Milk Does a Body Good

The time has come to finally start weaning Ryan.  I know we are both ready, and I plan on doing it slowly.  However, it's really hard, probably more so on me.  I'm finding it emotionally and mentally challenging.  Emotionally I'm going to miss the special bond nursing gave us, and mentally it's hard for me to adjust to not nursing him.  I was always very strict with myself about nursing him often to keep my supply up and maintain our routine.  Three days ago I gave Ryan milk for the first time.  Well, the saying is very right, "milk does a body good".  It could be a fluke, but during these past three days, Ryan's morning nap has consistently been 2 hours long.  He never napped for 2 hours in the morning before this, so I'm attributing it to the milk.  He's also still taking a 1 hour nap in the afternoon too.  I know this won't last long, so I'm enjoying it while I have it.    He seems to be completely used to drinking milk in a cup now, and we are slowly cutting back on the nursing.  We are now at about 5 sessions (plus if he wakes up at night).  I'll be able to cut out one or two more of those before Pat comes home.  I really want Pat home before I take away the nursing session before bedtime.  I think that is what will be the toughest for Ryan.  To be honest, taking away that feeding really worries me.  I know we'll manage, and I'm just happy Pat will get to witness and help out with that one.  

On another Ryan note, today he was so cuddly.  I was sitting cross-legged on the floor, and he came up and gave my legs a hug (just like he gives his stuffed dog).  I thought that was really cute.  Then a few minutes later he came back over to me, climbed into my lap and just sat there and cuddled while saying "Mama" over and over.  Ryan isn't usually cuddly, so I found this to be just so sweet.  That was a moment that melted my heart.  

On a different subject, my parents give me and Pat a joint gift for Christmas.  We initially weren't sure what we wanted, but I came up with an idea.  I wasn't sure what Pat would think, but he was 100% on board.  This is what we got from my parents:  

It's a Nikon D40 with two lenses.  We wanted to get a DSLR, but really didn't want to spend a million dollars on a camera.  After a lot of research and several recommendations we decided on this one.  I'm so excited to take some photos of our family all together when Pat gets home.  

Speaking of photos, I'm a little bummed that I won't be able to get any photos of us at Pat's homecoming (unless I take them myself).  It's not like I could ask someone to tag along because just going to the ceremony is a production as a result of the logistics involved with the homecoming.  But overall, I really don't care about those photos too much, because I know that we'll have so many other happy moments to capture on film in the next year.