Seeking nursing advice

I am still nursing my 15 month old twins. I am happy to still be doing that and have no huge desire to start the weaning process. EXCEPT

In the last few weeks Juliette has learned to ask. The first time she did it I was tickled - it was so cute. I always use a pillow when I nurse so she would find a pillow and drag it over to me. Tiny girl dragging big pillow. CUTE

But now, she does it like 5 million times a day. And when I say no she stomps her feet, throws herself to the floor and has a full on temper tantrum. SO frustrating! She also freaks out if I don't nurse her as soon as she wakes up in the morning (which is fine with me) and as soon as she wakes up from her nap (which I'm not keen on).

Kiernan weaned himself at 11 months after we worked on bottle feeding for me to go back to work. I never anticipated the demands to suddenly get higher. And she doesn't want to stop nursing either - she wants to hang on for eons. She's not a newborn - I'm not down with the marathon nursing anymore.

SO. Do I expect she'll start giving up as I continue saying no? Is this common for some children who nurse longer? Does anyone have any advice on how to deal with this?

I obviously know it's not the same for all children - Quinn never asks and the only time he freaks out is if Eric goes to him and not me in the middle of the night.

When she acts this way repeatedly it makes me think I'm going to need to cut her off, and that makes me sad. I don't think I'm ready to be done nursing forever yet.

365 update - the really late so lots of photos version

Wow am I ever overdue with this post. So much so I think I'm only going to post one alternate photo, although there are many many many

Day 64
Quinn at MiniPort at Place d'Orleans. Right before I was told NO PHOTOS AT MINIPORT. Oops. And also one of the first photos taken on my new Kodak point and shoot.


Day 65
Taken on my iPhone at Millenium park


Day 66
New York City - during the Kodak bus tour


Day 67
Three bridges - Brooklyn, Manhattan and something that starts with W, in NYC :)


Day 68
Walking in NYC


Day 69
Memorial to John Lenon in Central Park


Day 70
Roanen in the splash park in Queenswood Heights. I really love this photo. Something screams fun to me.


Day 71
Babies exploring the funny "ruins" at Strathcona park


Day 72
Building at Papanack zoo.


Day 73
Dragonfly on the road seen during a walk up at the cottage


Day 74
Juliette


Day 75
Eric and I went on our first date night since before Christmas and had all you can eat sushi. YUMMO!


Day 76
11pm and no photo of the day. This drawing means a lot to me, I brought it home when I lived in korea and really treasure it.


Day 77
Sleepy and sweaty at the cottage


Day 78
Splash pad at Storyland.


Day 79
Tristan and Kiernan on the boardwalk in Pembroke


Day 80
Taken from the car at a stop light on my way to a meeting. Some days you just squeak these photos in.


Day 81
Water is such an interesting subject!


Day 82
What a cutie eh? In her Loopy 4 Ewe hat.


Alternate
All 6 cousins smiling! Juliette in a beam of angelic light ;)

Six word Friday - the best

Tight arms wrapped around my neck.
Warm cheeks pressed into my shoulder.
Love, happiness, strength, trust, comfort. Family.
It's the best feeling in the world.

Frollicking in the rain...

Maybe when my mother in law told me it had been raining all afternoon in Renfrew
Or maybe when I walked out the door and hit a wall of humidity
Or maybe when I looked up at the sky and started to hear rumblings in the sky...
I would have thought I had picked the wrong time to go for a walk.

But I was determined! I was going to workout, I wasn't going to let silly excuses slow me down.

And workout I did - as I ran all the way home, in pants too big that needed to be tugged up every 30 seconds, with burning lungs, through a downpour with shrieking giggling twins in the stroller.

Good news: I can log a totally unintentional jog into this week's Losing it exercise regime!

Now I need a nap. And a pizza.

15 months old

The babies are 15 months old and man oh man are they a lot of work!!

Kiernan was in daycare by the time he was a year so I'm not used to running after a 15 month old 7 days a week, let alone 2. And THESE 15 month olds - GET INTO EVERYTHING!

If you have any advice on how to get them to stop climbing, throwing, opening, touching EVERYTHING, let me know. We still have them in the jumperoo and exersaucer (when they'll let us) just to have a break from them touching EVERYTHING constantly. The playroom is a godsend but they only want to be in there so much. yanno?

I think I'm going to sign them up for Gymboree in September and have LOTS and LOTS of activities planned. Also, slowly friends are threatening to go back to work. Not cool friends, not cool ;)

As for what they're doing

Quinn

- Saying most "hi" "up" "tata" "dada" and "lala" (or la-ya) Lala is me. I think that may be a post in and of itself. And we think he's starting to say Juliette.
- Starting to walk. He walked across the room the other day, so he can do it. But he is still
choosing to crawl most of the time- often like a bear with his bum up in the air.
- Still super huggy. He comes up to you and simply lays his head on your lap for a cuddle. Or hangs on with so much might you could drown in those hugs. They are awesome.

Juliette

- Saying "hi" "bye bye" "mommy" "night night" "no" or rather "NO NO NO NO NO NO NO"
- brings books (but doesn't want to read them)
- has started to request nursing more and more by dragging a pillow to me. This is very cute the first few times but starting to get frustrating as I'm pretty sure a 15 month old doesn't need to nurse all day.

They both
- climb. oh they climb. We've had to rescue them from perilous situations and I don't like it one bit. (That slide below? Q got up there before I noticed! He was so high I couldn't reach him from the ground. Thank god for six year old cousins who take their jobs of helping very seriously)
- they interact so sweetly together, waving hello when they see each other and hugging and kissing. They also smack each other over the head with toys, so, you know... it goes both ways.

Losing it in Ottawa

If you've known me for long you probably know I struggle with my weight. I'm up and down and generally far heavier than I want/ought to be.

But I'm ready to take the bull by the horns, and to do that a group of five other bloggers and I have started a new blog called Losing it in Ottawa.

Head over and check it out. I'm the sixth and final blogger and my post is up today so have a look at my post and then go back and check out all the other girl's intro posts.

We'd love to have your support, and if you've been struggling with your weight, we'd love if you came along for the ride!

Wish me luck!

Six word Friday - This much I know

Some days I could give up

Some days I could try harder

But I am remembering to pause

The joys are many and plentiful

I appreciate how lucky I am

And love makes it all worthwhile

BlogHer '10 - community of awesome

The number one reason that I went to BlogHer was not to grow my blog, or monetize it, or learn what" I should do next". The number one reason that I went was that blogging has made me feel like I'm part of something. A secret sisterhood? A cool club? I don't know what exactly to call it, but bloggers, and moms within social media, they support each other and I think it's awesome!

Twitter has only increased that feeling, exponentially, for me. The bloggers and moms I was becoming friends with through blogs now honestly feel like IRL friends (and some have become so). Twitter makes me feel like I always have someone to go to in times of need.

And while I was at BlogHer, I had a bit of a time of need. After 3 days away from my unweaned twins, and many attempts at pumping with the borrowed breast pump I brought with me (I don't generally pump so I don't have an operational pump that I know and count on) I was uncomfortable, to say the least.

I was getting engorged, and I was feeling a blocked duct on the way. And I wasn't sure what else to do other than what I was doing. BlogHer is super supportive of moms and even had a Lansinoh sponsored lactation lounge, but it wasn't constantly manned and the time I stopped in it was empty.

So, I did was social media types (who are apparently comfortable with putting it ALL out there into the web-o-sphere) do and I tweeted:

Anyone with pumping help/advice available to help me out today at #BlogHer10 #bf? #ireallymissmyunweanedtwinsless than a minute ago via Echofonglidinglara
glidinglara

I expected and hoped someone might respond. Within minutes I got more than I ever anticipated! And the only person who really was on my list when this started was @PhDinparenting - the rest came about because of ReTweeting.

@glidinglara What kind of help do you need? Have you been to Lanisoh lactation lounge? #blogher10less than a minute ago via TweetChatphdinparenting
phdinparenting

@glidinglara what kind of help? try to find @thienkim she is bfing mom, there is also a lactation lounge somewhereless than a minute ago via TwitterRideElita
Blacktating

@glidinglara what kind of help do you need? I'm a seasoned pumper.less than a minute ago via EchofonTheFeministBreeder
FeministBreeder

@Blacktating @glidinglara I'm not at the hilton right now but go to the mother's room. @GinaAtLansinoh is there to help. I'll be back soonless than a minute ago via TweetCasterThien-Kim Lam
thienkim

@glidinglara I have a Hygeia pump with me - do you have your own horns? I'll let you use mine and show you how. Let me know.less than a minute ago via EchofonTheFeministBreeder
FeministBreeder

@glidinglara Hi! How can I help?less than a minute ago via UberTwitterBettina Forbes
BestforBabes

And there were more! Within minutes a swarm of help was within reach. I was tweeting back and forth with people, and I knew that if I went back to the lactation lounge right away I would find someone to help me.

And I did! @ginaatlansinoh was there from @lansinohusa, along with a couple of other women (I unfortunately didn't catch their names) and they gave me some excellent advice. I walked in thinking this was a total shot in the dark... what else could they tell me other than keep on pumping?

Well, they knew I'd probably been rushing (which was true) and I was "sternly" told I needed to spend no less than 45 minutes sitting and relaxing to get anywhere.

Other helpful suggestions like a hot shower, photos of my kids, and just letting my mind relax were all great too. And the kicker, they gave me a brand new pump to use (and keep) because I had a one sided pump and they knew that a double pump would increase my chances at being successful.

Within an hour I was on my way up to my hotel room with a new breast pump and a plan. After 45 minutes (I did it... it was boring... but I did it :) I had pumped more milk than I had in every other pumping session put together since I'd arrived in New York City.

The pump worked marvelously. It was a Lansinoh Affinity. I admit to having somehow become a Medala snob over time, but this pump was smaller than any double pump I'd encountered with Medela and worked really well! I recommend checking it out if you're in the market for a pump.

And not only did I walk away from the experience more comfortable because the problem had been solved, I was on a high from the amazing things that social media does. Within minutes of me asking for help I was on my way to having a solution, and I felt SO supported.

And THAT is what I wanted from BlogHer. And I totally got it.

BlogHer '10

I have one word to describe my experience this past week attending BlogHer in New York City - AMAZING!

It was amazing for many reasons.

- The company I kept was amazing; I had such a good time hanging out and relaxing with Brie, Anna, Barbara and Shannon. Not to mention the rest of the Ottawa crew.

- I met the three bloggers I hoped to meet:

Nora from Non Linear has twins less than two weeks in age difference than mine and I've been following her since before we had the babies. I loved meeting her in person and only wish we'd managed to chat a bit more and in a quieter environment (I'm starting to think I'm losing my hearing this past week!) She moderated my favourite session of the conference too and I think she should give herself an enormous pat on the back for coming up with the concept with two other bloggers - it was obviously a huge need!

The Bloggess - I was nervous, but I introduced myself (twice!) More on that later. :)

The Pioneer Woman - I was happy with just a sighting with her, but instead I got to meet her briefly and take a photo of her with a friend. I slightly regret not jumping in and getting one for myself at the same time. I think I didn't want to be greedy after all my Bloggess luck ;)

- Being away from my family was a well needed break. I needed to be away, to detach, to have some time to just be me without having to worry about taking care of anyone else. In fact, my friends were taking care of me a bit - it was nice.

- The conference was a ton of fun. The sessions I attended were very interesting, the parties were lots of fun, and there were moments when the spirit and community surrounding me floored me it was so incredible. I left feeling inspired to do more.

- I got to see a fabulous city on 3 different tours. Considering how little time I had to explore, this was definitely the best way to see the most as quickly as possible.

- I got some lovely things. The swag was hardly the reason to go. Was I happy to get it - sure. I will post soon on some of the things I experienced with sponsors.

Were there down points? Sure.

- my husband and kids were not in the greatest shape when I left and that caused some anxiety and guilt for me.

- I was disappointed at how difficult it was to meet new people. I felt that people were happy to stay with the people they knew. Or, the chances of randomly meeting someone of like interests weren't always very high. I think a few changes should be made to facilitate shy-er and smaller bloggers in meeting new people.

Overall, I had a wonderful time and I dream of figuring out how to make it to San Diego. :)

And now, a few photos !

Walking around before our Kodak Tour


In Times Square - you were being projected onto the screen from the street live.

A few shots from our Kodak Bus tour.

At the schick intuition party.

At the Cheeseburgher party

We all went for breakfast together before going on our separate ways to start heading home and got our photo in front of the LOVE sign

Barbara and I hired a peddy cab to take us on a tour of Central Park. Definitely worth the cost for the limited time we had left before catching our flights home!

365 project - splash pads and fairs and splash pads

This summer has been packed full of fun outings, parks, museums, splash pads, fairs etc. I think this was potentially the best July I can remember having in.... well... a LONG time. Tell me these kids don't look like they get to have a lot of fun? :)

Day 56
Brothers in a tunnel... tunnel is part of the Kids in the Capital photo scavenger hunt :)


Day 57
This past week we discovered Juliette's love of splash pads. We went three times in the last week - she adores it!


Day 58
Museum of Science and technology and Juliette and Quinn's first time in the the famous car.


Day 59
My lovely mother's helper, my summer's godsend, got a dslr for the 16th birthday. Lucky girl!


Day 60
Jumping on rocks at the park


Day 61
This old church is near Almonte and I have admired it for years. I love this photo - I think it's my favourite photo of the week and want to print it, frame it, and put it up somewhere in my house.



Day 62
Splash pad joy part 2


Day 63
Ducks at the fair


Outtakes

A garden window in my husband's aunt's garden.


Chickens!


My mother's helper :) Pretty girl!


Fair signs


Eric and Kiernan


Juliette at the splash pad for the 3rd time. In case you're wondering why she's always wearing full clothing - she still falls alot and the concrete seems safer with clothing than a bathing suit :)