autumn : the ordinary
Outside it’s still summer but come inside and you’ll notice; the autumn mood has fallen. Our days have been punctuated with sniffles, fevers, weariness and foul moods (mine).
Yes, the lull is here. Last week I moped about feeling completely overwhelmed, this week, so far, is much the same. I think this first term of school is really starting to take its toll. Yesterday I watched the children walk up the stairs and into their classroom with a little less bounce than previous weeks. When I looked around at the mamas I saw the same. We’re all counting down the days to a four-day weekend, comforted by the fact that the two-week holidays are just around the corner.
It’s also time for me to start thinking about weaning Poet. Just like with Che, the 20-month mark is when I really start to recognise my tiredness, impatience and need for a little more independence. I have a used-by-date and it’s fast approaching. For these next few months I’ll take it slowly and talk to Poet about the fact that milky will be finished soon. But last night, when I asked her whether she wanted milk before sleep, she lifted her arms high in the air and yelled: “Yay!” Such joyous enthusiasm is hard to resist.
Hope your all feeling bright a breezy soon and have a joyous weekend. Good luck with weaning pat on the back for doing so well I loved feeding but it does take its toll in.the end.
Happy days ahead xxxx
two week holiday is here for us. much, much needed. juxtaposing your autumn lull, it is much needed as the boys are springing with energy and the feverish desire to move so much more now that winter is over.
nursed all of my three until 2yo (there about, one until almost 3 & the others until 24+ mos.) fatigue i think is the first clue in the mama's rhythm that the season of nursing is slowly drawing to a close. & joy IS always hard to resist. xo
nursing is great, but you need a happy, well rested mama too. hope your four day weekend provides you with all you want and need.
i woke at 4:30 this morning, probaby thinking too much about things out of my control. comforting to see i'm not the only one awake. 🙂
I scheduled the post…I was sound asleep 😉 x
Best of luck with weaning Poet. Wishing you and your family a lovely 4 day weekend. 🙂
Enjoy the four day break Jodi. Happy Easter to you. X
As a school teacher I can relate to the weariness you write about. This term is soooo loooong. My kinders are so in need of a 4 day rest! Bring on Easter – may it leave us with renewed enegry. Hang in there. Be kind to yourself. Happy Easter x
Over here it's almost spring, although this winter is extraordinary long, the thick layer of snow and freezing hard. We're all real tired and can't wait till the summer, till the holidays. It's just wrong to have winter when it's suppose to be flowers and green growing everywhere!
My girl is 2years old, it's such a lovely age, when you can talk to them already a little but they are still babies a bit:)
my boy is almost 7, so grown up sometimes that it makes me wonder where did all that time go.
i love looking at your pictures, love the sun and the green:) and to read that people get autumn moods even in Australia:)
Yes, I got into an autumn funk every year. I recognise it as an annual thing so I patiently wait to get out of it. I hope you get some sun and warmth soon x
I'm a big advocate of breastfeeding but must admit that weaning my second at almost 11 months (for purely cosmetic reasons – one breast had become much MUCH larger than the other) gave me a sense of freedom I didn't even know I was longing for. I felt so relieved (and sad) when she had her first bottle. It instantly changed my attitude towards everything.
The early emergence of winter ills in our house has really put a downer on the peace I would usually feel in approaching Autumn. The extra hot days haven't helped either. So from here, your weariness and foul mood is understandable. I'm doing my best to be mindful and not get sucked up in it (not always with success).
I hope this Easter you find rest and resurrection and new life.
These days have become slow treacle days at my house. I too am grumpy, I too need to organise my sleep patterns and the children have been watching more tv than necessary.
Wow! Twenty months, what a heroine! With both my bubs, I felt exhausted and emotional around the 9 to 11 month mark, and although I mourned it greatly (more so with Oscar he loved it so much but there were work commitments getting in the way), I knew I had to start weaning then. Good luck with the weaning and enjoy Easter.
It's so hard to wean when they love it so much! My little one has been weaned for nearly five months now, and every so often (especially if we're in the bath!) she'll still look up at me and grin and say 'sneaky milk?' and try to sneak some more!
I hope you feel better soon.
20 months is a wonderful amount of time. A very precious gift to your bubbas. Jo xx
As much as a change in seasons is always great, I find it does unsettle me a little too. I hope the weekend brings some balance xx
Big foul moods here too. My body is really crying out for autumn and we seem to be heading into a second summer (35 degrees on Thursday!). I'm not very good at tuning in and working out what moods are down to, so it's comforting to hear that you are putting it down to a seasonal lull. Good luck with weaning Poet. I dreaded the time where I would say 'no more' to Kian last year – I was so tired and I felt the time was right – and thankfully he did too because he only woke up for cuddles and milk (although I don't think there was any milk left at that stage!) for two nights and I managed to settle him with just cuddles. I was still sad, but he was happy and so was I. x
It looks so nice there still. I'm feeling the weariness too, hope the season changes quickly!
oh, i hear ya, sister!! 🙂
How funny, we're the opposite, Autumn brings more energy and better moods to our place. My husband loves that winter surf is on the way, I love the cooler days so I can spend longer days with my 3 year old and 2 year old at the beach and knowing the days are getting shorter I know they'll go to bed a lot easier at night which is good for me with number 3 on the way. And lets not forget the vegie patch, summer stragglers get ripped out and all the winter vegies get sown.
I know what you mean. Autumn is heading our way, we have all the gas heaters on at 6pm and then start dinner. The fire has not been on yet in our household though. We roast a lot of veggies for dinner and hope to all be fed, bathed and in bed by 9pm. Everyone goes to bed late here, but 9pm is early for us. Then we are up at 7am to start the day and have our 5 year old at school, and 2 turning 3 year old girl at preschool at 8am every week day.
It is sad that we have to wean and be conscious about it. I weaned my little girl three months ago, she is turning 3 in April and still snuggles up to me and asks for "milky", "Just one more milky mami?" I feel so bad saying "no, there is no milky left". I feel bad because she wants it so bad. But i had to stop to try to get my independence back as my daughter is very strong willed and would be asking for milk all the time if it was up to her. Good luck with the weaning I am sure you both know when it is the best time.
We're on the opposite end of the spectrum, watching Spring tease us one day only to turn to snow and more winter the next. It's confusing for us humans. I can only imagine what it's doing to the cherry blossoms, which outside my window this morning looked to be in full-bloom, except what I really saw were buds covered in fluffy white snow balls.
My friends and their first-year-of-school littlies are all saying the same, getting tired and ready for a rest. It'll make Easter and the break all the nicer. Hope you start feeling better soon, I am the opposite and feel energized and excited with the arrival of autumn, it's funny how the seasons affect people so differently x
Poet exclaiming 'yay' to milk is so cute too. Ivy started weaning herself from around the 20mth mark. How many feeds are you doing? Finishing up is so full of mixed emotions!
The nights drawing in on top of 2 years of night duty, no wonder you feel tired. I night weaned my girl at 19 months as insomnia meant it took about as long for me to fall asleep as it took her to wake again! Although she 'understood' she didn't like giving it up, but i felt rejuvinated quite quickly and loved and luxuriated in the long feeds she demanded on waking ( an hour long lie in every morning!) and in the evening. (Someone else has to do the dinner dishes!). Good luck and i hope you get your bounce back soon x
We have the end of term tiredness here too.
Enjoy your long weekend, Jodi.
And, I got to the same thing with breastfeeding by 18months. It's an emotional transition, even when it goes smoothly. I still miss my babies feeding 🙂
xx
oh, how to say no in the face of a joyful yay?! I imagine rose will self wean sometime in the next few months…it will be a bit sad for me I think.
I've been in a bit of a funk the past couple of days too, but I'm putting it down to settling in at home after a two-week holiday on the road. Everly is still breastfeeding at 22 months, and I agree, it's so lovely when she says 'Mummy milk, yummy!' with a big grin on her face. But I'm feeling like I need some independence too. I recently stopped the nap feed (although she still asks every day!) and just doing morning and bed-time. I'm interested to know if you will schedule a date you will wean, or just reduce feeds until there's no milk and Poet will stop on her own accord? I'm still undecided about what I will do…
I'm going off past experience. With Che I spoke to him for a few weeks and told him that soon, milky would be finished. One day I woke up, decided I couldn't do it anymore and weaned him over the next 3 days. I drank sage tea to help dry-up the milk and all in all it was quite a smooth transition. Poet is much more defiant though – I'm bracing myself x
We did just morning and night from about 2 until her fourth birthday – it was good morning titty and good night titty. In the morning, she would come and hop into bed with us and I would read from a chapter book to her whilst she fed – we read Charlotte's Web and the first three Little House books this way. In the evening, she would usually drift off into a lovely dream – but always wake for bedtime stories. Then, she had a two week holiday with my mum. We'd explained that there'd be no more titty after that. Apparently – one evening at the dinner table, after a big day, she announced to mum and the aunts and uncles and cousins that she needed titty now! One of the uncles said, "Well there isn't any here sweetie so you'll have to make do with a story." And she was fine. When we arrived, after the two weeks, she didn't even question that it was over. But still hoped into bed in the morning for cuddles and stories. I missed it 🙂 And she remembers it clearly – which is so lovely. Good luck Jodi with your defiant one 🙂
Awwh we are in the same boat, waking her up each morning & she turns around to ask "5 minutes more mummy", I am looking forward to her first school holidays but also dreading as I have to start planning what she can do to keep her entertained.
I relate with this entire post! I get overwhelmed by school schedules & crave the days off. Your comment to little wild moose about Poet being more defiant was how my 2nd daughter was. She screamed at the top of her lungs when I began weaning her at night. She was 2 1/2 years old. I stuck with it and within a week she was calm at night and we moved on to weaning during the day. The fire within these little beauties will someday be a great blessing to them– I have to remind myself that that defiance will help them be defiant against peer pressure. I have to reassure myself of this daily.
I remember wanting to wean my little boy when he was about 12 months old but I didn't know how to end it because it was such a wonderful and peaceful way of settling him in the evenings and if he woke in the night. I felt pretty daunted at the thought of exactly how to wean. Eventually, at 15 months, I decided just to say no more and cuddled him when he cried out for milk in the night. After about 3 nights he started sleeping a lot better and I felt like a new person! So much like a new person, in fact, that I was pregnant again two weeks later and here I am now, starting a new breastfeeding journey with my 10-week old. Good luck with Poet. I like Heidi's comment above about the defiance being a future strength.
I find it so interesting that you said "3 nights" – so many people have told me that it takes a child 3 days to make a habit and 3 days to break one. It took me 3 days to wean Che…x
I'm trying to wean right now but it has had the opposite effect desired – my 17 month-old twins have basically refused solids and now ask for "ditty" every 2 hours. And with two babies, I find their whingeing so unbearable I am giving up the attempt, for now. Good luck encouraging Poet to give you your boobs back. x
Amazing to read that I'm not alone with my Autumnal grumps! And wishing you a gentle and speedy weaning process. Rest up lovely 🙂 x
i was the same with Matilda, at 20 months i saw 2nd birthday coming and i felt it was enough – i finally weaned at month 25 , slowly – i found it so hard i still wonder how other mums do it, i hope you do great with Poet – i am reading now it took you 3 days to wean Che! wow… I definitely have so much to learn x
Cant wait for the school holidays. My little boy started this year as well & we are both exhausted!
All the best with weaning Poet! My daughter weaned herself at 18 months, my son refused the breast from almost day one 🙁 Its not done him any harm 🙂
Feeling much the same. Bring on school holidays I say!!!
Claire x
http://blog.scissorspaperrockdesigns.com.au/
Beautiful image of your baby. Her outfits are always so cute! I fed my youngest boy for almost 30 months.. that was a lot! He loved though! Strong and happy boy he is. 😉
Weaning was so difficult for me, not so much Sofia thankfully. To nurse up until 20 months would have been a dream! My body stopped making milk around 10 months when I was working full-time in an office full of men (no private room to pump!) I have nightmares about it still… this has given me so much inspiration to fight for more rights with new baby. Hoping your spirits soon lift, and I just know your weaning transition will be gentle and just the way you intended. Lots of love to you x
I have started, the process of weaning. Only sleep time feeds, which is morning nap, afternoon nap and night time. But Jarvis is hating it, and so am I. But not sure if to relent and go back to more feedings or keep on moving forward. Jarvis is almost 16 months, and I felt I needed to start weaning as he has gotten so big and I am losing weight. Any advise?
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The end of term is always a bit draining and you long for those holidays and lounging mornings and a whole lot of nothing. I hope all the sniffles are gone and you all feel much better soon..x
Beautiful post. We are on a two week spring break now and we're all finally feeling relaxed again. It's amazing how much school and the everyday routine takes out of everyone. It's hard to live in that feeling of overwhelmedness, I hope things settle down soon.
I always find it fun that we are opposites as far as seasons.
I am where you are at with the weaning as well. My son is 19 months are we're pretty much there. He still will ask some mornings, but he's at the point where he can look at me and say "all done" and "bye bye milk." 🙂 so sweet. of course when he isn't feeling well I give in…and yes, it's that YAY, and he will actually laugh he's so happy. We're done and I'm ready to be done but it really is so incredible…that sweet bond and what comfort it is. Now in better news, my boy is now a cuddler since we started the weaning. I have a feeling it's connected and I'm loving it!
Here's hoping your week is calm!
It's all spring here with famous cherry blossom around! Lovely post as always 🙂
I have been getting ready to wean my 18 month daughter this weekend but not sure his to do it! I have been talking to her lately about it…
Good luck with weaning gorgeous Poet xo
It's all spring here with famous cherry blossom around! Lovely post as always 🙂
I have been getting ready to wean my 18 month daughter this weekend but not sure his to do it! I have been talking to her lately about it…
Good luck with weaning gorgeous Poet xo
Elliott was the only one of mine I didn't have any trouble weaning- at 19 months I knew I couldn't do it anymore and it took 3 days! I think Elliott was the first time I was absolutely certain and he responded to that. As an aside, Autumn is my favourite time of year- when I feel happiest and most alive. Hope you feel better soon x