1.5 Years Old!!

The 24th was a totally lazy day. Somehow amidst the laziness, I completely forgot about KJ turning 18 months! I didn't get any pictures of him on the actual day, but I did manage to get a few from other days! I thought I would post those few and tell about what our 18 month old has been up to and the new things that have been happening to him.

• Has 14 teeth and working on 2 more popping out
• 22 pounds, 11 ounces; 32.5 inches long
• On the night that he turned 18 months, he slept for 9 hours straight. Then, we put him into bed with us and he slept for another 2 hours. 
• Had his first haircut at the end of the 2012 since it kept getting tangled

Look at that length!

It was down to his shoulders on the sides!

So much easier to comb now!

Yeah...he wasn't too happy with me. haha!

• Tries to jump, but his feet can't leave the floor yet. It's so cute to see him try!
• Beginning to climb onto things. I was washing dishes (with my back turned to him) in the kitchen and became a little suspicious about what KJ was doing. I turned around to see that he had opened up one of the bottom kitchen drawers, climbed into it, and was trying to get something out of the top drawer

• Likes to throw things with all of his might--phones, cups, toys, plates, nothing is excluded
• Tries to count. He holds up one finger for one. 
• Distinguishes hot from cold. He'll ask if something is hot and if I respond with "no baby, it's not hot." He will then say "cold."
• Loves paper money! The real stuff, though. 
• SUPER fascinated with the human body. So far he can point out hair, eyes, nose, mouth, ears, belly button, and thigh (haha! Totally random that he picked up thigh.)

• Dislikes when his cookies are broken in half. He wants the whole thing or he'll pretty much throw a fit
• While we're talking about fits, if he's upset he will throw himself on the floor while crying. (Sometimes it's cute, other times...not so much.)
• Will wave and say "bye" as he proceeds to shut down the computer
• Will sit down on the floor and look through his baby photo album for a really long time while saying "baby." He has also started recognizing that the baby in the picture is him. He will say "baby" and point to himself.

• Throws his own diapers in the trash
• Sit on his potty. We're not potty training right now, but we're introducing the potty. He just sits on it (fully clothed) whenever I go to the bathroom. 
• Mommy is apparently his new favorite word because he will say it over and over and over again. 
• If he sees a dog or I ask him what does the dog say, he will respond with "woof woof."
• Wears a size 7 shoe

• He's very cautious about strangers now. He doesn't just walk up to random people, but he might wave to them from the safety of Mom and Dad's arms.
• Says "chicka chicka boom boom." It's the first time he's put that many words together!! He loves loves LOVES to talk. Some days he'll just be babbling and he'll go on and on. So funny and cute!
• Understanding Spanish really well. He still doesn't say any Spanish words (besides chi chi), but he's coming along
• Sleeps for about 4-7 hours on a typical night (it really varies) in his crib before joining us in bed

Time has really flown! He's learning so much so fast. He's like a little sponge. We love our little guy!

Looking Back

This weekend has been pretty crazy in the breastfeeding world. I've been reading of women getting harassed for feeding their children in some public places. It makes me so sad when I hear that women are being told to feed their child in a restroom. It also makes me sad that some people think breastfeeding is disgusting. Breastfeeding KJ for 17 months was the most beautiful time of my life. I feel really sad that it ended.

I've been writing about the struggles that we've had with getting KJ to sleep at night without him being attached at the breast the whole time. I weaned him because I thought that it was time for me to be done with breastfeeding. After two weeks of not nursing my baby, do you know what I discovered? It had become a part of me. I miss nursing my baby so much. We bonded so much when I nursed him. I miss holding him in my arms and his big beautiful eyes looking up at my face. I miss being able to soothe all of his pains and fears by simply nursing him. It was such a special time.

The day after Christmas, there was an incident that occurred where a woman was told to leave a Hollister store (which was located in a mall) because the manager did not want the mother to breastfeed her baby girl there. The woman had even used a cover so that no one could even see that the baby was breastfeeding.. The incident sparked an outcry from breastfeeding supporters all over the world (here in the U.S., Canada, New Zealand, and other places). People organized a nurse-in at Hollister stores all over. I decided to attend one that was held locally. I wasn't sure if KJ would nurse since it has been 2 weeks since he's done so, but I still wanted to go and show my support.

There were four women, including myself. One of the ladies was actually tandem nursing, meaning that she nursed both her 4 year old and 4 month old. When we were inside of the Hollister store, I attempted to nurse KJ. He simply looked at me like I was crazy. The event seemed to be successful. It was mainly to raise awareness of a breastfeeding mother's rights. I got home, checked the event page, and saw tons of pictures of women who were breastfeeding their babies. I will admit that I was jealous. I started crying (and still am) because it seemed to be over for us. I'm not sure why the tears...but I just feel so sad. It's funny how in the moment we think that we won't something (in my case, "something" was to sleep more at night) but then once we have it, we decide that it wasn't what we wanted after all.

No matter what, though, I can say that I breastfed my baby for 17 beautiful months. I will still continue to nourish him...it will just be in a different way.