The biggest transition that we have made lately, that has prompted this post, is that Annabelle is done nursing. After 27 months and 3 days, we ended that precious part of our relationship. Annabelle has been slowly weaning since she turned 2. Technically speaking, I guess she has been slowly weaning since she started solid food at 6 months, but in my mind, it's mostly been since she turned 2. I started nursing her less and less for comfort, encouraging her to drink milk from a cup when she was thirsty, and offering snuggles and kisses instead of nursing. If she protested, I was happy to nurse her, but those protests became less and less over the weeks. I was afraid of cutting out bedtime and naptime nursing, since she clearly used those times to wind down. And, emotionally for me, they were the most sweet. Bedtime happened really easily. I offered a bottle of milk one night, and she took it happily and never looked back. She used to ask for "milkies" if she woke up in the middle of the night--I rarely obliged since she has been night weaned for so long, but the day that she woke up around 4 and cried asking for "almond milk," I lost it. I realized our relationship was changing, and it was really sad for me. Jason thought I was going crazy, but eventually we all calmed down and went back to sleep. Up until a month ago, she was nursing still at every nap time. Then it became every other, and every third. Two weeks ago my milk dried up completely (yay pregnancy!) and nursing started becoming very painful. I started shortening our nursing time to less than a minute whenever she nursed, and although she wasn't thrilled at first, she pretty much went along with it. Saturday was the last time she nursed, at naptime. Jason took some photos, because I was "modeling" a nursing tank for a friend who has an etsy shop. After that nursing session, I felt such a sense of closure for some reason. Annabelle didn't ask to nurse until Monday, and after explaining there was no milk left, and that she is a "big girl" now, and milkies are going to be for the new baby, she seemed okay with the idea of not nursing. She asked again today, but quickly said that milkies were for the new baby when I reminded her. We won't be nursing again, and, while part of me is really sad, I mostly feel really good about how we ended things. And, thanks to Bethany asking me to try that tank top for her, I have a few photos to document our last nursing session--it may sound corny, but it's so sweet to me to have those.
In other areas of Belle's life, she is also an amazing preschooler who has grown so much! Sleep is another big one. You ALL know if you've read my blog for the last couple of years that sleep has been a huge issue for us for a long time. But, after getting home from our Labor Day vacation, we decided to tackle the last big sleep "issue" for us--having to sit with her until she fell asleep. Usually this wasn't a huge deal, but on the nights it took an hour, it was a little frustrating, especially when we had friends over, or needed to put her down someplace other than her bed. She also still rocked to sleep for every nap, and that needed to end so that other people could successfully put her down for naps without major issues. So, we got her a great little sleep aid (a pillow pal thing from Target that makes stars on the ceiling and plays music), explained that she was going to go to sleep on her own, and we'd come check on her, tucked her in, and left. The first couple of nights were a little hard, but very little crying at all. Soon she knew the routine and was fine with it, and now (and for awhile!) she has gone to sleep on her own for every bedtime and every naptime. Other people have successfully put her down for both without much hassle at all, too. It's amazing. I have friends with little ones who are dealing with similar issues we had, and it's great to tell them that it really DOES get better. Thank God for sleep!!!
Semi-related, Annabelle had her first overnight away from home and either of us a few weeks ago. Gramma Debbie came over and helped me clean out my basement (thank GOD for that!!) and then took Annabelle all night and all day the next day. Belle had a great time playing with her cousin Sophia, who was also visiting Gramma, and did totally fine without us. I was a typical paranoid mommy and texted like 800 times, but my MIL was very kind about the whole thing :) I'm so glad that Annabelle had such a great time and did so well!
There are a million other ways my baby is no longer a baby...her language and vocabulary, how much she learns every day about everything under the sun, her love of her gymnastics class, how she loves to talk on the phone (!!), playing with other kids, expressing emotional understanding of things, and on and on and on. She just amazes me every day (I'm sure all mamas feel like that!). She's going to be a great big sister, and I can't wait to see how she interacts with the baby. These toddler/preschool months are by far my favorite so far!
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