10 Months Old!

Double digits! Can you believe it!

Logan continues to bloom each and every day. His language skills have definitely been developing lately. He loves to mimic and will often do it on command. Aka: "Logan, say 'da-da.'" 

He makes the "b" sound for blueberries and knows what a kitty says. 

I am also pretty certain I heard him say "kitty" also, well, his version anyway. 

He has been a very oral baby all along, but now his babbling feels very conversational.

This month he also started clapping his hands and doing the "roll 'em up" motion from patty cake. There is a lot of "Yay!"-ing accompanied by clapping going on around here these days. 

Logan can also answer several questions like, "Where are you hands?" , feet, toes, a book, etc.

Speaking of books, they are a favorite right now. We keep a basket of toys and a basket of books in the living room, and lately he is more often looking at a book than playing with toys. 

He loves to turn the pages, and lift the flaps, too. When you sit down to read to Logan you better have a stack of books ready, because just a couple is never enough!

This month he also got his first tooth! (Finally!) The second one is working hard on popping through, and his gums are so puffy that they almost swallow the one he already has!

Lately sleep has been a bit rough. After so much traveling Logan became very accustomed to nursing to sleep, and would want me to nurse him to sleep multiple times during the night! We are currently working on disassociating nursing and sleeping, by nursing after naps instead of before and reading a few books after our bedtime nursing session. We are only a few days into this, and I am still nursing during the night, but it is already getting better.

Coming up this month we have Easter with family and cousins! 

If only Logan would start walking within the next two weeks so he could hunt eggs too. ;) 

I can't wait to see him play with his cousins again!

P.S. Yes, all he owns are white onesies. :P 

Thoughts on Thankfulness: Milk Supply

Today I thawed out and disposed of my tiny "freezer stash." Every bit of it was pumped when Logan was in Children's hospital at one week old. 

I never once had to rely on my stash, and for that I am very, very thankful. I know many women have issues with low milk supply and I feel lucky to have not had that problem. 

After feeling so thankful for that I decided to share

Our Breastfeeding Journey 

One of my 44 in 404 goals is to breastfeed for at least a year. At almost 10 months, I do not see it being an issue at all. It is such a natural part of our daily lives. Logan still nurses 6-9 in a day (depending on how many times he get up in the night!). 

Our breastfeeding journey has been fun, with our fair share of challenges, but nothing I would consider major. 

Logan latched soon after birth and nursed for 10 solid minutes. The next five days were full of challenging feedings, working on getting a good latch established. I was so grateful for my mom's help in those early days. 

Then on day five he really seemed to be backsliding. Then he just wasn't eating at all, even when we dribbled the milk into his mouth. Of course, that is what put us in Children's where he was diagnosed with PDA. 

Because of his PDA, Logan would get very tired during feedings, and sometimes his little feet would turn blue. Nursing is like a workout for tiny little babies! I started pumping and bottle feeding, and kept meticulous notes on when and how much he ate.

For four and a half weeks I wrote down every bit Logan ate down to the quarter ounce. It started in the hospital when the nurses wanted to know how much he was consuming, and it became a habit I couldn't seem to break. 

I knew I wanted to switch back to the breast eventually, but I had become accustomed to knowing exactly how much he was eating and was nervous about him being physically ready. I visited with a lactation consultant, she was so sweet and helpful, but I can't give her the credit. My mom and sister visited for a weekend and gave me the real push I needed to stop writing and to start trying. 

It was a sticky, wet, milky mess at first. Lots of skin on skin and letting him just "play" around with it. They convinced me to start on the Sunday morning that they left, and the only times I pumped after that were just a few middle of the night feedings when Logan was just to sleepy to put forth the effort. I was so amazed at how fast and how easily he was able to transition from bottle to breast. 

Since then we have had only very minor bumps in the road. A few times I think my monthly cycle changed the taste, because he would be very fussy at the breast for a few days then everything would settle back in to normal. 

Only in the last few days has he started to bite me. Yeouch! He has only done it a few times, but when he does he looks up at me for a reaction! I think he knows he isn't supposed to, so he is testing his limits. I give him a firm "no," and take away his "num num." He is smart, so he shouldn't take long to catch on. 

We both feel like pros now, and I look forward to the months ahead. I know I will be sad when he weans.