Kaelyn MAY officially be weaned now! I decided that around my birthday I would try to stop the nursing session before bedtime. That was the only one we had left. First I thought that I would just give her ONE side a night for a few nights so she would be getting less and then I would cut her off for real. I was going to try it over the weekend. But Saturday night we'd had that big party for my birthday (still surprised!) and we still had guests here so I didn't want to mess with anything. Plus Kaelyn was ramped up from the big day and/or extra tired from it! So I proceeded as normal. Sunday night I attempted to just give her one side and she threw a FIT. Since I hadn't thought it through too well I gave in and just nursed her as usual. Monday night, though, I was determined to REALLY try. I told her throughout the day what we were going to do. I gave her a cup of milk in the evening to hopefully fill her up. At bedtime we went upstairs and looked at a book. She didn't want to have anything to do with it so we were only a few pages in when I gave that up. I just laid her back and rocked her and sang. She didn't like it at first bit calmed down after a little while. After I felt like she was tired and relaxed I put her in bed, told her mama loved her, and left the room. At first she was calm. She cried a tiny bit then stopped. After I got back downstairs it was probably a good 5-10 minutes later when she cried pretty hard for a minute. And here I thought she was doing okay with it! But she stopped shortly and I didn't hear much from her again.
We had a big thunderstorm overnight but I didn't hear Kaelyn until 2am. And then it was just a roll over squawk, nothing serious. She's been rolling around in her bed now since about 5am but it's 6:20 and she's not fully awake yet. Assuming all goes well, I think she's weaned! None of the individual feedings I cut were as hard as I thought. I always dreaded doing it because she just hates change and resists is so much. But each time I resolved to REALLY try, she's gone along with it after a little resistance. It's a hard thing to give up. Because nursing is SO sweet and such a peaceful time. It's probably the only quiet time of day I had to look at her and enjoy her without her moving full speed! And who knows, if she's our only child, I may never nurse again! So part of me is sad! But I also know that she's growing up and she doesn't really need that anymore. It's nice to know that I can go away for a night and she'll be okay. Not sure when I'll feel comfortable doing that, but at least I know it's an option!
So, she takes a bath in the big girl tub...I think she's done nursing...now if we can just get her to eat table foods!! That's next!
On another note, the last two mornings I've been watching the movie Precious while I run on the elliptical machine. The movie has a LOT of bad language so I wanted to watch it alone when Kaelyn wasn't around. It was interesting and VERY sad. It made me SO thankful to have the family I have. Even on my worst day as a mother, Kaelyn has it SO good. And I have it SO good to have her. If nothing else, the movie made me greatly appreciate everything I have. It's good to stop and be thankful for the little things sometimes. I don't want to take for granted this wonderful life I've been given.
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