Katja Woke up just now asking for mama. She's only been asleep a couple of hours, and she typically sleeps through the night (she is 30 mos old) so this was kind of surprising.

I asked her if she wanted me to turn the fan off. "Non". I asked if she wanted a drink of water. "Non" asked what she wanted..."bubbies" (to nurse).
I knew this, but had tried to distract her with other options. Nothing doing, unsurprisingly.

I said ok (she was all red-eyed and pitiful, I couldn't say no), and said "un petit peu de bubbies." (Just a little bit) She snuggles into me, all happy, "non....beaucoup de bubbies!"
(Non lots of bubbies!). Then settled in to nurse happily.

She's so goddamned cute. One of the advantages of nursing a toddler is that you get to learn how wonderful nursing really is to a child. It is so important to Katja. She is very verbal, so it's so much fun to talk to her about nursing.

She describes nursing as being like cake or candy. Both of these are rare treats for her, so are pretty special.

She also tells me a lot about nursing by *when* she is nursing. If we're home and I'm trying to get stuff done, and she's whining to nurse, she probably needs me to set aside the work and give her some quality time. If she suddenly starts needing to nurse at night, she is likely fighting a virus or teething. If she is hungry. Tired. Sad. Bored. Nursing is the cure for what ails her. I mean, come on - how can you just cut that off?
I certainly did with my oldest, at just 16 months. I still feel like a jerk for doing it, but I was stretched really thin at that point in my life for lots of legitimate reasons, and this had to give.
I think he's secretly jealous the girls got to nurse longer.

Anika's been up to nurse 3x already, guessing growth spurt, but come to think of it, she didn't nurse much today - not for long periods. Too enthralled by her sister's antics to be bothered to eat. That means reverse-cycling. To be honest, I'm relieved. If she nurses very little during the day then nurses all night that would be perfect - my milk would be a bit regulated during the day so I might not have to pump daily (logistical fucking nightmare). And I would know she wasn't upset by lack of feeding.