After more then 3.5 years of nursing Kylie to sleep, she has started to fall asleep on her own. On some level I was not sure she would get to this point, of course I knew she would, but I just didn't see how it was going to happen. But over the past week she has successfully fallen asleep multiple times without me. For months now, she will fall asleep when we are taking her on a walk in the stroller, she drinks her bottle of milk, hands it to us and falls alseep. When Auntie Marta was here last week, she was able to read Kylie stories, then just rub her back and she fell asleep. I could not believe it! Auntie Marta worked her magic two times in a row. Then I was not by myself one night (Craig was studying) and Cooper was being a wild man while I was trying to get Kylie to sleep. She took her bottle, we read some stories, she nursed for about 1 minute until I told her I was going to take Cooper to our bed and try to get him to sleep. I gave her a couple books to read and told her I would come back once Coopie was sleeping. 40 minutes later, Cooper is asleep and I go to check on Kylie, she is snoring with a book in her hand, amazing! This has happened a couple more times and it happened again tonight. Cooper was tired and not letting Craig entertian him while I put Kylie down. I nursed her for a couple minutes and then told her I would come back after putting Cooper down. Cooper insisted that both Craig and I stay with him and before I knew it I was waking up 2 hours later. Craig and Cooper fast asleep. I went to check on Kylie and sure enough she was fast asleep too.
I have been having a hard time nursing her lately. I find it more annoying then joyful most of the time, and I am talking to her about weaning more and more. I was very worried about bed time, often people keep the bedtime feeding as one of the last ones to cut out when weaning, but for us bedtime seems to be one of the easier times. I didn't know how she would start falling asleep on her own, but here she is, doing it on her own, without any tears, without any arguing, without any power struggle. Tonight she even took it a step farther... she got out of bed and went to the bathroom, both Craig and I were worried that she would not go back to bed but instead start playing with her toys. But she climbed back in bed with out any help or instruction and read books until she fell asleep. I don't have any idea what time it was, but who cares. It's amazing to see her maturing and growing up so much. I am so happy this transition is happening smoothly, who knows we might be back to nursing to sleep tomorrow, but for right now I am feeling very encouraged and proud of my little girl. We will just keep going with the flow and supporting Kylie as she makes these transitions when she is ready. Now I can only hope she will naturally self-wean somewhat soon, since I'm feeling like it is that time for me :)
Sunday, November 22, 2015
Saturday, November 14, 2015
Halloween, Cooper's First Haircut, Portorville Trip and much more....
Halloween was great. Kylie dressed up as Doc McStuffins and Cooper was a puppy dog, 50's boy and a dragon. The night before Halloween we headed to Linda Valley Care Center (where I teach clinicals), the residents were having a party and the kids were able to trick or treat to each of the residents. It was fun to show off my beautiful family. Craig was such a trooper, I had to leave early to teach at the BI, but he stayed with the kids and enjoyed the party. The next day Craig went to work, Kylie, Cooper and I headed to Costco. Kylie dressed up as Cinderella and insisted that I be her mouse GusGus. In the afternoon we headed downtown for "safe trick or treating." It was so busy and there were long lines to get candy, so we ended up just walking around and enjoying looking at all the costumes. We also ran into a few friends.
We walked downtown with Mish and her grandma and dad.
Olivia as Little Red Riding Hood
Once we got home we had some friends there waiting for us. Some of my friends from the breastfeeding group decided to come over and hang out, we had pizza and Kylie answered the door for all the trick or treaters. Early in the evening she changed into regular clothes, but once we ran out of candy, we decided to head to Auntie Renae's for her Halloween Party and it was time to get back in costume. Kylie didn't want to at first, but I explained "Ky, this is Halloween, this is what we have been talking about, you have been excited about dressing up for a month now, and this is it, this is the time." Her response was so cute "right now? it's happening right now?!" "yes Ky, right now is Halloween, it happening right now." "really? right now!?" "Yep, let's gets dressed up so we don't miss it." "ok!!!!" Craig got home right as we were walking out the door, we all headed down to Renae's and stopped by a few neighbors houses on the way. Kylie had a little bucket she was using to trick or treat and it was pretty full from the night before, we got a couple pieces of candy from the neighbors and kylie started refusing the candy offers stating that her bucket was already too full. Made me smile. Tilly and Lulu were also at Renae's house, the three girls had such a wonderful time playing together, they must have played for 2 hours. Cooper tried to keep up but he was also slightly more interested in the dogs that were there.
Cooper's hair has been in his eyes for some time now and my mom kept threatening to trim it, so one day I went for it myself. I had never cut boys hair before and had no idea what I was doing. It did not turn out great, but it will work, he looks like such a little boy now, I miss my baby :(
I also ventured to Portorville with both kids to surprise Taylor for her baby shower. I drove at night on the way up and both kids slept (Cooper woke a couple times and I had to pull over to nurse him, but other then that they slept). Kylie had been SO excited to go visit Ammy and Papa, she was also very excited to see Tiny Baby. When we arrived at midnight, I picked up my sleeping Kylie and carried her to our room, as I am laying her down on the bed her little eyes pop open and she gives me the biggest smile and says "where's tiny baby?" So she got up and found her, I got Cooper out of the car, which woke him up and Ammy and Papa were still awake! So we had playtime for a little over an hour until all the adults were more then ready for bed. Our trip was wonderful, we got to spend time with Taylor and her beautiful belly (makes me miss pregnancy) and of course it was wonderful to spend time with Ammy, Papa, Lala and Timmy. Cooper showed off his new hair cut and all his new tricks, like finding Goldbug and talking up a storm. He also performed his "if your happy and you know it" song, it was a big hit.
Kylie stayed awake for the entire drive home, Cooper napped for most of the way. We ended up stopping in Onterio to check out a kids play place. We were trying to give Craig a little extra study time. The kids had SO much fun at LOLKidsClub, it was great to see Kylie really enjoy herself. She started out somewhat cautious, wanting me to go with her everywhere, and by the end of our time there, she was running around adventuring and only checking in with me every once in a while. Cooper really liked it too, we will have to go back sometime soon.
Cooper learned a couple more words this week, I feel like he gets a new word everyday. Today it was "apple." He loves to read and yesterday he gave Kylie and me so many kisses. He is getting better about putting his lips together and making the kiss sound at the right time, it is so sweet.
Kylie loves to help in the kitchen, in fact I think she enjoys cooking much much more then I do :) Craig is amazing about involving her when he is cooking, he give her a lot of autonomy and she loves it. He brings one of the kitchen chairs up to the counter so she can reach everything and lets her go for it. Last night I was making casserole so I thought I would let her help me make it. Craig got home and we simply set out the ingredients and told her what to do, she put the whole thing together on her own. When she is cooking she calls herself Chef Nick and Craig is Chef Lee. She gets into character and it is so fun to watch her. I hope she always enjoys spending time in the kitchen, it is totally something she loves to do with Craig and I hope that can continue for a long time.
I'm sure there is more to say, but this had been long enough :)
Good night,
Natalie
Playtime in the yard.
Typical outfit these days...she changes at least 2-3 times a day and it is often some combination of PJ's and regular clothes.
Ama has taught them some good gardening skills.
Coopers favorite place to play in the kitchen, Nico thought it was fun too!
We watched Penny the other evening, it was fun to try and manage with 3 kids. Cooper and Penny are just a few months different in age so I kept thinking "this is what twins would be like" ahhhh. But we made it, playing, dinner, baths, and all three kids asleep at a reasonable time, yes!
sometimes they hold hands when they sleep, so sweet.
Kylie is getting more daring, she really enjoys doing "circus" tricks.
Spontaneous sweet moment while we were walking to visit the neighbors.
Cooper hardly ever falls asleep during breastfeeding group and if he does it is in the carrier. But today he fell asleep nursing and I was able to put him down for a nice nap. He eventually rolled off the pillow and I ended up waking him by trying to put him back on.
Anytime it is too quite and I go searching for the trouble my kids have gotten into...this is what I find. Every time.
We often take a walk at night to help Kylie and Cooper go to sleep. Kylie is insistent that she bring many friends for the walk.
Cooper yesterday morning, just reading his new book and enjoying the morning sunshine.
Kylie practicing her Yoga moves in the bath, kids are amazing.
Once we got home we had some friends there waiting for us. Some of my friends from the breastfeeding group decided to come over and hang out, we had pizza and Kylie answered the door for all the trick or treaters. Early in the evening she changed into regular clothes, but once we ran out of candy, we decided to head to Auntie Renae's for her Halloween Party and it was time to get back in costume. Kylie didn't want to at first, but I explained "Ky, this is Halloween, this is what we have been talking about, you have been excited about dressing up for a month now, and this is it, this is the time." Her response was so cute "right now? it's happening right now?!" "yes Ky, right now is Halloween, it happening right now." "really? right now!?" "Yep, let's gets dressed up so we don't miss it." "ok!!!!" Craig got home right as we were walking out the door, we all headed down to Renae's and stopped by a few neighbors houses on the way. Kylie had a little bucket she was using to trick or treat and it was pretty full from the night before, we got a couple pieces of candy from the neighbors and kylie started refusing the candy offers stating that her bucket was already too full. Made me smile. Tilly and Lulu were also at Renae's house, the three girls had such a wonderful time playing together, they must have played for 2 hours. Cooper tried to keep up but he was also slightly more interested in the dogs that were there.
Cooper's hair has been in his eyes for some time now and my mom kept threatening to trim it, so one day I went for it myself. I had never cut boys hair before and had no idea what I was doing. It did not turn out great, but it will work, he looks like such a little boy now, I miss my baby :(
I also ventured to Portorville with both kids to surprise Taylor for her baby shower. I drove at night on the way up and both kids slept (Cooper woke a couple times and I had to pull over to nurse him, but other then that they slept). Kylie had been SO excited to go visit Ammy and Papa, she was also very excited to see Tiny Baby. When we arrived at midnight, I picked up my sleeping Kylie and carried her to our room, as I am laying her down on the bed her little eyes pop open and she gives me the biggest smile and says "where's tiny baby?" So she got up and found her, I got Cooper out of the car, which woke him up and Ammy and Papa were still awake! So we had playtime for a little over an hour until all the adults were more then ready for bed. Our trip was wonderful, we got to spend time with Taylor and her beautiful belly (makes me miss pregnancy) and of course it was wonderful to spend time with Ammy, Papa, Lala and Timmy. Cooper showed off his new hair cut and all his new tricks, like finding Goldbug and talking up a storm. He also performed his "if your happy and you know it" song, it was a big hit.
Kylie stayed awake for the entire drive home, Cooper napped for most of the way. We ended up stopping in Onterio to check out a kids play place. We were trying to give Craig a little extra study time. The kids had SO much fun at LOLKidsClub, it was great to see Kylie really enjoy herself. She started out somewhat cautious, wanting me to go with her everywhere, and by the end of our time there, she was running around adventuring and only checking in with me every once in a while. Cooper really liked it too, we will have to go back sometime soon.
Cooper learned a couple more words this week, I feel like he gets a new word everyday. Today it was "apple." He loves to read and yesterday he gave Kylie and me so many kisses. He is getting better about putting his lips together and making the kiss sound at the right time, it is so sweet.
Kylie loves to help in the kitchen, in fact I think she enjoys cooking much much more then I do :) Craig is amazing about involving her when he is cooking, he give her a lot of autonomy and she loves it. He brings one of the kitchen chairs up to the counter so she can reach everything and lets her go for it. Last night I was making casserole so I thought I would let her help me make it. Craig got home and we simply set out the ingredients and told her what to do, she put the whole thing together on her own. When she is cooking she calls herself Chef Nick and Craig is Chef Lee. She gets into character and it is so fun to watch her. I hope she always enjoys spending time in the kitchen, it is totally something she loves to do with Craig and I hope that can continue for a long time.
I'm sure there is more to say, but this had been long enough :)
Good night,
Natalie
Playtime in the yard.
Coopers favorite place to play in the kitchen, Nico thought it was fun too!
We watched Penny the other evening, it was fun to try and manage with 3 kids. Cooper and Penny are just a few months different in age so I kept thinking "this is what twins would be like" ahhhh. But we made it, playing, dinner, baths, and all three kids asleep at a reasonable time, yes!
sometimes they hold hands when they sleep, so sweet.
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