it's the end..

This is a really delayed post. Wanted to blog about this some time ago, but never sat down to do it. So here it is now.

Being Biology trained, I strongly believe in the benefits of breastfeeding. Kieran was exclusively breastfed till he was about 10 months? old and after which, I only supplement 1 milk feed a day with formula till he was 12 months old. When it came to Kiefer, I guess after having gone through one round of breastfeeding with Kieran, everything felt much easier and I was less stressed about providing sustenance for my baby. Thus, Kiefer was breastfed for 12 months (i.e. not FM given at all.  6 months exclusive breastfeeding and 6 months breast milk with some solids introduced)!! After which, he started with 1 FM per day with all other 3 feeds being either EBM or direct latch. The EBMs were slowly replaced with FM until he was totally weaned off BM at 15 months old. So in fact, he had breastmik for a good 15 months! And with him, it was simply a decision made to stop breastfeeding because he was it was time to start getting him used to formula and that well.. he's been breastfed long enough!

Nonetheless, I still felt the slight sadness that I no longer have that special closeness with my baby when I latched him on. And with Kiefer, I felt it more as he should be our last baby already. Stopping breastfeeding was like saying that, "hey, the baby has grown up!" So when it was done, it was really a mixed feeling of sadness and relief, all rolled into one.

I'm glad to have breastfed both my babies for as long as I did. I do see that they fall sick less often than other children and when they do, they do not fall as ill either. And especially so with Kiefer, my boys are close to me. So with anyone who is expecting a little one now, I strongly encourage breastfeeding your baby. Don't worry about whether the milk will come or how long you'll be able to keep at it. Just do it for as long as you can and as many feeds you can manage. Any amount is a great amount! Any duration is a great duration.

Here are my breastfed babies!!

And this picture is just to record how long I've breastfed Kiefer!

Anyway, here some random updates on Kiefer:

Words:

Jor Jor (Kor Kor)

dar dar (Daddy)

Mummy is still pretty non-existent :(

Apple

points and yells for things

understands instructions like "bring/give to xx", "come", "hold tight", "sit down"

kisses when asked to

Big kiss (flying kiss)

sticks out foot for you to tickle

smacks Kor Kor

gives things to people

*LOVES* keys

stretches out hand with palm facing up when he wants something that you are holding (mostly it's food)

has about 4 teeth on top, 2 below with 2 more popping out

runs when possible. walk with arms in the air, almost like a lemur :P

*Training* days

Not actually training. We believe that the boys generally will do whatever it is that they are supposed to do when they are ready. Some people may think that we are just being *lazy* but I think that there is no point in trying to push a kid ahead of time to achieve milestones. As hubby says, you'll never see a kid in diapers at 10 years old!!! :P I guess that is the reason why we have a pretty easy time getting Kieran out of his diapers. We simply went along with him. And the actual "training" process took only about a week when we really encouraged him to go off diapers and go to school in briefs. Now, he is COMPLETELY diaper-free! He has been waking up from his nap an overnight sleep with a dry diaper. And 2 nights ago, he said he didn't want to wear diaper to bed anymore. So here we are, having loads of leftover big sized diaper pants. (Just a note, I think it would have been easier to just be diaper or diaperless. forget the in between training pants. It confuses them. Tho' his school wanted him to be in those then.) Anyway, no leaks on the bed yesterday when he woke up. And he is still sleeping now. Had a late night last night. Slept at almost midnight. Then again, he's been sleeping for almost 12hours now, think I've got to hurl him to the bathroom when he wakes up. I'm sure there loads of pee!! :P

Another "training" that has been successfully completed is that we've weaned Kiefer off his pacifier!! I'm sure he'll want to suck at it when he sees it. But it's been a week since we've given it to him. He has been sleeping fine without it and no more yelling for it anymore!! Yipee!! See, they'll do it when they are ready!! Started off by letting him hold the pacifier but telling him that he shouldn't put it into his mouth. Initially, he was irritated by it and when I kept taking it out of his mouth, he simply threw it away after awhile. I think he feels that it was just too frustrating to keep it in!! Haha.. Great job baby!!

Kiefer is 15 months old!

Kiefer is already 15 months old! He is learning to walk, though I think that he is actually quite reluctant to do so. He's a smart one, he knows that he gets to places much faster on fours!! Here are updates of him at 15 mths:

Communication:
eh.. and points to anything that he wants
nods his head up and down for "thank you" and "sorry"
kisses and hugs kor kor
knows when not to touch kor kor's stuff. :P

Eating:
a voracious eater. loves watermelon. Can smell/see food from far far away and go really quickly towards the food source.
is totally off BM and on Enfagrow A+ (3-4 feeds a day, about 750ml a day)
3 main meals a day + loads of snacks in between i'm sure


That's my "no longer a baby" baby!! :P