talking a good game

when it came to being a mommy...i held some strong opinions...and i still do. but i've realized no matter how good a game you talk...some things go beyond your plans.

ie - "i want to pump as much as possible and be done nursing at 6 months." LOL. someone i know *ahem* refuses a bottle...doesn't like them. we're still nursing. i wanted to be done nursing at 6 months because i wasn't going to be anyone's "chew toy" and teeth aren't supposed to arrive until month 6. so my dear, sweet, little boy decided to grow his first 2 chompers at 4.5 months. and he's bit/chewed on me 3 times - total. he bit down on me more before he started teething than he once he had teeth! i have decided, however, that i'm TIRED OF BEING TIED TO Medela...the manufacturer of my pump. i love medela, best brand ever. i rent a hospital grade pump, it works amazingly well. but i'm kind of over it. my parents' freezer is full of milk...as is my indoor freezer and our small deep freezer. so i've decided that i'll be done pumping by the 18th or so of this month. and then i'll return the pump and simply nurse until someone is weaned. (frozen milk will be used for sippy-cup training.)

i have started reading books to him...i don't read just the little card-board books to him either. we go to the library - yes, my 5 month old has his very own library card! - and we get books that are apparently meant for 1st - 3rd graders. whatev, he likes to look at the colors and to hear my voice.

so...the biggest thing i've learned in the last 5 months: life with babies is fluid and no preconceived notion is exempt from changing! and i've also learned that the books are right - my intuition regarding my baby is best! no one knows him better than i do.

*side story: i was watching an episode of Criminal Minds yesterday and Spencer was visiting his mom (who has schizophrenia...which you'd know if you watched this amazing show...js). and she says to him, "what else is going on in there [his head]?" and he replies, "nothing." his mom says, "don't lie to your mother. we know...we always know." and it's true...your mom always knows. my mom will ask me a question and all i can think is, "how does she know?" and now i realize, because that's just a gift God gave to mothers. an intuition that's so deep, you don't even know it's there. but you feel it...all the time.

so. there are the revelations for now. i will continue to try and find time to personalize this blog and make it look more like a mandypandy place to post and not such a generic blog-o-matic.

~*mandypandy*~