Sleep, sickness, and nursing past the first year

I haven't had much time to blog recently; Starbeans has been sick with a cold he caught from a birthday party we went to this weekend. Sunday night he slept for perhaps 2-3 hours, in half-hour increments. He would scream and wail if we went near the bedroom; so, for the entire evening, we either:

• Took a bath
• Walked in circles around the house
• Rocked in the rocker in front of the television, watching PBS (I learned all about the free-trade movement, how Hawaii was formed, watched a Part II of William Golding's Sea Triology on Masterpiece Theater, and saw a 1985-vintage episode of Reading Rainbow)

I slept for 15 minutes around 6 am (or 7 am, according to my body-clock -> daylight savings). It has been a rough few days. I wonder what it is like to have more than one child sick simultaneously? It must be terribly stressful. I did fine once I realized that I wasn't going to get to go to bed that night; but before that, I was pretty frustrated. Poor, sick Starbeans. He's on the mend now, thankfully.

I've been thinking about breast-feeding recently. I plan to do extended nursing with child-led weaning. I'm not sure exactly how long we'll go, what nursing will entail for a 2 or 3 year old, or even how weaning is done, but these are my plans thus far. I'm flexible. I composed a list of why I am so glad to be breast-feeding beyond the "normal" year. Starbeans is 15 months old.

• I/we really enjoy it: nursing is very special. I feel good knowing that his needs are being met, both physically and emotionally. For him, it is a built in snuggle session and down-time as well as a tasty snack.
• Nutrition, of course: I never have to worry whether he is getting enough to eat; milk covers (or completes) all the bases. I assume that as the years go on, nursing will be more of a supplement than a daily standard; but at this point, I would say that he is getting his nutrients half-and-half, from both solids and breast milk.
• Calming: post-nap crabbies disappear with nursing. It provides a nice transition back into the Land of the Living.
• Handy for traveling: the boob is so convenient (and portable) for us while we're on the go for both thirst and hunger.