Snuggling

My sweet L recently weaned. It was a gradual process, and while I'm comfortable and know it was time, it was also bittersweet. For the last couple months, she was only nursing at night before bed. I started cutting down on the amount of time she nursed, and started offering to snuggle her instead. I stopped nursing her at all at naptime. And, slowly, when she would ask to nurse, I'd offer to snuggle her instead.

She hasn't nursed in 2 weeks now, and when it's naptime or bedtime, she asks me ever so sweetly to snuggle and has stopped asking to nurse. I'm glad I still have that one-on-one time with her and I do enjoy snuggling her at the end of the day to help her get ready to sleep.

My 7yo has a hard time falling asleep. The truth is, he has almost always had a hard time falling asleep and I snuggled him and laid with him for years. The last few months he's been asking to snuggle, and I have put him off. This week, though, I didn't. I have snuggled him before bed and he has been going to sleep quicker than before. I don't know why I resisted - except that their bedtimes often overlapped and I took more time with my youngest.

The last couple nights I have agreed to his request, knowing that he won't always need an extra snuggle before bed. These are the moments I want him to remember -- when I agreed to do something he wanted/needed, and not when I refused. He still fits in my lap, and we have the chance to talk a little before I shush him and just hold him.

These are some of the moments I cherish.