Nursing Adventures

The older Ella gets, the more fun she is to nurse. She has cut back drastically now that she demands to eat when and what we eat, but when she does nurse I’m almost always amused. She is so busy that she often finds herself torn between wanting to nurse and wanting to play and see what’s happening in the room. In order to accommodate her in the mornings before I leave for work, one of two things has to happen: 1) Every person/animal has to leave the room so she can focus or 2) Grandma or Grandmother has to sit beside me on the couch so she can look at her while she nurses. It also helps if I wear a pretty necklace to keep those very busy hands focused.
She likes to work out with a session of leg lifts while she nurses, and this is particularly true when she is trying not to nap or go to bed. When she does decide to go to sleep, she must prop her top foot up on my shoulder. I think this is a hold over from her harness wearing days when I always propped that top leg on my arm so it wasn’t dangling uncomfortably. She has always liked to have her hands and toes kissed while nursing, so she routinely holds them in front of my face. She plays with her own toes, too.

Last night she finally accomplished something she’s been working on for a while now. She managed to nurse and suck on a finger at the same time. I’m really not sure how that worked, but it did – and amazingly she didn’t get milk everywhere. Because she is so busy, she occasionally nurses while sitting up on my leg so that she can see around her (and stay awake!). Well, she realized that it might be fun to ride the horsey too, while nursing, so now she nurses, bounces up and down on my leg, and sings the horsey song all at the same time.

We had a pretty smooth start with just a couple of small bumps along the way, and I have enjoyed nursing her since the beginning. It is even more enjoyable now that she is older and has more control of her body. I don’t need as many hands to get her latched on correctly and hold her in position; she can do all that herself now and it makes it so much easier. Her budding personality makes it fun. It will be a bittersweet time when she weans – exciting because it means she’s growing into an independent person but sad because it means she's growing into an independent person.