Tired

I am feeling very tired.
Price of having stayed up so late I guess - I was up till 5.30 am and now I can't function properly at work - I'm on a very slow gear this day.
I want to go home, curl up and sleep
But Ihave awful deadlines to meet
so shall trudge along
is there a lesson to this I wonder?

baa baa

And it's begun!
Baby (or should I say toddler? she's always baby to me somehow!)
Baby gets into the car, points her index finger to the sky and demands.. "Baa Baa"
and we have to play baa baa black sheep for her.. over and over and over again!
this is exasperation mingled with pride and love
the question is baa baa black sheep a politically incorrect song does arise in my head - a minor aside for now
the worst of it all is, I have nursery rhyme ditties in my head all day and night long now! how I long for some grown up music in my head!

Baa Baa is significant for our baby in her own way though - our new zealand trip, if nothing else, she developed a love for those baa baas! any stretch of green and she'd be on the look out for those wooly friends of hers. plus it was the first animal she got up close and personal with, daring to reach out and touch their fur, on a farm visit. till then, she used to shy away from real animals (pictures ones were okay)
so with the baa baa, she got to appreciate nature, experience relating the picture to the real thing and even tried petting and feeding them!
and now this rhyme! who knows what it reminds her of?

the breastfeeding journey

I had to record this for I'd forget otherwise
date when I stopped breastfeeding: April ... (see I forgot already! - it was 2 weeks ago) - April 30 2010
having breastfed baby for 16 months - woo hoo!
okay, complete breastfeeding only for 4 months but still..

I was actually going to stop at about 13 months but then we went to New Zealand and she fell sick and we re-started breast feeding to help her keep some food in and fight the bacteria and that got us started again!

So funny this whole breastfeeding issue: when we started, we said it with great pride - for it was being encouraged by all doctors and through campaigns and posters - that breast milk was best
that was till baby was 6 months old.
then some people looked on in admiration while others tried to dissuade when I continued to breast feed past 6 months
then come 12 months, I had to keep it secret! because almost no one would encourage it anymore. except my mum which was very ironic, considering that intially she was the one who was insisting breast milk is completely insufficient for the baby and that formula was essential!
oh well!
personally, I've very happy and very blessed to have been able to breast feed for 16 months. it really helped me bond with my darling and honestly we both are really close! I mean, that is something really only mummy can do - all things else anyone else can do and was most most happy and willing to do - feed, change, bathe, dress play ... breast feeding however.. ha! only one!

I think it was like this:
complete breastfeeding: 0 - 4 months
breast feeding plust one feed formula: 5 - 8 months
baby rice introduced: 5 months
breast milk and baby rice: 8 - 9 months (india at that time, I did not bottle feed at all)
breast milk, baby rice and one feed formula - 9 - 11 months
breast milk, 2 - 3 feeds formula and solids (rice and paruppu etc) - 11 - 14 months
1 feed breast milk at night - 14 - 16 months