Day 9 - Weaned

It's been a long, slow, gradual process, but I do believe, barring any setbacks, that we can officially call the baby "weaned." This morning was the first boob-free morning of his life. And he didn't seem to miss it. Perhaps a tad confused when I plopped him in his high chair for a sippy cup instead of going upstairs to nurse, but he quickly got over it. Nursing was never really an emotional thing for us - it was all about food. So, replace one source of food with another, and it's all good.

I am, surprisingly, a little sad to see it go. I'm not really sure why. John thinks it's completely rational for me to be sad. It was a bonding thing between you, he says. Not so much, I said. It was just something I did. But now you know that he's growing up, he says. He's not your baby any more. And, yes. That's true. Maybe that's it. As much as I think I prefer the fun, curious, independent little boy he is now, it's a little sad to see the baby going away. And I will miss looking down at him and seeing him smile up at me, or him sticking his fingers in my mouth. But, you know what? I can do that anyway, when he falls and bashes his head on something and comes crawling over to me for a cuddle. So all is not lost.

It's entertaining to look back at my kind of rocky nursing relationship with this child. At our first visit to lactation group. At my ridiculous oversupply. Mastitis. Speed-nursing baby and painful nipples. And then, finally, things starting to get a little better.

Though it was a real pain in the ass (nipple?) sometimes, I don't regret nursing one little bit. I loved the convenience, the "free"-ness. I loved being able to walk out of the house without a bottle or a sippy cup. But it doesn't matter much now - I have to walk out of the house with snacks and water and food for the baby, anyway. So what's another sippy cup of milk, added to the mix? No big deal.

Besides, look what my boobs did! Yay, boobs! You rock.

Dex went from this

To this. All thanks to boobs. Good work!
(PS - boobs cannot take all the credit for such baby huge-ness, as last night for dinner he ate the equivalent of an entire slice of pizza, plus some black beans, plus some fruit. Good lord, child!)