I’m still jetlag and tired, but I’m also suffering from severe withdrawal symptoms due to not posting in my blog. So here I am.
Before I start writing about our trip to Toronto and LA I need to write about something that happened just before we left. An end of an era. Well, when you have a toddler almost every week is an end of an era as they change all the time at that age. But this change was a big one.
About a week before we left Blake wasn’t very well. He had constant diarrhoea, on and off temperature and was just tired and miserable in general. Getting him on antibiotics for a mild ear infection made things even worse. Oh, how I longed to see solid poop nested comfortably in his dirty diaper like tiny Easter chocolate eggs and not the yellow-brownish chunky soup that leaked all over the place like some 50's monster movie slime creature eager to consume and cover the entire planet. Hey, check out these incredible poop metaphors. Papa is on a roll!
As part of his illness Blake lost interest in food (and a tiny bit of weight), especially his beloved bottles. At that stage, 22 months, Blake had a bottle three times a day for every meal in addition to “normal” food. Now he’d smack the bottle away or toss it aside. Our family doctor advised that milk based products aren’t a good idea until his diarrhoea cleared up anyway, so it wasn’t a big deal. Blake got better a couple of days after we arrived to Canada. It was then that I realized that even healthy he still had no interest in his bottles.
For me that was a whoa moment.
Ever since Blake was born I made his bottles every single day. I must have. He had bottles every day and I was the only one who made them, so I must’ve done it every single day for almost two years. And now that morning ritual is over for good (at least with Blake).
I actually planned a long time ago how I would get Blake off his bottles. Maybe remove the lunch bottle first, then the breakfast one. The question was when. I aimed to get him bottle-free by his second birthday, but a friend of mine convinced me that there’s nothing wrong in letting him enjoy his bottles until his third birthday if he enjoys them. They are very nutritious and he gets liquids in, so what’s the harm?
And suddenly it’s not an issue any more. We must make sure he’s eating and drinking enough now that the bottles are off the menu, but it makes life so much easier! I gain back the fifteen minutes it take to make the daily bottles (that’s about 90 hours a year, at a quick calculation) and we don’t need to lug around with us chilled bottles and a bottle warmer. It’s great, really.
So why does it make me feel a little sad?
--Mickey
Before I start writing about our trip to Toronto and LA I need to write about something that happened just before we left. An end of an era. Well, when you have a toddler almost every week is an end of an era as they change all the time at that age. But this change was a big one.
About a week before we left Blake wasn’t very well. He had constant diarrhoea, on and off temperature and was just tired and miserable in general. Getting him on antibiotics for a mild ear infection made things even worse. Oh, how I longed to see solid poop nested comfortably in his dirty diaper like tiny Easter chocolate eggs and not the yellow-brownish chunky soup that leaked all over the place like some 50's monster movie slime creature eager to consume and cover the entire planet. Hey, check out these incredible poop metaphors. Papa is on a roll!
As part of his illness Blake lost interest in food (and a tiny bit of weight), especially his beloved bottles. At that stage, 22 months, Blake had a bottle three times a day for every meal in addition to “normal” food. Now he’d smack the bottle away or toss it aside. Our family doctor advised that milk based products aren’t a good idea until his diarrhoea cleared up anyway, so it wasn’t a big deal. Blake got better a couple of days after we arrived to Canada. It was then that I realized that even healthy he still had no interest in his bottles.
For me that was a whoa moment.
Ever since Blake was born I made his bottles every single day. I must have. He had bottles every day and I was the only one who made them, so I must’ve done it every single day for almost two years. And now that morning ritual is over for good (at least with Blake).
I actually planned a long time ago how I would get Blake off his bottles. Maybe remove the lunch bottle first, then the breakfast one. The question was when. I aimed to get him bottle-free by his second birthday, but a friend of mine convinced me that there’s nothing wrong in letting him enjoy his bottles until his third birthday if he enjoys them. They are very nutritious and he gets liquids in, so what’s the harm?
And suddenly it’s not an issue any more. We must make sure he’s eating and drinking enough now that the bottles are off the menu, but it makes life so much easier! I gain back the fifteen minutes it take to make the daily bottles (that’s about 90 hours a year, at a quick calculation) and we don’t need to lug around with us chilled bottles and a bottle warmer. It’s great, really.
So why does it make me feel a little sad?
--Mickey
3 comments:
Because your baby is growing up!!
Did you mean formula or milk? In the states babies switch over to whole milk at 12 months.., just curious
Formula. Here in the UK they have special formulas for 12+ babies. Though I'm pretty sure it's not that essential and regular cows' milk probably would've been enough.
Regardless, it doesn't matter now. He's off his bottles and doesn't show any keen interest in anything other than water or watered down juice.
It's been years now but I don't remember that moment as being sad for me. I was just so happy that I was done washing bottles and was able to toss them in the trash.
Maybe it's time for another baby? You're thinking about it, aren't you? m.
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