Summer flu, nursing Lily, dear friend visited

We caught the summertime flu. Please don't send me lots of sympathy and "Oh I'm so sorry you're sick!" comments, b/c every time we're sick we grow closer together as we all pull together and take care of each other. Yeah, I'd like to gain that family closeness another way, but it's still worth it! I've been re-reading the beginning of this blog, smiling as I remember things I had forgotten, frowning when I read something and simply cannot recall it at all. I'm glad I wrote it when I did, and I wish I had started earlier in Lily's life. The only real failures are giving up and not learning from your mistakes, right? Today I napped with Charlotte while Jack and Lily watched movies. I also did laundry and played with Charlotte, and read to Lily and Jack and got food for them. I nursed Lily a few times... Yes, she is still nursing. And when she's sick like this, I'm really glad; all she ate yesterday was my milk. She's learning some better manners, asking nicely and not throwing a tantrum if I tell her I need to do something else first. She also is VERY sweet about staying carefully in a position to not hurt me (I thought the pain of nursing her would go away when I had Charlotte, but it didn't...). I can see that she doesn't need to nurse as much as she did when she was a toddler, nor as much as she did right after Charlotte was born, but neither of us is quite ready for weaning yet. It was tough right after Charlotte was born; I had my baby in Charlotte, and nursing Lily was painful and awkward. But we persevered (with tears on both sides), and we're in a good place now.

My dear friend came to visit a few weeks ago, with her four kids ages 1 1/2 to 9 1/2. (She doesn't publish her name on her blog, so I won't publish it on mine, but it rhymes with Selena Huf.) I laugh at myself b/c I was there for her youngest son's birth, the one that's holding Charlotte in the picture, and he doesn't usually like me. I feel so miffed and slighted. I say "I saw you come OUT of your mama, kid!" and he still runs and hides every time he sees me. But Charlotte gives me leverage! He LOVES her! So I can get close to him without him screaming, if I have Charlotte! Good night!