So yeah, here we are.
Nursing. Breastfeeding.
Latching. Attaching.
Gazing. Growing.
Living. Learning.
This is what we have been doing up here in the country. A whole lot of mammal type activity. Or as my friend Fork said today, "the N word." Ha! She has a 3 1/2 year old who still likes to nurse so...The N word. I plan on nursing the future for the indefinite future. Two years minimum for sure. I'm sure there are some of you who may think that that is extreme, but when you consider that breast milk provides babies and toddlers with the antibodies that they need to steer clear of many childhood diseases why the hell not nurse for two years? Even the World Health Organization (not some attachment, sling, co-sleeping organization) recommends that babies be breastfed for 6 months exclusively and up to two years or more to ensure child health and survival.
My child is my "work" that I am doing right now. I am pretty happy to be sitting right here nursing this babe. She is thriving!
We are having a great time together learning and exchanging all this new information with each other. And there is so much to learn! So many nuances and gestures that are familiar and yet brand new coming from Juniper. I feel so lucky to be able to lay low with this child and really get our breastfeeding down solid. Since she was such a little baby it was really important that we be able to do this. We've had a lot of support up here from distant friends and family and the ones who are close by, Thank you! Andrew has been working really hard to make everything easy for us. He is such a wonderful daddy.
It's been a little too hot for clothes up here! How fantastic to see her little body filling out. She has a little double chin now and her cheeks are round and delicious. Her tummy is absolutely glorious and her thighs are getting chubby. Even cellulite on a baby is cute!
Her eyebrows have started to come in too! Andrew was calling her "The little old man from outer space" because she really did look like a little old man from outer space. With her bald head and lack of eyebrows or eyelashes all dressed up in this little white kimono onesie. She looked like some elder from some other dimensional galaxy. We came up with a story that her eyebrows got all burnt off when she was entering earth's atmosphere to join us.
Here is a picture of Juniper just breaking through the upper atmosphere. Ok ok no it's not. It's from when she was 12 days old. But couldn't you just IMAGINE that this was taken in her little spaceship as she was falling toward the surface of the earth?
It really does feel like we have a visitor from another dimension with us sometimes. I never really paid attention to what unique creatures babies are. For me Juniper is this creature carrying all this knowledge that I am decoding and evolving to understand day by day. We exchange information constantly and I am helping her to make sense of this world that we all inhabit. Her reflexes that cause her to startle and reach out into the air to try and grasp that ancient tree vine or furry mom make me realize how she is carrying information from our evolutionary history that is right there at the surface of her developing brain. When this happens I just hold onto her so that she knows that I'm right there. And I usually am right there. Juniper doesn't have a room where she sleeps alone. She sleeps with us and hangs out with us pretty much constantly.
Which brings me to baby wearing.
I can't figure these slings out! i have a Moby wrap and a Maya sling and they are not so easy to use. She doesn't seem to like the Maya wrap which is the simpler of the two. I've just recently started to even try to put her in them because she now weighs around 8#10oz (woooo!) and was too little before. But now I want to go and work in the garden (bugs be damned!) and let her experience the high energy mom she had while she was in my belly. Any recommendations? I have an apt. coming up with my midwives and will ask them to help me out. Help!
And now some purely decadent photos of Juniper right before I lie down to cuddle into a nap with her.
Too good to be true right? This babe is so soft and smells so sweet and makes the most amazing little coo-ing sounds.
If you don't already have one, I highly recommend getting yourself a baby to take a nap with. You can't even begin to know what I'm talking about unless you do. It also helps if you are deliriously sleep starved.
And now some pictures just because...
Hanging out in the kitchen watching daddy cook dinner.
Hanging out in daddy's arms showing off the rotund gut we've been slaving away at. Pretty nice eh?
And here's a picture of Andrew's mom Nancy who visited for a few days. This is her first grandchild!
And here's Max! hanging out on his sun porch. Isn't he cute?
Until next time! I still want to write about my pregnancy and labor but time is pretty tight!
I hope you all enjoy the photos!
Lots of LOVE +++
