A nursing toddler is…well a whirling dervish. The song "Something about Maria" always comes to mind…."how do you catch a cloud and pin it down?" Nursing becomes something of a sport and some days you feel like Mom's Diner means you are a short order cook. But so much of the nursing now is about the relationship, the connection, You are guard, a force field if you will. You are home base, the safe place, the nest. The nourishment is there, but the eyes search you in a new way, the hands grab securely, sometimes possessively, but you are you are the sun and they are the moon. They gravitate around you, moving in their own sphere, but ever present, ever close to your comforting arms. I have nursed 4 children into toddlerhood. It has been hard at times with the antics, but the joy, the comfort and peace I see relax their faces has been worth it every time.
Last month I shot this nursing session for a Mama who knowing her boy, her last, was close to weaning. She wanted to catch those moments and I was so happy to be there and grab the seconds he dove in and out of her arms, found refuge from the stranger and giggled and hugged and nursed.
