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Day in the Life – 9 1/2 Months
Good morning and happy Friday!
Here is a look at our day yesterday:
I woke up at 5 for some reason, but I slept super well all night, so felt great. Now that James sleeps through the night, I don’t usually get up super early anymore, but I kind of love it when I naturally wake up early and have time to ease into the day.
I poured some cold brew coffee (super easy if you have a french press – just add one cup coffee ground to a french press, fill with cold water, and let sit over night) and started working on this post.
A little while later I make some oatmeal. (I’m not good at food photography, but is looked like a bowl of oatmeal…or a “bowl full of mush” for my fellow Goodnight Moon aficionados 😉 I’ve been really trying to eat my meals with James, but he doesn’t eat breakfast until around 8 and I don’t want to wait three hours today.
I read a few blogs and then work on a personal writing project. It feels so good to get something done before the little guy wakes up, I may start setting an alarm for 5, we shall see….
He starts peeping around 6:30 so I give him a few minutes to wake up and talk to himself (so cute) and then go greet him to start our day!
He gives me a big smile and a big hug. I love going in to see him in the morning. I breastfeed him and change his diaper. We just started doing stand up diapering, which I’ll talk more about next week. I get him dressed and he plays in his room.
He almost always takes everything off the top of his shelf to start. He plays for a while and then he goes over and chooses a book. He gets a big smile on his face when I read him Polar Bear Polar Bear, one of his current favorites. I read it twice and read some other books too. He sits and watches and listens and turns the pages. Reading books is one of the only times he is still!
We play in his room for about an hour. Toward the end, my husband comes in and plays with him while I make breakfast and empty the dishwasher. James eats half of a banana and some oatmeal. He seriously loves this picture of a group of chefs on the back of one of my cookbooks and gives it the biggest smile every time he sits in his chair.
He plays with an empty oatmeal container while I clean up. After breakfast, we go for a morning walk around the neighborhood.
Some days lately it’s already felt super hot in the morning, but it feels pretty nice today!
When we get home I change his diaper, read a couple more books, and he takes his morning nap. I work on this post and an upcoming post for next week. I generally use James’s morning nap for “computer stuff” (blogging, writing, working on his baby book, planning our upcoming vacations) and his afternoon nap for “house stuff” (prepping dinner and cleaning).
He wakes up around 10:00. I change his diaper and we play in his playroom for a while. He races over to choose Hello Bugs right away. I had put this book away for a while and just got it out again a couple of days ago. He is SO excited it is back; we read it about one million times a day right now and I don’t mind a bit.
We read some more books and look out the window for a while. He plays with some toys.
After thirty minutes or so, I breastfeed him and then we head out to Barnes and Noble.
James LOVES crawling around Barnes and Noble. Despite his current love of books, he has pretty much no interest in sitting to read books when we’re there, there is MUCH too much to see. Crawling around the store, examining things, and watching the big kids was probably the highlight of his day. I have no pictures because I was following him around and trying to keep things out of his mouth. I also got Starbucks while we were there. I try not to get it too often, but I am loving iced soy lattes this summer.
We come home just in time for lunch. Both James and I have avocado toast with eggs and “cherry plums,” a new fruit I found at Trader Joe’s that we’re both loving. I’ve never been much of a plum fan, but these are great! James also eats peas and a few Happy Baby puffs while I’m making lunch (fun fact: I interned for Happy Baby in college, love them!)
James makes it pretty clear when he’s done eating.
I clean up as much of lunch as I can while he’s still in his high chair, talking to him about what I’m doing. I then speed clean the rest with one eye on him while he crawls around.
After I’m done cleaning up lunch, I watch James explore the living room, pulling up on tables, playing with coasters, and examining the blinds. Then it’s time for nap #2. I’m so thankful that he rarely cries now at nap time and bedtime. He just talks to himself for a few minutes and passes out.
James thankfully took a long (for him) nap after a couple of days of short naps. I worked on this post, cleaned the counters and floors, and most importantly, settled on a race to run with my little brother! We’re planning to run the 3M Half Marathon in Austin next January. My brother lives in Chicago and I’m so exited he’s coming down, and so excited to be running a race! It has been years since I’ve done one due to my injured foot and I am really looking forward to it.
James woke up around 2:20 and I breastfed him again and then went to the library for baby play time! Baby story time is on hold for the summer, but the very nice children’s librarian still puts out toys and books for the babies on Thursday afternoons and we always have so much fun there. Its been more hit or miss as our little ones have gotten older and nap times have changed, but the stars aligned and all of our little buddies were there today. James was in a great mood after a good nap and I think we both had a lot of fun.
We got home a little after 4:00, I breastfed him again and then my husband came home! A lot of people in his office are on vacation this week and he’s been able to come home a little earlier the last couple of days, which has been so nice.
James crawled around the living room, playing with coasters, exploring ice cubes, sorting through my recipe cards, and examining a deck of cards.
Eventually I make dinner. We had leftovers from yesterday’s burrito bowls, so it was super easy. James had a deconstructed version (black beans, brown rice, avocado, tomato with green onion, and fresh mozzarella because we ran out of cheddar). I also gave him greek yogurt with some easy blueberry chia jam I made yesterday since a lot of dinner was smaller / harder to pick up foods.
My husband cleaned up dinner while I read a few books to James and then James had a bath. He’s recently transitioned out of his baby bathtub and he seems to really be enjoying crawling around the big tub and having more space to move. He is in a really great mood tonight.
After bath time, I breastfeed him one more time, we all read Goodnight Moon together, I sing him a song and he goes to bed a little before 7:00.
I am finishing up this post, and then will likely watch an episode of my latest Netflix obsession, Friday Night Lights. Yes, I’m a little behind the times.
After a couple of days with short naps and afternoon grumpiness, today was such a fun and happy day!
How has your week been?
What was the best part of your day yesterday?
Day In the Life – Weekend Edition
Happy Wednesday 🙂
I realized none of the DITL posts I’ve done have been about weekends, so decided to capture a Saturday this time.
We were supposed to have a friend come stay with us this weekend, but he sadly got strep throat and had to cancel, so we had zero plans all weekend.
Saturday morning I woke up at 6:15, followed shortly by the little buddy at 6:25. It looked beautiful outside, so I decided to take him for an early morning walk. Now that the summer heat is in full swing here, I’ve been trying to get out earlier in the day. I actually love hot weather, but don’t want to keep the little guy out for too long in the mid day heat.
It was a really beautiful quiet morning, with traces of pink still in the sky. We saw cardinals, mockingbirds, blue jays, and lots of mourning doves while we were out.
When we got home, I nursed him and then we played in his room for a while. I felt his gum to see if his first tooth had poked through, but not quite yet! It feels like it’s close; there is a definite little bump. Eventually, it was time for breakfast. He ate his favorite oatmeal, and I ate a grown up version.
He almost always eats breakfast in his weaning chair, but I scrubbed it thoroughly yesterday and want to add another coat of natural wood finish before he uses it again. I’m hoping another coat will seal it better and make it easier to clean.
I usually leave his pajamas on until after breakfast since oatmeal is messy and he would just have to change clothes again anyway.
It is still really nice out, so we have play time in the backyard after breakfast. He is fascinated by the grass and loves to crawl around in it.
He sees an ant and gets a huge grin as he tries to chase it down.
His Dad wakes up and comes out to join us – the fun continues!
After a while, James is getting tired and it is time to get ready for a nap. We read The Napping House in his new reading nook and he goes to sleep.
I didn’t sleep that well the night before and am feeling a little lethargic, but really want to go for a run while he naps. My injured foot was bothering me last week and I hadn’t run all week. So glad I went! I felt a little slow to start with, but ended up having a great run. I don’t have a working Garmin right now, so I’m not sure how far I went, but somewhere between 4-5 miles.
I listened to my Austin Marathon playlist from a few years ago. It’s a super random mix of my favorite songs from throughout my life. Highlights include John Michael Montgomery’s Cowboy Love from one of my first cds in 4th grade, our wedding song by Jackie Greene, and lots of Eminem. Each song reminds me of a different time in my life and I love it.
When I get home, I hear James right away – apparently he did not have a good nap (told you I would jinx it!) I take a quick shower and play time resumes.
James is in a pretty good mood despite his short nap and we all play with random stuff around the living room and kitchen. Really, mostly my husband plays with him while I sit and watch. I’m feeling tired and chugging both water and cold brew coffee.
James nurses again and a little while later I make him lunch.
He eats a pancake (I made a big batch last weekend and now have a bunch in the freezer), scrambled eggs with spinach and onion, and roasted sweet potatoes.
My husband starts up the grill while James is eating and James stared out the window in a trance – he loves watching his Dad!
After cleaning up lunch and a little more play time, it is time for nap #2. I work on this post while he sleeps and enjoy the delicious smells coming from the grill outside.
I failed to take a picture because we were trying to eat quickly before James woke up, but we ate delicious burgers and a salad I made with spinach, baby kale, strawberries, and honey goat cheese – so good. I’m not really into restaurant burgers, but love burgers straight off the grill!
The little guy woke up right before 1:00 and was ready for more play time! My husband played with him while I talked to my sister on the phone (mostly about our upcoming Disney World trip…SO excited). I heard periodic squeals and bursts of laughter from the other room and it made my heart so happy.
When I got off the phone it was time to nurse James again and then we were ready for some more outside time. It was a cloudy day and not so unbearably hot as it has been some days so we took full advantage. We headed to the backyard for some splashing in the kiddie pool, one of my favorite things lately.
We spent quite a while out there and then it was time for one more nap for James. He’s in the midst of the 3-2 nap transition and it just depends on the day, but since he hadn’t had any long naps today he needed a third one. He fell asleep almost immediately at 3:05 so apparently that splash time wore him out!
I raced out to do some top-secret fathers day errands and got home a little after he woke up.
I nursed him again and then we had a little more play time in the new playroom. The playroom is not finished, it’s just an empty room with a rug and a couch, but he already seems to love playing in there. As he wants to explore more and more, it’s nice to have another space that is set up for him.
Soon it’s time for me to make his dinner. He has part of one of the burgers my husband grilled, avocado toast, green beans, and watermelon. Dinner takes a LONG time today, which is unusual for him, but he seems really into eating his food, just slowly.
He particularly likes the avocado toast and, of course, the watermelon.
Because dinner took so long, we divide and conquer and I clean up dinner while my husband does bath time. James’s hair brush is one of his favorite things to play with at the moment.
Then it’s time to nurse James one more time, wrestle him into pjs, read him Goodnight Moon, and sing him Forever Young one more time for the day.
He is in bed at 6:15 and passes out almost immediately; I don’t hear a single sound after I leave the room.
Despite not taking good naps today, James was in the BEST mood all day, constantly laughing, and it was a really fun day.
After he’s in bed, we eat random leftovers for dinner and I drink wine and eat ice cream while we watch a new to us show (Red Oak – only okay so far). I then pass out myself, so tired and so happy.
What was your Saturday like?
Baby Led Weaning – High Chair versus Weaning Chair
As I mentioned here, after much discussion and general wishy-washiness, we ended up getting both a high chair and building a “weaning chair” (a weird name for a baby-sized chair). Now that we’ve been using both for about a month and a half, I wanted to share our experience for anyone else out there feeling indecisive on the matter.
Weaning Chair
My husband built this little chair for James and I love it so much. He usually eats breakfast and lunch in his little chair.
Some of my favorite things about the chair:
Independence: I love that James will be able to get in and out of his chair by himself when he’s a little older, since he’s not strapped in. I also love that he’ll be able to help set and wipe the table later since the table is at a height he can reach.
Balance: I’m sure this depends on the specific chair, but ours does not hold him in as tightly as the high chair. This was a challenge when he first started using it, but in a good way. James is not too interested in sitting, always wanting to be on the move, so sitting in his chair for meals was one of the only times he really practiced balancing while sitting. Will sit for food!
Food Waste: The way the chair is built with the tall sides, much of the food James drops winds up on the seat of his chair, rather than the floor, so that I can give it back to him. This results in much less food waste and a less messy floor.
The things I don’t like as much about the weaning chair:
Harder to Clean: I love that it’s made of wood, but it is a lot harder to get it fully clean than his plastic high chair, especially after something like oatmeal or avocado. I used a natural beeswax wood polish, but maybe I need to apply another coat?
High Chair
We have also been enjoying our Ikea high chair (only $20!). We use this mostly for James’s dinners. The things I like about the high chair:
Family Meals: As I’ve mentioned before, we aren’t really doing family dinners right now since James needs to eat early to protect his early bedtime. However, my husband often gets home while James is eating dinner and comes and sits with us at the dining table. I can easily sit on the floor at James’s little table, but it’s too small for two adults and a baby, so the high chair lets us all sit together for a meal.
Easier to Clean: The high chair is very easy to clean. It is a simple one with no fabric and not too many pieces, which makes it easy. If it’s been a particularly messy meal, it’s easy to carry it to the backyard and hose it off. I will say the food spreads out further on the floor though since he is dropping it from a greater height. I also like that I can keep James in there while I clean up to show him more of the process. He is not stable enough in his little chair for me to leave him there while I clean up after a meal.
All in all, while I definitely don’t think both are necessary, I love having both the weaning chair and high chair for James and think we’ll likely keep using both for years. As far as I can tell, James doesn’t seem to have a preference – he’ll eat anywhere as long as sweet potatoes are involved 🙂
Throwback Thursday – Childhood Memories
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.
Day in the Life – 5.5 Months
Good morning! I hope you’ve had a great week and are looking forward to something fun this weekend. I’m hoping to do a day in the life post once a month, so I can remember what life was like at each little stage. This was our day on Tuesday.
I woke up at 5:20. James was squirming, but not crying or anything. I fed him so that he would go back to sleep for a little longer. He stayed half asleep while he ate and then went back to bed.
While he slept, I ate breakfast, drank coffee, and then did a 30 minute Barre3 workout (<- referral link). One thing I like about Barre3 is that you can select a whole workout, or just choose 10 minute segments, so I don’t have to worry about him waking up and needing me in the middle of the workout. This time I did get to finish the whole thing though and it felt great! I don’t always feel like doing it, but I feel so much better when I get a workout in first thing in the morning.
James started squirming again at 6:59 – perfect timing. I feel like it works best when he wakes up around 7. When he wakes up earlier, he’s still super sleepy all morning and when he wakes up much later, he doesn’t take good naps. I give him some time to wake up while I unload and load the dishwasher.
I used to go in immediately when I heard him, but have started trying to give him at least ten minutes or so to wake up first. He almost always wakes up in a happy mood in the morning and rolls around and talks to himself. I hope having time in there alone helps him feel comfortable and safe in his room as he gets older. I am also a major introvert and feel like I’d be heavily annoyed if someone came in and started talking to me right when I opened my eyes every morning 🙂
As a side note, I wish the baby monitor took pictures / videos. Does anyone know if this is a thing? I feel like it should be, I’d buy it. He is too cute squirming around in there and chatting up a storm.
We have a new favorite morning tradition. After I greet him and we snuggle for a few minutes, we go sit outside on the back patio. This has been a different experience since daylight savings, but I figured he is never outside when it’s dark, so maybe it’s interesting? I love all of the morning sounds and there is something so nice about getting outside first thing. I know it puts me in a good mood anyway. Sometimes we sing songs out there and sometimes we just listen and enjoy the stillness.
Today it is just starting to get light and the moon is out. I think this may be the first time James has seen the moon, which makes me really appreciate all of the wonder of such a beautiful morning. It was a little chilly, so I put on his cozy fox hat – I can hardly even handle the cuteness. We sit out there until he starts to get antsy and then I change his diaper and get him dressed for the day.
We go in to say good morning to his Dad – always a highlight of the morning.
After snuggling and playing in our bed for a while, I feed James and then he plays in front of his mirror. He has been initiating wrestling matches with his blankets lately and it is highly amusing to watch. I sit next to him and read about the upcoming milestones to expect in a baby development book until he wants attention.
I hold him upright while he bounces – his absolute favorite activity of the moment! I feel like he has very little interest in practicing sitting up because he just wants to MOVE. Bouncing is much more his speed.
He is getting sleepy eyes so we sit in the glider while I read him “Polar Bear Polar Bear, What do you Hear?”. I then turn on the white noise, sing him a song (Forever Young – our goodnight song), and put him in his sleep sack for his nap at about 9:10.
While he naps, I work on my Baby Sign Language post and this post. I also clean the kitchen, dining area, and living room. Yikes, I need to work on cleaning the floors more often before he starts crawling!
James woke up a little after 11. I fed him and we set out on the day’s adventure! My husband was working from home today, so he joined us for lunch.
His favorite taco place (Taco Deli) is right next door to my favorite juice / smoothie place (Juiceland), so it works out perfectly. They also have outdoor seating, which gives the little guy a lot more to look at. We go here probably once a week.
When we got home, James had some play time before his afternoon nap.
He goes back and forth between two and three naps these days. When he takes a long morning nap, he often only takes one afternoon nap. This is especially true on days like today where he is in the car / on our laps for a lot of his awake time and hasn’t gotten to roll around get his energy out.
He napped from about 2:30-3:30 and then we sat in the backyard again for a little while. It was seriously beautiful out today. He played a little more while I folded laundry.
I fed him and when my husband was done with work, we went for a long family walk.
Today was the first time we put him in the stroller without his car seat / converter. He’s been really squirmy in his car seat lately so I looked up when he could go in the stroller without it…8 weeks. Whoops. #newmomfail. He seemed much happier in the stroller this way so I’m excited to hopefully be able to take some longer walks!
After our walk, James played some more and then we took his 24 week pictures…hard to believe!
Then is was bath time…one of his and my favorite times of the day. After plenty of bath time fun, I fed him, gave him a massage and we all read Goodnight Moon together before putting him to bed. I seriously love this stage. It was a great Tuesday.
James at Five Months
The last month has flown by! Time in general seems to have acquired entirely new properties since our little guy was born, but this month in particular was FAST. I wanted to document this very sweet time in our lives and share what’s new.
I have to say, this is my very favorite stage of development so far (yes, I think this at almost every stage…). James is so engaged and interactive, but is not really mobile yet, which I know will bring new challenges. He is such a happy little guy and is changing all of the time.
Gross Motor
James is determined. He started rolling from tummy to back at three months and back to tummy at four months, but he really mastered rolling this month. He also started desperately trying to crawl, but so far this mostly results in scooting backward or slowly rotating in a circle.
Funny story – half way through the month, he seemed to forget how to roll over! I think once he mastered it, he didn’t care as much about practicing anymore and was likely focused on learning something new. After constant rolling back and forth, he started trying to roll over, than flopping back down and giving up. Has this happened to anyone else?
Once I realized this, I started putting toys / interesting objects diagonally above him so he could see them, but would need to roll onto his tummy to get a better look / grab them. Within a day and a half or so of doing this, he was back to rolling regularly. (I jokingly referred to this as rolling boot camp.) Not being able to roll over was seriously impacting his naps, so I was happy when he was at it again!
James has also been practicing sitting and baring weight on his legs. He can sometimes sit for a couple of minutes, with his hands on the floor for balance. This seems to surprise him more than anything.
He also loves being held upright to practice standing. He often collapses after a few seconds, but the last week or so he has started bouncing while doing this with a HUGE grin on his face.
Fine Motor
Last month was all about clasping his hands together and this month has been all about reaching for objects and bringing them to his mouth. I so clearly remember when he couldn’t get his hand to his mouth at all as a newborn (and so desperately wanted to), and it is amazing to see him now, using his hands so deftly.
Sleep
James has made great strides with sleep this month and I must say, it’s made a huge difference in our family’s happiness!
He is not yet sleeping through the night regularly (he usually wakes up once in the middle of the night and once in the early morning), but I honestly don’t really care about that. He goes back to sleep quickly and on his own after I feed him, so it’s just a 15-20 minute process.
The change this month, however, has been falling asleep independently. This is something we’ve really been working on since he was three months or so, but saw significant progress in this month. He’s been able to fall asleep on his own after night wakings for months, but just recently started doing so for most naps and at bedtime. He used to cry and cry and need significant comforting, but I now just sing him one song and put him in his bed and he usually falls asleep. I sometimes have to go back in to sing him another song and he sometimes needs more help with his late afternoon nap, but the days of lying next to him and rubbing his back or tummy while he cried seem to be mostly over (at least for now!)
He did have a strange 5-6 day string of very difficult bedtimes a couple of weeks ago. I honestly have no idea why. He started crying SO hard when we put him to bed; it was terrible. After a few days though, he went back to normal and seems perfectly happy at bedtime most days.
Awareness
One of the biggest changes I’ve seen in James this month is his awareness. He seems to be recognizing patterns and anticipating what will happen next. For example, he gets super excited when I put him in his stroller to go for a walk. He also gets a huge grin on his face when we start getting ready for bath time – one of his all-time favorite activities. I actually wonder if this greater awareness is what caused his temporary bedtime rebellion – he would start crying as soon as the bedtime routine started. Regardless, it is so fun to see this mental leap.
I honestly can’t believe that our little buddy is almost half a year old! Six months seems like such a milestone to me and I just wish time would slow down. I can only imagine what the next month will bring, but I’m trying not to look ahead too much, to focus on savoring these sweet days one at a time as they come.
Do you have children? If so, what is something new they’re doing this month?