Isn't She Lovely...

My littlest girl turns one today. Such a milestone! She smiled early, laughed early, crawled early and walked at ten months. The one thing she didn't do this year is take a pacifier. Or a bottle for that matter. (When I told my hair stylest this she said "well how did she eat?") I smiled. Breastfeed of course.

I never set out to be a longtime nurser. With my first daughter (who is now four) I nursed for three months. This time my goal was four to six months. Little m had other plans. I survived four bouts of mastitis, two colds, her teething and more sleep deprivation than I thought a person could handle. We tried every bottle/nipple/pacifier on the market. Even ordering a $12 specialty bottle of the internet and rush shipping it here for $50 during a particularly stressful week. Through it all I had the incredible support of my husband, my parents, my best friend and even my oldest daughter.

At eight months I was able to wean her during the day when she started taking a sippy cup thanks to my husband's help. Naptimes and getting her to sleep at night were nightmarish. She fights sleep like nothing I've ever seen. Unless of course she was nursing. We decided that this week we would wean her from her nighttime nursing. At first I was emotional, but I knew she would be fine.

Last Saturday I nursed her for the last time. I shed a few tears, because after all this was a long emotional journey we took together, but then I was completely fine with it. And she performed like a champ. She let my husband put her to sleep, give her a nighttime cup of milk (formula). And has been--fingers crossed--sleeping somewhat better!

Well I didn't start this post to discuss my breastfeeding journey, but that marks a great deal of what this first year was about. I say that breastfeeding a baby for any length of time is liking running a marathon, breastfeeding for a year is like completing the the IRONMAN. So where's my gold medal? I just have to look at her beautiful smile and there it is! Happy Birthday Little Bit!!