Isaiah turns 2

Yes, I'm still nursing my son.
Yes, he did just turn two.
No, I don't know when he'll wean.
Yes, I'm quite sure it will be before college.

No, it's not causing his teeth to rot.
No, it is certainly not spoiling him.
Yes, he does eat other food.
No, it won't cause him to be too thin or too chubby.

Yes, he does squirm a lot.
Yes, he does refuse to be covered up now.
No, it doesn't hurt.
Yes, I know it's because he's healthy and strong.

No, I don't rush him.
No, I don't think he's done yet.
Yes, I will know when we're done.
No, it won't be today.

Yes, sometimes I'm a bit "touched out".
Yes, sometimes I say no to him.
No, that doesn't mean I have to stop.
Yes, I'm very happy with this nursing relationship.

funny thing about nursing a toddler #212

Isaiah was nursing before naptime yesterday. He was getting that sleepy, zombie look on his face so I thought he was ready to fall asleep. Then all the sudden he pops off, tells me all about some big truck and how it drives here and there and all around and then latched back on and went to sleep.

Isaiah turns 2 next month and I know these days are almost done. Part of me is ready to be alone in this body, not have to worry about having a beer or taking some motrin. But I just can't believe we are here already. Why does it have to go so fast?

Last week Isaiah was pretty sick. He had hand, foot, mouth disease- a virus that kids often get. He had a high fever and a sore throat that made him scream in pain. He didn't even want water because it hurt his throat so much; but he would breastfeed. It was like having a newborn again. And although at times I found myself getting frustrated with so much time on the couch- I tried to be mindful that this was likely the last time I would ever be doing this. I was so grateful we were still nursing.

I am so grateful.

homeschooling lesson- spring harvest jelly

Last fall the kids and I gathers acorns to make pancakes. This spring we gathered dandelions to make jelly. Our yard had plenty so we didn't have to even leave home for this project.

We needed 4 cups of the yellow parts of the flower- that is a lot of dandelions!

Isaiah helped too!

This was his contribution.

See the rest of the story here.

the benefits of breastfeeding my potty-trainer

22 months and still nursing happily- Isaiah and I are both happy with keeping this relationship going. I had never considered before today the benefits of nursing during potty training! Yesterday we got home from seeing the Tigers and we were all tired out from a long, fun day outside. I wanted to just crash on the couch but Isaiah declared he had to poop. He'd only been on the potty once before just as a joke more than anything, but I believed him and put him on there- and he DID IT! Pee and poop. And he seemed to understand how to make it all work on demand! Yes!! I love child-directed parenting. He was ready, so he asked to do it!

Today, so far, he's been dry all day and has asked to go when needed. The benefits of breastfeeding have been that I don't have to reward him with junky candy or wasteful stickers- he just has a little milk when he's done. He feels happy, supported and very big!

thoughts on nursing a toddler

I've never made it this far into the breastfeeding relationship. Solstice was only just over a year and Aiden was about 18 months when they weaned. Isaiah is 20 months now and this is a whole new thing.
1. I've never nursed a talking child before. It adds a whole new dimention to "don't talk with your mouth full".
2. When the first breast is out of fast flowing milk, Isaiah will sign "all done" and then quickly sign "milk" meaning he wants to easier milk that would come from switching sides.
3. Often I am awaken as night to Isaiah climbing over me to get to the breast with more milk. He just helps himself (which is good) but he finds it easier to go over me than around.

tick tock

Isaiah is still breastfeeding on demand. He doesn't ask as often throughout the day, but he really hasn't slowed down yet.



But I know the time is coming. Aiden and Solstice were both weaned at this age. I've been hoping all along to make it to his second birthday and I have no reason to think we won't.



But everyday that goes by and gets us closer to his birthday makes me a little sad. I really hate the idea of giving up this part of our relationship. I know new and exciting things will happen in his second year but there is something so magical about right now.



I love that he can ask for milk and tell me when he's all done. I love how we communicate when he's busy nursing. I love how he fits perfectly on my lap.



Why do they have to grow up?

Acorn Pancakes

The kids and I are on a great adventure this year- we are having a go at homeschooling. So far, it's been a lot of work! but very fun and a great challenge. We are currently studying life in Colonial America. They have never learned much of basic American history so I thought it would be a great place to start. We are also doing a basic study in plants (classification, identification). So, we those topics in mind, I thought it might be fun to go out in the woods and harvest acorns to make into colonial-style pancakes. My main objectives were to get them to be able to identify the kind of acorns we wanted and then to get a good understanding of how hard people used to have to work to get their food.
I think I we managed the last objective.
Here is the process for eating acorns- it took all evening yesterday to prepare them, the roasted over night and then we made the pancakes this morning for breakfast.
We gathered about half of a plastic grocery sack full. I didn't want to empty out the park but I wanted to make sure we had enough. It ended up making just a cup of acorn meal. About 1/3 of the acorns were bad- full of worms or rotten.









It works best to boil them in the shell for a few minutes so the knife can go in easier.

I have a great knife for this task- the end broke off so there is a blunt end that I used to dig into the shell. This took a long time but was the kind of repetative kitchen task that soothes me.
So then you have a pot of acorn meat. This needs to be boiled to remove the tannins. It smells SO good while you are doing this! Kind of like carmel and wine and brown sugar. Yum.






So I let it boil for 10 minutes and then I strained it out through a cloth in a strainer. Then you have to repeat this process over and over until the water starts to run clearer. I tasted it after a few times and it was still pretty bitter (like crazy strong walnuts) so I kept going. I'm not sure how many times I did this, maybe 10.
Then I ran the acorn meat through the food processer to make it more like a meal. If I were going to do this ever again, I would get some kind of flour mill. The food processer just didn't really work for this task.
Then the roasting. I spread it thin on cookie sheets and put it in the oven set on a real low temp (260). I roasted it like this for about 2 hours before bed (stirring ever once in awhile). Then at bed time I turned off the oven but the pilot light kept it hot enough to continue roasting over night.




In the morning, it was much darker and the taste was real mellow. I ran it through the food processer again to try and get it more like a meal, but like I said, it just isn't meant for that. So it was the best it was going to get.



This is the recipe I used:
1 cup flour
1 cup acorn meal
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 egg
1 1/4 cup milk
3 Tbs vegetable oil

We ate them with raspberry syrup we made this summer after we picked raspberries on Solstice's b-day. We also boiled up the apples we found in the woods yesterday. Yumm.

So, what did the kids think?
The pictures speak loud and clear:



Was it worth the effort? Yes.
Will we do it again anytime soon? No.