Happy Wednesday!  It’s been a great few weeks over here and I just wanted to share a few things that are making me happy lately.

Neighborhood Park

We found a new park close to our neighborhood last week and I am loving it!  It has a paved trail as well as a much longer unpaved trail, a playground with sun shades, baby swings, a splash pad, and a pool.

I took James there last Friday and we had such a good time!

I often miss our old neighborhood where we could walk to everything, including some really nice trails, but I admit that it was great to be in a nice park without the crowds of where we used to live (right by Zilker).  Because there are fewer people, we also see more animals, like road runners and rabbits.

New Mom Friends

Before having James, none of my friends had babies.  I’m pretty shy and introverted, so wasn’t sure I’d really make any new mom friends.  Thanks to the library though, I’ve met a couple of super nice women with babies almost the same age as James and it is so fun to have people who don’t mind talking endlessly about baby sleep and who can hang out and do baby-friendly things in the middle of a week day.  I feel so lucky to have met them!

Baby Brunch

I made James pancakes last Saturday and it made me so happy 🙂  I used this recipe and it was easy, healthy, delicious, and made a ton so I have a bunch of extras in the freezer.  I spread James’s pancakes with a little coconut oil and sprinkled with cinnamon.  I think this recipe would be easy to play around with and I’ll probably try a pumpkin or zucchini version soon.

It was fun to make something we could all eat together and to think that this was the first of likely countless times that we’ll enjoy a pancake breakfast together.  Also, I think the leftovers would be a great portable snack for James to bring to the park or something since they hold together well and are not very messy.

Front-facing Carrier

I really try not to buy all the baby things.  We did splurge on a new baby carrier last weekend though and it is making me happy.

James is super independent and wants to be moving around ALL the time.  I love this about him, but it can make it harder to take him places.  We have this Ergo and K’tan, but he’s never loved them and his disdain for them has grown now that he’s more and more mobile.  However, when we tried him in the K’tan facing forward, he got so happy!

Sadly, our Ergo did not allow baby to face forward and I really prefer the more structured carriers, especially now that James is getting heavier.  My friend Laura recommended the Ergo 360 to me and we are loving it so far!  I still don’t think James would be content to be in there for hours, but I’d settle for a happy baby while I grocery shop for 30 minutes or walk for an hour 🙂  I also love that this one has a lot less fabric on the sides than my original Ergo, so it’s less hot, which is important in Texas!

Stroller Running

We have the BOB Revolution running stroller (generously given to us by my parents – thank you!) and I finally tried running with it last week.  I had read that I could start running with baby once he was 6-8 months old and had great head control.  He just turned 7 months and has had good head control for months, so I decided to give it a try.

It was SO much more fun than I thought it would be.  I’ve always hated running with a lot of stuff – holding a water bottle, weighed down by winter clothes, etc.  That’s how I pictured stroller running would feel.  It wasn’t that way at all though, it felt great.  Sure, it was a little more challenging than running without the stroller, but since James is usually only happy in there for 30-40 minutes anyway, the added challenge is no big deal.

This will let me run outside more instead of the treadmill, and also get a workout in when James is awake so I get do something else during nap time.  I’m very excited about it!

This Guy

Always.  He has been so happy, talkative, and FUN lately.  He’s the best.

I have to say, typing out my goals for April made such a difference!  Instead of a bunch of vague, fuzzy stuff in my head that I wanted to accomplish, I had a very manageable list.  I definitely plan to keep doing this in the future.

First, a recap of April’s goals:

Conceptualize Playroom: Check!  I now have a very clear vision of what I want James’s playroom to look like.  I’ve mostly cleared out the office, and have purchased about half of what we need.  I just need to get a shelf, rug, and picture frames.  I’m pretty sure I know what I’m going to buy, but I want to finish cleaning out the office before I actually buy it.

I’m most excited about the reading nook I have planned!  I already got this canopy and soft rug for it.

Prepare Garden Beds: This was the only one that was a big time failure…oops.  I didn’t even start doing this, and I’m honestly not at all confident that it will happen this month either.  I did acquire a few pretty potted plants for the back patio, and may just settle for that for now.

Make Family Dinners: Check!  This was mostly a success.  I did much more meal planning / cooking this month and found a few new staple meals that are very quick and easy, reasonably healthy, and taste good!

We did not really eat a lot of family dinners with James though, and I now realize we probably won’t for a while.  Because of his early bedtime, he usually eats around 5:00.  I honestly don’t really want to eat dinner that early, but also, my husband isn’t usually home by then.  For now, I’m settling for eating a snack with James while he eats, and will make an effort to eat lunch with him.

Watch Less TV: Check!  This may be the one that made me the happiest.  I finished watching West Wing and did not start a new tv series (until this past weekend…oops).  I occasionally watched a movie, but not being in the middle of a series I love meant that watching tv was not my go-to activity for the night.  I may designate one night a week as tv night or something, I’m not really sure.

Okay, on to May’s Goals!

Read More: This is my number one goal this month.  It’s already started to happen naturally because I haven’t been watching much tv.  I love to read and want to really get back into the habit of reading regularly.

Write More: I’ve never had any talent for (or really enjoyed) most artistic activities, but I’ve always loved to write.  I have a couple of writing projects that I’ve started, but haven’t worked on in a while.  There is one in particular I’m hoping to finish this month.  It’s a children’s book for James.  I know it will likely never be published, but I plan to print it with Pinhole Press, which lets you print your own board books, to give to him.

Go Somewhere New Every Week: It is so fun to take James out these days.  He is super friendly and smiley and seems to really enjoy getting out.  We go somewhere almost every day now, but I am definitely a creature of habit and we often go to the same few places.  We just moved to South Austin right before James was born, so I am still discovering the area.  I’m looking forward to taking James to new places this month, even if it’s just a different park or library of coffee shop.

Wear Sunscreen: I wear sunscreen when I go to the beach or know I’ll be outside all day, but I am not good about wearing it every day.  With the amount of time I spend outside, I know I should be doing this.  I want to finally make this part of my daily routine this month.

What are your goals this month?

Or, as Albert Einstein put it, “Play is the highest form of research”.

I read something recently that was so sweet it was heartbreaking to me.  It was about how you don’t really know the last time you’ll hold your child.  One day you’ll be carrying him along and not thinking about it and the next he’ll just be running around and not needing you in that way anymore.

That got me thinking, we don’t really know the last time we’ll do lots of things, and often don’t remember those “lasts”.

I don’t know if it’s the last time I played a pretend game as a child, but I have the clearest memory of playing an imaginary game outside with my friends in fourth grade.  It’s the last time like this that I have a memory of.

We were on a school trip to Crow Canyon Archeological Center in Colorado.  We were learning all about Native American tribes who had lived there and about how archeologists discover artifacts.  We also had free time to just explore and play.

I don’t remember there being any playground, but there were plenty of wide open spaces, big rocks, and a little creek.  I remember it being a sunny day with a blue sky, and a bit of a chill in the air.  The stream was cold.  I was crouched down by the water and we were playing some pretend game about being Native Americans in the society we were learning about.  I remember being so, so happy.

Thinking about this reminds me of how “play” really is the work of children, of how we need to give them time and space free from toys and media to just explore and exercise their imaginations.  We were playing and having the best time, but we were also processing what we had been learning about, making it real in our minds.

Do you remember pretend games you played as a child?

Our weekend is still going strong over here as my father in law is here until Tuesday and my husband has work off, woohoo!  We’ve been having a great time and I wanted to share a few highlights.

Hanging out with Grandpa

The biggest highlight was definitely seeing James having so much fun with his Grandpa.  I wish they lived closer, but we are enjoying this time he’s here to the max.

My father in law flew in from Milwaukee Thursday night and got here just in time to see James eating dinner…always a show.  James hadn’t seen him since he was four weeks old, but warmed up to him right away and has been having a blast playing with him.

Town Lake Trail

Friday we went for a nice walk along the Colorado River on the Town Lake trail here in Austin (we don’t have a lot of lakes in Texas and have an odd habit of calling wide sections of rivers “lakes”..I don’t even know).  This trail gets really crowded, so it was nice to be there on a Friday with fewer people.

They may be a little hard to spot in the picture, but we saw a couple of Austin’s wild parakeets while we were out.  Some imported wild parakeets escaped from an RV park here in the 70’s and started a whole population.  We only saw two this time, but sometimes you see a whole big flock.

An Outside Run

On Saturday, my husband and his dad hung out at home while James napped and I escaped for a run around the neighborhood.  It was glorious.  I can’t remember the last time I went for a run outside.  I don’t mind the treadmill, but it is definitely not the same freeing feeling as running outside.  I listened to Counting Crows, one of my favorite bands in middle school / high school for most of the run and then Chromeo for the last mile or so when I needed an energy boost.  I love how music can take you back to other times of your life so clearly.

I ran somewhere between 4-5 miles, but I’m not exactly sure how far.  I used to always run with a gps watch, but I lost the charger when we moved last summer and I haven’t bothered to get a new one.  I kind of like just running how fast / far I feel like without thinking about the numbers.

Reading Outside

Sunday morning was too beautiful to stay inside and I spent James’s first nap time reading a book outside with a cup of coffee – pretty much the best.  If I could spend every morning doing this and every evening sitting out there with a glass of wine, I think I’d be pretty happy.

A Greenbelt Hike

The weather on Sunday was literally perfect.  It was a little cool in the morning and then just sunny with no humidity and not a cloud in the sky by the afternoon.  We wanted to walk on Austin’s Greenbelt, a rocky trail that goes all throughout the city, but even our BOB Revolution jogging stroller isn’t really cut out for it.

We decided to try the k’tan wrap with James front facing and he liked it about a million times better than facing backward.  He was giddy for the first half of the walk and never really seemed to mind being in there.  I’m excited about this because it’s so much more convenient to bring the wrap places than to load the heavy stroller into the car every time.  I may look for a more structured front facing carrier (we have an Ergo, but it’s sadly on rear facing).  Does anyone have a recommendation?

We walked on the trail for probably about an hour, stopping to look at the water and watching people (and dogs!) swimming and rock climbing.

We then took James home for another nap before all going to get some bbq.  It was a pretty perfect day.

What was the best part of your weekend?

Good morning!

I hope you had a good weekend, and a happy Easter if you celebrate.  We had a wonderful long weekend with my family in Houston and it was just what I needed.

We left Thursday evening after James feasted on sweet potatoes.  He is increasingly enthusiastic about eating and it is so fun to watch!

James fell asleep in the car, but woke up ready to party when we got to Houston.  Bedtime was a little rough, but it was worth it to get there Thursday night and have more time with my family.

We had no plans Friday and just hung around at home and went for a nice walk with my parents.  I love walking around their neighborhood because there are lots of long streets with beautiful old trees.  Even when it’s hot out, there’s plenty of shade and beautiful flowers due to the semi-tropical weather.

Friday afternoon, my husband stayed home with James while he napped and I ran errands with my mom.  It felt so weird to be out without James for so long.  It was great to hang out with my mom though and do some fun birthday shopping for my sister.

Saturday I was excited to go to one of my favorite restaurants, Backstreet Cafe, to celebrate my sister’s birthday.  James took a short morning nap and would normally have gone down for a second nap right when brunch started, but he handled it so well.  He didn’t fuss at all, though he was clearly tired and just rested his head on my arm the whole time.  He also enjoyed a few slices of avocado I stole off of people’s plates.  I had my hands full, so didn’t get any pictures of the food, but it was delicious and included a warm chocolate orange brioche bread that I could eat for every meal.

James and I woke up before everyone on Sunday and enjoyed a quiet start to Easter Sunday.  I gave him the children’s Bible I got him for Easter and read him the Easter story.  We then went for a morning walk to get outside before it was too hot.  It was a nice start to the day.

After his morning nap, we went to church and James was downright giddy to be there.  He loved staring at chandeliers, bouncing to the music, and flirting with the little girl in front of us.  He was ready to go by the end, but definitely had some fun.

James took one more nap in Houston while we had a great brunch with my family.  He seemed a little overwhelmed by all of the people when he woke up, but the drive home went surprisingly well.

He fell asleep for about thirty minutes and we played and sang songs.  He became pretty desperate to get out of the car in the last 20-30 minutes, but that’s not bad for a three hour drive.

His mood immediately changed when we got home.  He was babbling and laughing and rolling all around.  I think he was happy to be home and to have some time to just move around.

I feel so fortunate to have my family close by so that we can easily go visit for holidays and random weekends.  Now we just need to convince my husband’s parents to move down here!

What was the best part of your weekend?  Do you celebrate Easter?

Good morning and happy Friday!

Our weekend began early as we drove to Houston last night to celebrate Easter weekend (and my favorite sister’s birthday) with my family.  I am feeling very happy as we have lots to look forward to this weekend, but as I mentioned on Monday, the last couple of weeks have been a little rough.

It’s a little sad how much my current happiness depends on how well the little buddy naps, but he is seriously a different person when he doesn’t get enough sleep.  He actually has been falling asleep very easily for naps, just only staying asleep for 35 minutes and waking up still tired.  I’m wondering if he’s teething, but I’m not really sure.  Regardless, when he doesn’t nap well, it means:

1) There’s no break in the day

2) He is GRUMPY and requires a lot more attention and entertainment from me to keep it together

3) It’s hard to go do things due to the aforementioned grumpiness

4) I feel like I’m failing at life

However, naps or no naps, I realize I’m so lucky to have him and I want to enjoy this time of life as much as I can.

I know that I’m in control of my own happiness, and each morning I tell myself it will be a good day.  Still, I found myself losing it a little bit, and needed to take some more concrete action.  This is inspired by my favorite podcast (forgive me if I mention this obsessively, but it really is that good!), Happier, by Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project.

In this episode, Gretchen talks about having a “happiness 911” song, which of course is just what it sounds like – a song you can listen to to instantly boost your mood when you need it.  Even better, you can search for the happiness 911 playlist on Spotify, where listeners’ happiness 911 songs have been compiled.  There is naturally a huge range in the type of songs included but, while I don’t like every song, it definitely gives my mood a boost.

This got me thinking, what are some other little things I can do to instantly boost my mood?  I’ve written out a list and am going to run through it whenever I feel my optimism slipping.  Sometimes just having a list / plan makes me feel better…I’m a little type A.

Here is my list so far, but I’d love to add to it so please share what little things make you happy / give you a mood boost!

1. Put on music – sometimes I really do listen to the happiness 911 playlist, sometimes I play Bob Marley (or Moana…), anything that makes me happy, bonus if I know the words and can sing along with no one but my grumpy baby to hear me 🙂
2. Light a candle – I can at least pretend to be zen by lighting a favorite candle.

   

3. Take pictures – Getting out the real camera and having a mini photo shoot helps me focus on the moment instead of running through a list in my head of all of the things I’m doing wrong that are leading to crappy naps.  Also, taking pictures helps me search for the beautiful parts of even tough days.  This obviously only works if he’s minimally grumpy and not on the verge of losing it.  I’m not sitting there snapping pics while my baby cries like a detached news reporter.
4. Fake it ’til you make it – It is too easy (for me at least) to give into the grumps and just hang on until the next nap time, but I know that everyone will be happier if I put in more effort and try to cheer up the little guy.  For us, this usually involves singing songs with him, having a dance party, or getting out his favorite scarf that I save for emergencies and playing silly games with it.  This takes more energy than I sometimes feel like I have, but almost always helps!
5. Give into the grumps – opposite of #3, if I’ve tried everything, I need to accept that he is just going to be whiny for a little while, it’s because he is tired, and there is sometimes nothing I can do about it.  Just as only I can make myself happy, I can’t force anyone else to be happy, even if that someone is the size of a teddy bear.
6. Go outside – I love to go for walks.  If James is rested and in a good mood, we can go for around an hour and he is fine with it, but if he’s in a bad mood, even short walks can send him over the edge.  However, I can always go sit with him in the backyard for a few minutes or go for a “nature walk” around the yard and let him examine different trees and flowers.  This puts us both in a better mood!
7. Get out of the house – It is much harder to get out and do things when the little guy is grumpy because, well, he remains grumpy while we’re out and this stresses me out.  However, getting out for even just thirty minutes can make a big difference in the day.  I can take him to the grocery store and get a treat (for me), take him to Starbucks and get a fix, or take him to the bookstore and just look around.  The key here, for us, is avoiding anything that will take too long or where the expectations are too high – I’m not going to take him anywhere I really want to stay for more than 15-20 minutes when he’s over-tired.
8. Call my mom – If it’s been a rough day, talking to my mom on the phone in the late afternoon while the little guy plays never fails to boost my mood.
9. Go for a short, fast (for me) run – I have a treadmill in the garage and sometimes completing a short, speedy run during his nap time makes me feel like myself and re-energizes me.
10. Pour a glass of wine the size of my baby – I kid, I kid.  But looking forward to a glass of wine or a beer with my husband at the end of the day can be so relaxing if it’s been a rough one.  Fortunately, James now reliably goes from bedtime to 4-5 AM without nursing, so I can do this without stress.

James actually took a great nap yesterday and was in a good mood all day so fingers crossed this lasts!

I would love to add to this list.  What are some little things you do when you’re having an off day or need a boost?

I’m so fortunate to have had a great childhood that was a perfect balance of adventure and stability.  I have wonderful parents and as I think about the kind of parent I want to be, I find myself reflecting back on what made my childhood a good one.

As I look back, I find myself focusing on specific childhood memories rather than my parents’ “parenting philosophy”.  Was that even a think when we were kids?  I hate the pressure to pick a parenting style as if it’s a black and white, either / or type of thing.

I grew up in Houston, Texas.  If you’ve never been to Houston and picture Texas as all desert and cowboys, Houston definitely doesnt’ fit this image.  In addition to being a huge city, it is wet.  Very wet.  Houston is considered in the subtropical zone and it rains a lot.  We had flood days instead of snow days when I was a child and I distinctly remember wading through a parking lot in water past my knees one time to get to our car.  I remember stopping at a restaurant to wait out the rain, but their power was out so they had a very limited selection.

One of my favorite childhood memories was on one of these stormy nights.  We were thankfully at home for this one, both of my parents, my sister, brother, and me.  The power went out and it was after the sun had set, but before bedtime.

My parents lit candles around the house and I felt a sense of mystery and excitement.  We sat on the floor and talked and played board games (still one of my favorite pastimes).  We played for what seemed like hours, I assume until it was time to get ready for bed.

I don’t remember who discovered it, but someone flicked a switch and exclaimed that the power was back on.  My mom is the sweetest, but does not have a very good poker face.  She tried to act surprised.  We all knew.  She had realized hours before that the power was back, but hadn’t told anyone because it was so nice to just spend time as a family without “technology”.

This was before the age of smart phones mind you.  We may have had one family computer by then, I don’t remember.  Even then though, back in the dark ages, there was apparently a longing for quality time without distraction.

It would have been easy for my parents to complain about the inconvenience, to let the circumstances ruin the evening.  But they didn’t.  They turned that stormy night into an adventure for us as children.  That’s the kind of parent I want to be, and I have to say, it somewhat goes against my nature.  I’m not always the most carefree or spontaneous person, but I’m certainly going to try to bring a little fun and adventure into our every day.