Last night we celebrated a big shift for Hayden and I. We celebrated his weaning from nursing. And how does one celebrate such an event? With a weaning party of course! The idea came from my friends Renee and Nora and seemed like the perfect end to our breastfeeding relationship.
Memories...
When Hayden was born, the doctor placed him on my chest and within minutes he was latched on to my breast. I didn't know it at the time, but Hayden would be an avid nursling. I nursed Hayden during my pregnancy with Clara and every day we would read the book Breastmilk Makes My Tummy Yummy. In the book there is a picture of a mommy nursing a baby and a toddler in a park and the caption reads " Two can breastfeed without fuss. There is room for both of us". This became Hayden's favorite page to read as we patiently waited for baby to arrive so that he could try out "sharing the milk". He would point to the baby and say" this is our baby" and point to the toddler and say "this is me" and then to the dog " there is Momo watching us in the park". 30 minutes after Clara was born Hayden knelt beside me to tandem nurse with his newborn baby sister. I am so blessed to have such beautiful memories of my nursing time with Hayden.
Two can breastfeed without fuss there is room for both of us.
And there was!
We wanted to mark the occasion with a significant event so that we could reference the festivities in case Hayden "forgot" that he was weaned post-party. We invited friends for pizza, cupcakes, and ice cream. The cupcakes were decorated to look like breasts and the ice cream was homemade cookies and cream made by our friend Carrie. It was the best ice cream I have ever eaten! So delicious and not the least bit fat free!
Friends brought Hayden gifts of shoes, a train set, hand drawn pictures, homemade play-doh, fresh eggs and an apricot tree! So pure and thoughtful. I just love the thought, time, and care that our friends put into their unexpected gifts. I felt very blessed to have such wonderful support and understanding for such a bittersweet event.
We gave Hayden a Skuut bike for his weaning present from our family. He is so excited to have his very own bike that he can ride with his friends!
Hayden on his new Skuut.
All the kiddos in the hammock.
Breast cupcakes! 
Our first nurse on our last day.
Our last nurse on our last day.
5 comments:
Thanks for sharing all the details of the day, marias. It sounds like the day was a wonderful one. What a wonderful gift nursing has been to Hayden for 3.5 years!! Wow. Love, Zoya
That picture of the first nurse on his last day makes my heart catch. It's the sweet eye contact. Thank you for sharing this!
The pictures you captured of you and Hayden sharing your last nursing sessions are heart-breakingly beautiful. It was a fabulously fun party, as it should be for celebrating such a momentous occasion. :)
Reading your post gave me goosebumps Marias, you are such a wonderful mama.
love yoU!
That last nursing pic is so sweet and beautiful! Makes me tear up. I remember the last time I nursed Michael and it was so bittersweet.
We also had a party, tho a Birthday party- he was 4! And I had prepared him for months. I love the weaning party idea!
Becca
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