Almost 14 months!

Kyle will be 14 months next week. Geeze! My little (almost) 14 month old is on the move now. He's been taking steps for a while but this week he decided that he can walk anywhere and he does! I can't believe it. He keeps me super busy for sure. He loves being outside. He now walks to the door and reaches for the door knob. I'm going to have to get a top latch on the door once he figures out how to open it! 

As I read my last post, it said I was weaning. Well...we did good for a few days until he got the flu. That started us back at square one because he wouldn't eat or drink anything and wanted to nurse constantly. We started weaning again a few weeks ago...and he got sick again. Well...here we are trying again. I decided to try weaning "cold turkey" and the only thing I can say is, "OUCH!" He nursed once yesterday morning and that was it. By the time I went to bed last night, I was so engorged and in so much pain. I've been researching and reading and sit here now with cabbage leave compresses and still don't have much relief. He did nurse twice today, very briefly, and I'm just hoping that each day gets better. Besides being physically painful, it has been very emotional for me as well. As ready as I am to not breastfeed anymore, I also already miss the bonding time we share with it. Only I was able to do that with him and once he stops, we'll never have that special time again. But its time and we can do it. 

Jax, Brittyn and Kyle

Our March babies

 Kyle with my dad, his LuLu

 Kyle loved "driving" the boat

 Kyle and his Yeli

 My sweet boy loves riding around in his wagon with LuLu

 Easter Sunday

 We met the Pioneer Woman with Erica! 

This video makes us laugh every time

Sweet boy's first steps! 

12 months

To say things are busy around here with a 12 month old, yes, 12 month old, is an understatement. He isn't walking unassisted yet, but he will push anything that moves, including the end tables, to "walk" where he wants to go. I love watching him figure new things out each day.

I started weaning him from nursing this week. Sunday he only nursed three times and only twice yesterday. He is eating more table food every day and learning to drink cow's milk. He of course still prefers momma but he's doing great. It is bittersweet. The bonding time we have while nursing is something only I am able to have with him. That I will surely miss. I'm thankful that I have been able to nurse him this long. I always said I wanted to nurse him for a year and I was able to. Thank you, Lord. Now I pray daily that weaning won't be terrible for either of us and we can move on to the next chapter happily.

Here are a few snapshots of my big boy.

10...almost 11 months!

I'm due an update so here goes...

Kyle will be 11 months next week. His first birthday will be here so soon. I'm busy mentally planning his party and know that I need to get busy actually setting these plans in motion soon. I can't believe my boy is almost a year old! AH!
He is at a fun and busy stage right now. Today he actually walked across the room pushing his walker. I couldn't believe it! Up till now he has just been pulling up on anything and everything and taking a few steps down the side of the couch. Today was the first time he walked with his push walker. Exciting! When he isn't trying to walk, he is crawling everywhere and getting into everything! I learned quickly what I had to baby proof.
This past week was a rough one. Since birth I have nursed Kyle to sleep. I am hoping Kyle will be weaned not long after his first birthday so I realized that nursing him to sleep wouldn't work forever and honestly wasn't that good for either of us anymore. I knew he should be able to fall asleep on his own and without momma so the only way he could learn to do without me was to cry. It was a long, emotional week for us both. But after a few days my sweet boy had it down and is now a champ at laying down in his crib, snuggling with his blanket and going to sleep. He does protest every now and then but not for long and is sleeping so great at night now.
Kyle also has some new teeth popping through! Let me just say, I HATE TEETHING! When his bottom front teeth came in, he fussed a little here and there but it really didn't seem to bother him much. Well...now all four of his top front teeth are trying to come in. Two have pushed through and the middle two are close. These seem to really bother him. Teething tablets don't seem to do much. Tylenol works pretty well. But the one thing he seems to want the most is to nurse. At least he is able to sleep all night without waking up in pain. I'm so ready for them to just pop through but I know he has many more to come in so we are no where near the end of all this.

Kyle and I appeared in the December issue of American Baby last year! Such a neat keepsake now. :)

 We so enjoyed Kyle's first Christmas. His first experience was at BeBe's house. 

 Thanks to Pinterest, I got a great idea for taking Kyle's picture for our Christmas card. 

 Christmas Eve. Love my happy boy. 

 Santa brought Kyle balls for a ball pit! 

 He's now learned to throw those balls out of the pack n play...

 After Christmas we spent a few days at the Gaylord with my dad and family. 

 We even took a train ride to the Stockyards one day

 Kyle and I have taken advantage of the warm days we've had lately. 

 A few weeks ago we went to Midland with BeBe to meet our new cousin, Cash Pettit. Kyle loved giving Cash kisses!! 

 We even got to visit with Nana and LuLu! 

The holidays were wonderful and we are enjoying our new year. 2011 brought us joy with the birth of Kyle and heartache with the loss of my father in law, Salvador and Barbara's dad, Joe. I am praying for a fantastic 2012.