Thursday 27 October 2011

Big Shoes to Fill

I had a terrifying thought recently. It is my job to teach Finnegan everything. This seems like an impossible feat. How can I possibly teach him everything? There is so much to know. This thought struck me the other day during a new game we play with Finn, ''show me your belly button'' where, as the name suggests, Finnegan shows us his belly button. This took weeks to learn. We have started ''show me your nose'' to which Finn shows us his belly button. There are a lot of body parts. Times 2-3 weeks to learn each one and well you do the math. Now imagine all the things that he needs to learn, numbers, letters, animals (all in 2 languages may I add), how to react in any given situation, the list seems endless. I know that others will pitch in, friends, family, teachers, but ultimately the responsibility is mine. Sit back for a minute and think about everything you know. Everything you have ever heard, the thousands (well maybe hundreds) of words you know, all the people you know, all the feelings you have. All of this knowledge needs to be passed on to my son in what seems like an impossibly short period of time. On a shorter scale I need only to look at my nephew who is not quite three. He speaks quite eloquently, knows how to conduct himself, how to use a spoon, how to use the potty. Finnegan will be in his spot in about 18 months and even this seems like an incredibly daunting task. How can such a little boy, one who now opens his mouth to let the dog eat out of it (I know ew, don't get me started), learn so much in such a short time? I just wish I had the capabilities to learn that quickly, would make getting this pesky bachelors degree a lot easier...

Friday 21 October 2011

We did it

Well, my friends, Finnegan and I have done it. He has not breast fed in over a week. My tiny baby boy is no longer breastfeeding. I have to admit though, even if I am a tad nostalgic about it I am actually pretty happy. My boobs are mine again! No more blood, no more stretching out my bras, no longer solely my responsibility to put him to bed at night, although I still do 99.9% of the time. I have been putting this off for weeks, then I contracted a minor undisclosed ailment that required medication, that wasn't recommended during breast feeding, so that sealed the deal. Finnegan fussed a little more than usual the first two days I put him to bed without it  but I was quickly forgotten and swept under the matt and now he doesn't seem to notice. This does of course upset me. Happy that it's over, and sad that it's over, thus is the never ending plight of motherhood.

Friday 7 October 2011

Ode to Steve Jobs

''Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life.'' -Steve Jobs 2005

The world lost another great man this week. And whether you love Apple or hate it (and are therefore crazy) there is no denying the impact this man has had on todays technology. I have heard him described as the Edison or Einstein of our generation and I think that is spot on. He has changed the world as we know it and he did it all with grace, dignity and pizzaz. If you haven't heard his Stanford University speech, check it on on youtube. It is truly inspirational. The way our children view technology and animation will have been largely shaped by this man.  He made computer geeks cool.

I love everything about Apple. I was a groupie before it was cool. The first computer I bought was an old Apple clam shell laptop and I loved it. Unfortunately it was about a hundred years old when I bought it so it wasn't around for long but I now use a mac mini. I had an original iPod in bright pink, I have since upgraded a few times and now sport the iPhone 4 and quite frankly would probably cry if forced to give it up. Those of you who aren't on the Apple band wagon I would really like to know why. It is user friendly, I am pretty lost when it comes to computers but am able to work my way around my mac (usually). They last forever (well I do warn you they aren't baby proof, but really what is?) and lets face it they also look cool. I fell in love with Apple in a high school media class and haven't looked back. 

Steve's death will no doubt be a huge blow to the company. I hope that new minds are able to step up and take over where he is left off and continue to produce ground breaking new advances in the world of technology.

Love what you do, live every day to the fullest, and make yourself proud. These are the words he has tried to instil on people. These are words we should all live by and teach our children to live by. 

"Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn't matter to me…Going to bed at night saying we've done something wonderful…that's what matters to me." (Steve Jobs, 1993)

Read more: http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20111006/steve-jobs-quotes-111006/#ixzz1a9EVVT3r

Monday 3 October 2011

Weaning Woes: warning contains graphic content

I am a die hard advocate for breast feeding. In this house formula was a bad word. Except in a few rare circumstances I don't believe that formula should ever be used. This may be unpopular, but I find it downright selfish to not breastfeed, at least until 6 months, unless there are medical reasons why you cannot. I know that it is hard, I suffered through my share of bloody nipples and mastitis but it is part of being a mom. Anyway, I digress. When I had Finn I intended to breastfeed to about 18 months, supplementing with whole milk at 11 months. Little did I know I would end up with a son completely uninterested in breast feeding. I have read stories about children screaming and crying as there moms tried to wean them. Finn on the other hand could take it or leave it. At around 12 months I diminished his feedings to twice daily, he didn't seem to notice or care. This is the schedule I intended to keep till I was ready to wean (note the ''I''). However in recent weeks something has changed. I don't know what Finn is doing differently but his breastfeeding sessions have left my poor nipples bloody and pusy (I did warn that there would be graphic content). It is almost worse than the first few weeks. Every session leaves me wincing in pain. Now it is one thing to tough through this for a newborn but seems kind of ridiculous to submit myself to this for a 14month old. So I have eliminated the morning feeding, again Finn neither noticed nor cared. I, however, cannot seem to let go of our bedtime feeding session. I know Finn probably won't miss it. I am left in pain each time he feeds yet I don't feel that I am ready to say goodbye to this aspect of parenting yet. It really feels like the difference between baby and toddler to me and I can't picture my son as a toddler, even though he is now walking and talking, it seems like yesterday that we brought him home from the hospital. I know it has to come to an end, soon, but a few more weeks can't hurt, right?