Whelp, we’ve made it!
Two years and we’re all still alive despite relentless sleep deprivation and Luci’s ludicrous diet of yogurt and noodles. This week Luci told me a bedtime story in which a brave little girl named Luci and her gnome friend helped a mama bear rescue her cub who was tangled in a blackberry bramble and that Earth is a planet and she lives on it. She can count up to 20 and down from 11 and she taught herself how to put a wristwatch on, but she also tried to swallow a tiny butterfly clip and promptly vomited it up onto the couch. She is totally fine, but obviously, we cried (Shaun and I), and this was a good reminder that as bright as she is she is still a toddler prone to doing terrifying toddler things.
In more celebratory news, her birthday lasted about two weeks and was a huge success. Thank you to everyone who celebrated with us and showered her with love and gifts. She is still fondly reminiscing about the birthday bounce house.
Night Weaning
I always imagined that we would still be breastfeeding at this point, but it never occurred to me that in many ways it would be far more taxing and physically uncomfortable than it was when I was her sole source of nourishment. It has become a much more acrobatic endeavor, and I’m constantly begging her to quit squirming. Which she does, but then resumes almost instantly as if she simply cannot help but to writhe. Which is funny as I write it, but it overwhelms me as it is happening. I have supported new moms on the autism spectrum through breastfeeding and the sensory overload is a big hurdle and requires much mental preparation and setting of boundaries. Now, I believe I can empathize in a way that was not quite possible when she was smaller and way more chill. Also, there is a torturous amount of nipple rubbing and pinching that genuinely just comforts her, but makes me want to rip my nipples off and be done with them forever.
So we’re slowly and painfully working towards weaning, beginning with the night feeds. Pray for us to stay the course as we sleep even less and dodge her furiously flailing limbs at 5:30 every morning when she has reached the end of her rope and simply cannot fathom why the sun has not yet risen to release the “meemees” from their enchanted sleep and deliver her from this newly droughted nightscape.
Yoga Updates!
Tomorrow will be week four of in-person yoga at Lang Carson, and I feel really lucky to have found this home for my yoga class. It is a holiday weekend, but ain’t no holidays from the aches and pains of parenting so take a blessed hour for yourself tomorrow to stretch and breathe and lay on the floor for a bit. I did a little practice myself after taking Luci to school this morning and my god was it luxurious. Long gone are the days when I scoffed at a gentle yoga practice. Who the hell has time for restorative yoga when we need to be FIT AND HOT NOW?! Poor young me had not a clue, but I do now and I love to share what I’ve learned with anyone else looking to love on their body with a bit more joy and compassion.
Saturday, September 4: class is ON!
Saturday, September 9: NO class, check out the Reynoldstown Wheelbarrow Festival instead!
Saturday, September 16: our weekly Saturday schedule resumes
In conclusion, I really could not be happier.
Love, Bella