Noah ran around the corner into the kitchen, covered with marker, and exclaimed "I'm a wolf!"

We have some pretty big news around here. It appears as though Noah has weaned. I was ready for him to be finished, and although he really adored nursing, it went surprisingly smoothly and actually even happened mostly by accident. I am feeling really good about it all.

Several months ago I started limiting him to nursing five times a day: during the night, when waking up in the morning, before and after nap, and before bed. I liked that he wasn't nursing all day long anymore, but that didn't stop him from asking all day long, and he'd get pretty upset and whiny when he wanted to nurse but couldn't. I got pretty tired of that after a month or two, so we moved it to just once a day - before his nap. That seemed to help, and it worked perfectly because it gave him time to wind down and then (hopefully) fall asleep quickly. He still asked often, and I always said, "We can nurse before your nap, but I'd love to cuddle with you now," so we spent a lot of time cuddling on the couch and that seemed to satisfy him.

He will be starting preschool this fall, two days a week for four hours a day, and he won't be able to take naps on the days he has school. I figured we would just give up naps all together then instead of trying to get him to nap some days and some days not. A couple weeks ago, though, he started taking forever to fall asleep for naps, and then forever to fall asleep at night. Instead of forcing it for the next few weeks, I decided we'd just go ahead and stop with the naps now. It wasn't until after I made that decision and even told him he didn't have to take naps anymore that I thought about nursing. With no nap, there was no opportunity to nurse, although I didn't mention that to him.Every morning before we get out of bed, he asks to nurse. I always suggest we cuddle instead, and every single day he says, "But can I nurse before my nap?" and I tell him he can. Sometimes in the afternoon if he seems tired I will ask him if he wants to take a nap, and he always says no.

I think it's been about a week now since he last nursed. It's almost like he weaned and never even really noticed. This is so opposite of my experience with Emma that I'm still a little incredulous. I think the best part of this is that there is no door slamming shut; I never had to say there is absolutely no more nursing. So, if on some random day in a few days or weeks or months he decides he wants to take a nap and nurse first, no big deal.

He is really into cuddling now and asks to cuddle several times a day. Yesterday we were laying on the couch together and he said, "We sure do like to cuddle together, don't we, Mommy?" And of course, he is absolutely right.He is pretty sensitive to things that are "scary". Last time we went to the library, he picked out a book that involves a truck going into a spooky junkyard. It's a little too much for him to sit next to me and look at the pictures of the spooky junkyard, so he always hops down on the floor and covers his eyes until that part is over.