Breastfeeding Challenges Continue

Charlotte will soon be one-year-old, and I'm proud to say that she's still breastfed. A couple months ago I was supplementing with formula sporadically for about a week while I was adjusting to Charlotte's increasing demand. However, that was short lived and inconsistent. She is now eating a lot more food, and therefore my milk production has been in line with her demand. Everything is back to normal . . . except that I'm ready to quit breastfeeding one year sooner than I expected to.

My mother breastfed my older sister until she was over two, and my sister Lindsey, who has two kids, breastfed the first daughter for 18 months and her second for 11 months. Needless to say, I had an expectation for myself to breastfeed my first child for at least 18 to 24 months. However, this goal has been shrinking in the last month or so, because Charlotte has become a boob-monster.

What is a boob-monster exactly? Well, a boob-monster is a child old enough to know about the milk, comfort, attention and more that comes with breastfeeding. A little boob-addict will walk over to you, pull your shirt down and proceed to breastfeed at any point in time. Recently, there's moments where Charlotte is looking for a little snack every 20 minutes. This makes getting anything done or even just playing with her on the floor near impossible at times.

I'm having a dilemma to say the least. While my head wants to quit breastfeeding, my heart is still in the game. Beyond that, I like the fact that we can co-sleep late at night and early morning to accommodate Charlotte's way-too-early a.m. feedings without disturbing my beauty sleep. Breastfeeding has posed more benefits and challenges in motherhood than I could have expected, but I wouldn't change a thing. I know that Charlotte is the happiest baby in the world because of the confidence, security, love, comfort and food that breastfeeding has provided her.

When did you/do you plan to quit breastfeeding your baby??

Our Trip to the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden

Charlotte signing "more" at the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden

It's not always easy to enjoy family activities with a little one in tow. I like to think of Charlotte as a ticking time bomb sometimes. There's only so much time before she's hungry or tired, and that usually gives me a little over an hour of her enjoying an activity before she wants to breastfeed or take a nap.

Last Sunday Josh, Charlotte and I went to visit the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden in Claremont for a feature I was writing IEShineOn.com. We woke up bright and early to ensure we'd be on time to the 8a.m. Free Family-Friendly Bird Walk, which led us through the beautiful garden with a guide sharing his bird expertise. We saw a ton of birds and native plants, and Charlotte lasted a whole hour! Once she started screaming and potentially scaring away any type of wildlife within sight, we decided to head out early to avoid ruining the rest of our group's time.

Photo Credit to Josh! ;)

Josh and I originally visited the garden with my family probably six months before I found out I was pregnant with Charlotte. We were looking for wedding venues, and we fell in love with the garden. It was fun to visit with our sweet girl. We want to make it a point to expose her to the beautiful world around her, and the Botanic Garden in Claremont was a great place to do so. Where do you like to take your little ones? Please share below!

Check out more about our experience in my article for IEShineOn: http://www.ieshineon.com/article/socal-families-|-rancho-santa-ana-botanic-garden/

Happy Anniversary!

It's been one year (and one day!) since my first post, Bringing Home the Bacon. I remember being extremely pregnant and on maternity leave. I found myself with more free time than I had ever had in my adult life, which was really scary for me. My dad encouraged me to write about my journey into motherhood, and I'm so happy that I took his suggestion to heart.

Becoming a mom was one of the most instant yet gradual transitions I've ever experienced in my life. From tracking Charlotte's milestones to giving advice on the things that have helped us along our journey, it's been very rewarding to document the steps along the way. Additionally, I do keep an old-school pen and paper baby book for Charlotte . . . so there's no doubt in my mind she'll have plenty of reading material when she's older if she's ever interested.

I hope you've enjoyed following the last year of our lives, and I also hope to bring you more insight and fun in the next year and beyond!

Happy Blog-Anniversary to Charlotte & Me!