April 11th, Ethan turned 9 months old. This month we've had a little problem with biting. When Ethan is full he sometimes like to use the rest of the time that he's at the breast, biting mommy. I've tried a lot of different approaches. At first I would say a stern, "no." Then I tried a soft, "no." I've tried just shaking my head. I've tried pulling him in close to me so that he would have to pull away to breathe. This seems to work better than anything else. It saddens me though, because he use to love to nurse after he was full. He would spend sometimes an hour just nursing for comfort. I loved those times. I knew that even though he was full & mommy did her job, he still wanted me to hold him. Now, as soon as that little belly is full, he wants to bite or get up & play. My baby is growing up. L

A day in the life of Ethan: He wakes up about 8 & Dad changes his diaper & puts him in bed with me. We snuggle, nurse, & fall back asleep until about 10. I'm not quite sure how long or how often he nurses in the morning because I'm snoozin'. Then he has about 6 tablespoons of cereal mixed with bananas & breastmilk (or water.) He obviously prefers breastmilk. About a half an hour after he eats his cereal, I nurse him. He nurses every 2 hours throughout the day. At each feeding, he nurses on one side only. He has always done that ever since he's nursed. It works good for us.

At about 5:30 he has his supper, a jar of orange vegetables, 1/2 jar of green vegetables, & 1/2 jar of fruit. (Orange vegetables are more nutritious.) He nurses every two hours until bedtime. Then about 11PM, he nurses for the last time before he goes to bed.

On days that I go to college, it's a little different. I go Mondays, Wednesdays, & Fridays from 9 - 2. I pump before I leave so that he can have fresh milk. I have frozen milk in the freezer, but fresh is so much more nutritious & he obviously likes it better. He drinks my pumped milk from a cup while I'm gone. It has really worked out good for all of us.

I have been nursing more often in public. A while back I felt that I needed to start, because I didn't think it was fair to either of us to have to be excluded. I talked to my husband & he said that he would feel a little uncomfortable about it at first, but he'd get over it, because it's important to me. I am very lucky to have such a supportive husband!

Ray & I have only been out on a date twice since Ethan was born. I pumped my milk & we had my Mom watch him both times. He has never been watched by anyone else, until this past week. My mother, Ray, & I had to go to Passover Services & it is a service that does not permit children. It was only for about 4 hours. We had Ray's aunt watch him & he did fine with her. She is wonderful with kids. It was a growing experience for all of us. I didn't worry too much while I was gone, because I knew that God was watching over him. We have noticed for about a month, Ethan has been watching us as we eat & he moves his mouth as if he's chewing. We decided that we would let him have some table food for the first time. We gave him some pieces of cooked carrot. He played with them for about ten minutes until he realized he was supposed to eat them. He took a bite of one & chewed & swallowed it. Then after a couple of minutes, he threw up. It wasn't just a little spit up. It was very obviously a throw up. Ray asked me if I was disappointed. I said, "not at all. We have plenty of time. If he's not ready, then I'm not ready." We'll try again in a couple of weeks or so. Until next time, happy nursing!

Berneda & Ethan

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