Boob no more

One of my favorite things about being Henry's mom has been nursing him.  Even when he was waking every couple of hours during those early days, I still felt like all was right with the world so long as I could just nurse my baby for the next thirty minutes.  He melted my heart when he would fall fast asleep snuggled close against my skin.  He cracked me up when he began noticing the world around him--popping his head up to check out his Daddy's voice and then, later, when he learned that he could multi-task and still nurse while reaching up to pat my face or even pull and twist my nose.  He made me stop and be still in the midst of stressful, frenzied days, including those afternoons after Mother's Morning Out when he would insist on nursing from around 2:30 PM - 4:00 PM.  That comfy glider was one of our best purchases!

Henry got the hang of the sippy cup around eight months, and we were able to start adding 1/3 of whole milk to his cup when he was about 12 months and two weeks.  It only took about two weeks before he was fine with a sippy cup containing all whole milk and was nursing just in the morning and before bed.  We cut out the morning feeding about a month ago, and he was nursing only at night--our special cuddle time.  Just Thursday night, though, he only nursed for about five minutes before grabbing his pacifier out of my hand and drifting off to sleep.  He did not request nursing on Friday night or tonight, so we think the nursing era is over.  

We always planned on me nursing Henry for 12 months, with the rest of the time being up to his discretion.  I am already feeling a little nostalgia over the end of this amazing time of connection, but truthfully, I am also looking forward to a sushi dinner!  Any babysitter volunteers out there?