Kiwi Crate

I liked the idea, in theory, but was skeptical about how it would be received by my craft-loathing child. My friend really wanted us to try it, though, so bought the girls a three month subscription for Christmas/ birthdays. This month's box crate revolved around story telling.
Aside from a meltdown about accidentally ripping the paper when she was trying to cut something out, Laura has seemed to really enjoy it so far. We have practiced fine motor with cutting and colouring, we have learned about stage set up, we have been creative drawing a stage scene, we have created a marionette type puppet, and learned some new vocabulary words, too! (punching something out of paper does not mean to punch something out like you would a person!)

The End of (Another) Era

We had originally wanted to keep Rachel in Parent and Tot swimming classes for at least one more session, but Laura was ready to move up to the Swimmer series classes, and the Swimmer One level started at 9:00. Rachel's Parent and Tot lesson didn't start until 10:00, which wasn't really a problem, as we could both be in the pool with them the whole time, but Rachel has really mastered everything in Parent and Tot, and the only thing holding her back from graduating to parentless Preschool swimming lessons was her comfort level without us. The problem was that if we held her back from the Preschool set, she would perpetually be behind Laura's lesson times (eg. Laura would be in Swimmer Two at 9:30 when Rachel started Preschool One at 9:00, Laura would be in Swimmer Three at 10:00 when Rachel started Preschool Two at 9:30, etc), so we decided on the fly today to see if she could be in the Preschool One class at 9:00 this morning, and they had room for her! It is the same teacher who has taught her Parent and Tot class for the last year or so, so she was already comfortable(ish) with her, and with only a small amount of coaxing she enjoyed her lesson with out in the water! Josh and I enjoyed a relaxing half hour pool side to just chat with each other while the kids had their lessons.
So although it was a somewhat abrupt end to a fantastic era of Saturday morning family pool time, I think it will be for the best in the long run. And although Josh and I now have to pay to swim because we are not part of Rachel's lesson anymore, we can make a point to enjoy the mornings we do.

A Star is Born

     We got the call this morning that Laura has officially been cast in the Wizard of Oz community theatre production after her audition last Sunday! She was the youngest one to audition and be cast. To say I am excited and proud would be an understatement. I've been nearly jumping around the house.

     The director said she was particularly impressed that Laura has been taking vocal lessons for nine months already, and that it shows dedication and focus. She was also convinced that Laura was stage ready because, during her audition, she successfully improvised a skit with another child. Laura will be playing a munchkin, with her own special part as one of three members of the Lullaby League which will feature a dance and a verse sung in trio. She has also been cast as a poppy, in a later scene of the show. 

     I think this kind of thing is right up Laura's alley, and this is a perfect introductory show for her.
Come and see her on stage April 23 - 26!! :D

Weaned

    As of the new year, I am officially done breastfeeding. It's kind of bittersweet, but I'm mostly okay with it, I think.

     I started this post a long time ago, over a year ago, as I have anticipated Rachel weaning for a long time. Our breastfeeding relationship has been rocky. I had a beautiful, textbook breastfeeding relationship with Laura: comfort, bonding, mutually agreed upon weaning, and it was just so different the second time around with Rachel. From the time she was born, she was always a good but quick nurser, and it didn't seem particularly comforting to her. I had been so happily anticipating the amazing bond it creates, but I perceived that she was really just mostly in it for the nutritional aspect. And when I got pregnant when she was five months old, and my supply dropped, our real struggles began. At first, she was fussy because she was going hungry. I would flip out on anyone who dared interrupt us, including my two year old. Once we realized the problem, we had to start supplementing. I remember crying at the grocery store buying our first can of formula. I felt so guilty and like such a failure. And then when we tried to give her a bottle, we struggled more because she didn't want to take it. So we both sat there many nights, both crying, because of all this. Eventually we started dipping the bottle nipple in maple syrup so she would accept it. And thus began the downward spiral. I couldn't take anything to boost my supply because I was pregnant, and the more bottles she drank, the more negative feedback my body received about how much milk to make. After I lost that pregnancy, my supply was really tanked. I started taking herbs and nursing tea to help boost it. For a while, we were doing fairly well - less than one bottle a day. But because Rachel had realized that bottles were less work for her, she wasn't keen to give them up entirely. I beat myself up every time she wanted one. Whenever we would have a bad day or she would nurse less frequently than normal, I would be upset. I wanted to nurse her until at least two years old because I felt that was only fair, since that was when her sister self-weaned. But it was becoming very difficult to keep it up, physically, and emotionally.  We struggled a lot, because I didn't feel like she liked or wanted it, really. She rarely asked for it, though when she did, I was over the moon. It was all very emotionally draining and psychologically unhealthy. But there were things that I still adored about breastfeeding: I was fascinated to watch my infant stay healthy when other family members would come down ill, I loved her playing games with my face, pointing to eyes, ears, nose, pushing my face to other side to see other ear, etc. And I loved how easy it was. Warm milk, ready on tap whenever you needed it (which, granted, was not quite as easy once we were battling supply issues). So you can see the bittersweet aspect.

     Then, before she had fully weaned, I randomly stumbled across an article that had a story very similar to ours. However, the mother had a different spin on it: 

            Although I was sad that he weaned, I chose to focus on the positive. We had beaten the odds, 

           and when he needed breastmilk the most (while in the NICU and during the first winter), he had 

           it! We had a really good, loving nursing relationship, and it ended on a positive note. I missed

           nursing him, but I celebrated nine hard-won months of breastfeeding.

      And it was then that I realized that I really should be celebrating the achievement we made by making it as far as we did after struggling so much. When Rachel turned two, I stopped taking supplements (that was a year and five months, if you're keeping track!) because I had made it to my goal with her. I was shocked, really, that we had made it that far, considering where we had come from. She was supplemented from the time she was about six months old, but still met the criteria for the breastfed growth chart. At around 14 months (I think?), we switched from formula to a coconut/ almond milk mixture because she could not tolerate cow's milk, and she still drinks that now. I had secretly revised my goal to nursing for 30 months, because I felt like I wanted her to have the extra six months of breast milk that she had partially missed out on while she was being supplemented with formula, and lo and behold, we made it to that goal, too! She stopped nursing about a month ago, so between 30 and 31 months. I am pleased she held on so long, especially considering that she was solely in charge of maintaining supply without lactation supplements for the past six months, and I feel like we are ready to be done. Mutually. I'm sure I will miss it, but I definitely won't have regrets of not trying harder. <3




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