if he asked to nurse, he could nurse. But I tried not to suggest nursing as a way to help him fall asleep, or to get over a bump or scare. Some days he would nurse a lot – every few hours. Other days, he would go almost 12 hours before remembering, then would nurse a few times. Other times, he wouldn’t ask at all. I haven’t gone through any engorgement, probably because there is very little milk left due to the pregnancy. His nursing is primarily for comfort, rather than for nutrition. So he has now gone three days without asking to nurse. A good friend of mine always says 3 days is the start of all new trends for babies, so if that holds true, its possible this is the end.

I must admit I’m a bit sad about it. Despite the fact that I know I’ll have a new baby to nurse and all the complications that will come along with that. I definitely had no interest in nursing two, so I’m glad Luke is also feeling ready to move on. But I just feel like I’ll miss looking down at my beautiful boy in those minutes when both of us are focused entirely on one another. I’ll miss how his eyes would roll back in contentment and relaxation when he nursed before falling asleep. I’ll also really miss having an sure-fire way to soothe his little aches and fears, or to help him fall asleep in a noisy or confusing new environment. I guess I’ll just miss him being my baby. And evidently I’m pregnant and hormonal because the thought of him not nursing anymore brings me to tears!!

It has been a while since a new blog post. We’ve been busy – outside lots – and have had lots going on in the evenings and during naptime! But here are a few pictures to show you what Luke has been doing lately.

Luke sleeping on the couch, one morning when he woke up WAY too early. (Kyle got up with him, as evidenced by his fashion disaster of an outfit)

Luke practicing his use of chopsticks with Chinese Takeout. Much to our surprise, he loved the food, and did pretty well with the chopsticks too! He is branching out to eating unusual things lately, thankfully. Although someone at daycare has taught him not to eat sandwich crusts, which is a bit annoying.

In other food news, Luke is a bit of a Yogurt fiend. We call this charming look “Monsieur yogheurt”. Check out the video to see how keen he is… (check back… waiting for it to upload)

Luke had a great time in his new pool with our neighbour Nora. It has a slide, and water-spouting seals. What more could you ask for?

On Fathers Day we went to the Ottawa “Touch a Truck” show. Luke got to see dump-dumps (anything that dumps dirt), whee-a-whee-a’s (anything with a siren) and a bunch of other exciting trucks that he hasn’t invented words for yet.