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Thursday, June 30, 2011

Like saving money? I do!!! You must check this out.

If you haven't already ventured over to Plum District, you've got to check it out! Plum District is a daily deal site geared towards smart, savvy moms. Each day, Plum District sends members a deal that relates to them and their busy lives – everything from spa treatments and restaurants to family outings and kids' activities. Plum District is unique in that it is solely focused on moms and deals are sourced by moms that will make their lives easier or more enjoyable.

There will be some great family deals for summer coming up in July. It's really worth significant up for!
https://www.plumdistrict.com/?ref=u1f802e14a9f
Alanna

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Sam's new educational toy.

Nothing's better than a box!
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Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Adventures in Weaning: Or, How Sam Got Off the Boob

You may remember a couple months ago when I posted about my experiences with breastfeeding, and some of the struggles I was having with weaning. I have some good news to update:

Sam is officially weaned!!!

Want to  know how we did it? It was hard. You may remember the difficulties I had with cutting her off from the naptime nursing sessions. Up until that time, we were slowly easing into the weaning, cutting back one meal at a time and replacing it with the sippy cup. Once we got to the nap situation though, it was a problem since it was a comfort thing for her, not a meal. I finally had to just buckle down and get it over with though. Her teeth were so painful, I could hardly stand to have her latch on anymore. Especially since she wasn't really nursing anymore, she was really just using me as a pacifier. Ouch.

Week one, we cut out the afternoon nap nursing. That one wasn't so bad, since probably 3-4 days out of the week she naps in the car while we're out in the afternoons and wasn't nursing to sleep anyway. That week went fairly well. She did cry and try to go for the boob when I rocked her to sleep, but we got through it okay.

Week two was the WORST. We always do morning nap at home, and she had a really strong association between breastfeeding and napping in the mornings. I had to just pin her down in my arms while she flailed and screamed and flopped, trying to get at my boobs. It probably only lasted a couple minutes, but it felt like forever. But eventually she'd calm down and fall asleep in my arms.

Week three - at this point, we were down to just early morning nursing and bedtime nursing. Mike has been putting her to bed most nights, so I really wasn't even nursing her to sleep most nights anyway. Whenever I put her to bed though, I would nurse her. I decided that we would drop the nighttime nursing first, since the early morning was convenient for me - we would bring her in bed with us so I could nurse her, and I'd get an extra hour or so of sleep. ;) This went fairly well. Mike put her to bed almost that entire week, so it wasn't until the last couple of days that I had to try putting her to bed without nursing. It was no problem at all! She was already so accustomed to going to sleep without me that she didn't mind at all when I didn't offer the boob.

We really didn't even have a week four. The last day of week three, I gave her the boob in the morning when she woke up, and it was just pointless. She wasn't getting anything out of it, and it was just hurting me. It felt forced. She took it because I offered, but she totally didn't need it. And that was the last time I nursed her! (I might also mention that things, um, changed with my body at week three, so that probably has a bit of something to do with her lack of interest in my milk/lack thereof.)

It has been several days now, and we are doing great. She still fusses for naps when I rock her to sleep, but she doesn't really go for the boob anymore. She does like to keep her hand on them as she falls asleep, but I don't mind that, if it makes her feel comfortable. (As long as she doesn't pinch the nipples...I hate that!!!)

Now, our next step is getting her to go to bed without being rocked to sleep. She's starting to get so long now that she seems very uncomfortable in my arms while I'm rocking her. I think she's outgrowing the chair. Hopefully that's a step in the right direction, so that she'll be more comfortable falling asleep in her own bed. I'm sure we'll have another adjustment period for that, but we're getting there. For now, I LOVE my cuddle time with my baby as I rock her to sleep. These days are almost over, and we'll never have them again, so I'm cherishing every sweet moment. :)

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Please Vote for Sam!

Sam has been entered in the Parents Magazine cover photo contest! There is a winner each week, and each weekly winner gets $250. After all 10 weeks, each weekly winner has a chance to win a photo shoot to be on the cover of Parents Magazine!!! Of course we think our little cutie has great potential as a cover model, so please be a dear and vote for her!
The voting for this week ends on Sunday, and you can go back and vote once every day. Please show some Sammy love! :)

http://photos.parents.com/category/vote/photo/914305

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Sammy Dancing

This video's a little dark, but if you can see it, Sam is dancing to the band. Pretty darn cute!

Monday, June 6, 2011

Thirteen Months

 

Dear Samantha,

You have been 1 for a whole month now, and you are already quite a pro at being a toddler. You are always on the go, walking and running everywhere you go. You continue to get funnier and funnier all the time. You tell jokes sometimes and it just cracks Mommy and Daddy up. One night you were in the bathtub and you were babbling on and on about something, and at the end you started laughing and laughing. I only wish I knew what the punch line was!

You are always giggling. You love it when Mommy chases you around the house. You take off running, and Mommy says "Hey, Baby, where you goin? I'm gonna get you!!!" and you laugh and laugh and try to get away. (But of course you like to stop or go slow so I can catch you and tickle you!)

You are really doing well with your talking now. Your words are getting clearer and clearer. You are getting better at emphasizing the last consonant of a word and not just the beginning. You don't just say "ca" for cat, but you say "caT!" The words you say most often are Dad, dog, cat, lunch, breakfast, snack, ball, balloon, and that. You just started saying "woof" now when you hear a dog barking. I'm always amazed at how many things you say that I can recognize (although they probably wouldn't sound like words to most other people, Daddy and I definitely know what you are trying to tell us!)

You really seem to have fun with your friends now. I wasn't sure if you were really recognizing them, or just having fun with them because they were your size. Then, the other day we took you to a birthday party where you didn't know anyone, and you suddenly got very shy and cautious about these new kids. You warmed up to them quickly, but I could definitely see that you react differently around the friends you see all the time than you do around new people. You interact with other kids so much now. You love to watch older kids do things that you don't know how to do yet. You can't quite throw a ball yet, but you have learned how to drop it so that it rolls forward a bit.

We took you on your first camping trip this month. It wasn't the most successful trip, since we ended up getting rained out and leaving early in the morning instead of staying a second night, but you sure had fun the first day before the rain came! You love being outside. You had a lot of fun helping Daddy set up the tent, and in the evening we went for a walk and found a band playing in the campground. Everyone was dancing, so you went right out in the middle of the dance floor and danced right along with everyone else! It was very entertaining for everyone.


You LOVE music now. Anytime you hear any little bit of a beat, you start bouncing. Your dance move is kind of a bouncing squat, and when you get really into it, you flap your arms up and down. If you are sitting when you hear music, you still bounce and nod your head. We really want to get you into music classes again! You love shows on TV like the Wiggles and Sesame Street. You love anything with lots of music!

Your newest skill is climbing, so we have had to teach you how to climb down going "feet first." You are pretty good at it, but we still have to watch you closely. You are such a little daredevil, with no fear at all. You are a fun kid, and I know you are going to be a handful for your whole life! We love you so very much. You keep us full of laughter!

I love you so much!

Love,
Mommy