7 Months

It's hard to believe Declan will be 8 months on Thursday.  That also means it's time for my always-late monthly post.  So let's just pretend Declan is still 7 months for a moment....

What a cutie right?  He started sitting for a little on his own if you can get his legs situations just right.  He's really not a big fan of tummy time so we're starting to think he may just pass on the whole crawling thing.  He's eating 3 meals a day pretty regularly.  He chows down on kale, spinach and sweet potatoes but could do without the broccoli.  We originally started out with baby-led weaning but there was just too much anxiety on my part.  He only ever really gagged but I found myself literally holding my breath the whole time he was experimenting with the food.

He also loves reading by the fire during the snow storms this year.  He's a talkative little guys and makes all types of noises.  Mike and I are already battling it out to steer him towards "mama" and "dada" respectively.  But we're pretty sure Garrett and the dogs rank among his favorite things so I have no doubt they might beat us in the "first words" department as well.  

6 Months

Looking back at my posts since Declan was born it appears I have not been that great about that whole "document all the moments" thing.  Once every two months?  That seems to be my speed.

So here we are 6 months with this beautiful little boy who, as every person under the sun likes to let me know, is the spitting image of his dad.  Less than an hour after a natural delivery that saw no more than 7 minutes between water breaking and baby screaming, nurses and everyone who visited felt the need to share how much this precious new baby, THAT I GREW, looked like Mike.  But I'm getting off topic here....

The last 6 months have been an amazing ride and as much as I love snuggling with a newborn, these last few weeks are my favorite so far.  He's really interacting with us and is interested in what everyone is doing around him.  He loves interacting with the other kids at daycare and gets a great big smile when he sees Mike and I the first time after work.  He's a bit stingy with his laughs but Garrett seems to drawl them out the easiest by acting like a nutcase; jumping around and making crazy sounds.

His sleep has been, well, nothing to complain about or write home about.  Around 9-10 weeks he was sleeping most nights from 8 until 1 or 2 in the morning, sometimes even longer.  Then we hit the 4 month sleep regression.  I don't remember it with Garrett but the struggle is real people.  So for about a month we were back to feeding every 3 hours and it was brutal in every sense of the word.  Then we were getting that long stretch again for a while before these pesky teeth made their presence known.  So we're playing the waiting game and just hoping they rupture soon so we can start working with Declan to get him sleeping through the night.

4 Months; 20 weeks old; when can I stop counting weeks?

We were about a week late on Declan's official 4 month picture which seems to be about par for the course for me.  I'm not sure how other moms manage to remember to take a picture each month on the same day, I can barely remember to put underwear on.  I have a reminder set on my phone for the 12th of every month but even still I manage to get distracted with something and another week flies by.  I've been trying to document weekly pictures as well, an idea I stole from a woman I follow on instagram.  What a great way to see all the subtle changes over this first year.  That is of course, if you can remember to take the pictures.  I'm currently at like 10 pictures for the first 18 weeks and I'm considering it a win.  You will not see my name on the ballot for mother of the year/pinterest guru and I'm okay with that.

Another thing I'm learning to be okay with?  A messy house.  Some weeks it probably even qualifies as dirty.   Clutter drives my anxiety sky high and I had a really rough week a little while back which left me feeling completely overwhelmed.  But I'm trying to make peace with it.  Every time I see a pile of stuff sitting around or dust bunnies hanging out (they aren't hiding, that's for sure), I remind myself that I'd rather be playing with Declan or Garrett than cleaning.  So we're getting by doing the bare minimum and catching up on weekends when naps and schedules allow.  There's a saying I see all over the place that says something along the lines of my house is a mess but my kids are happy and that's the sentiment I'm running with for now.

4 months is bringing lots of fun stuff: grasping for toys, more babbling, lots of smiles and an overall alertness that has been fun to watch.  It's also brought a string of colds and our first trip to the emergency room.  Last week Declan woke up around 10:30 having some really nasty coughs which eventually lead to being so congested his breathing was pretty labored.  So we rushed to the emergency room to get him checked out.  Now of course, his breathing had returned to normal and he was laughing and smiling for the nurses but I think Mike and I were both just glad to have the scary breathing issues behind us.  He spent a few nights sleeping in his car seat to help with the drainage and we're hoping to be on the way over this particular cold.  He has really been a trooper about it all with lots of smiles between the coughing and plenty of cuddles.

Back to Work

This is a big week in our house as I headed back to work.  Declan's childcare schedule is a little wacky; Monday with my dad and stepmom, Tuesday-Thursday at a home daycare and Friday with Mike's parents.  I really think the set up is a good fit for our family and will eventually work really well for everyone but the thought of getting 3 different routines figured out is a little daunting.  It's another one of those situations where I feel like a first time parent all over again.  I also never had pumping and cloth diapers to worry about when I went back to work after Garrett was born.

We did a trial run at my parents last week and I went into work for a few hours.  Getting out of the house took a bit longer than I expected even after I packed my bag, Declan's bag and lunches for the big boys the night before.  I'm a little anxious about being able to pump enough milk for Declan during the day in a reasonable amount of time but everything I'm reading says the key to that is to relax so now I just need to figure out a way not to worry about it....

Tuesday morning was tough dropping him off with someone who wasn't family.  I cried the short drive over to our daycare provider, cried walking to her door and then pulled it together to walk inside.  She quickly asked how I was doing which of course caused me to lose all sense of composure.  But amazing daycare lady is well, amazing.  She is so loving and nurturing that I instantly felt better about dropping him off.  We have known each other for a few years because her girls go to school with Garrett and we volunteered together for the Spring Fair a few years ago. I drop off relatively early so she is still getting her girls breakfast and getting them out to the bus and it really just felt like Declan was part of their lovely little morning which for some reason made me feel really good.  When I pick up in the afternoon she is outside with all of the kids which I just love, love, love.  And I steal him back and love on him for the rest of the evening.  We are surviving and I know it will get easier with time.

Cheering on the O's

Declan is finally (we think) over his case of thrush which moved south for a yeast rash.  Yeast is a real PITA when it comes to cloth diapers but more on the cloth diaper situation (read: addiction) at another time.  Garrett got a great interim report yesterday will mostly all A's and a few B's.  He is starting running club this afternoon which I'm excited that he wanted to try.  We're also having a lot of fun watching baseball in October!

Two Months (11 days late)

I'm pretty sure that it's an unwritten rule that mothers of small children are always late.  I use to really pride myself on my punctuality but that has gone right out the window these last few months since it takes me approximately 8,342 hours to get myself and Declan ready to go.  Add Garrett and Mike to the mix and I mind as well just stay home!  So this is my "two month" post a bit late.  I've thrown in the towel on the one month post.

It's hard to believe Declan is two months already (10 weeks to be exact).  He is really started to show his personality.  He is still a bit stingy with his smiles but you can always count on some big gummy grins right after he eats.  We had a baby shower for his soon to be cousin on Sunday and Declan was flashing smiles at the whole family. He has also started babbling a lot in the evenings and I managed to get a little video of him talking back to use one day last week. 

He LOVES pat-a-cake and when I pretend to eat his toes. He was a trooper for his shots, only letting out one big scream befire deciding he was okay.  He is eating about 7 times in a 24 hour period, giving us one good stretch at night between feedings, usually somewhere between 4 and 6 hours. Last week he went 6 hours 45 minutes and I seriously felt like a new person. He naps pretty well during the day but I have to watch for signs he is tired because he can be fussy if he gets overly tired. We are following the eat, wake, sleep pattern which gives us both some consistency without having a rigid schedule. In general, he's a pretty happy baby and we love him to pieces.

It's hard to believe that I am headed back to work in a little under two weeks.  The idea is still a bit terrifying but I'm sure after a few weeks it will just be the new norm.  I will be leaving earlier in the mornings and leaving Mike to get Garrett off to the school bus which I am a little nervous about since the two of them do not seem to see eye to eye in the morning.  Part of me things this will be a good exercise for them, learning to sort out their differences without me around to jump in.  I'm also concerned with what our evenings will look like with me back to work.  I've always spent a decent amount of time when I get home from work preparing and cooking dinner while Garrett works on his homework.  So I'm working on some ideas for shortening the amount of time I spend prepping and cooking in the evenings.  First on the list is to pick simpler recipes and save the fun stuff for weekends.  I'm also going to dedicate some time on Sundays to cutting and prepping as much as I can for dinner and lunches during the week.

Summer Swap

When Amanda decided to host another craft swap in July, I knew I should hold off for the next one.  I was 9 months pregnant and starting to get really tired of the whole being pregnant situation.  But I rationalized that I would be on maternity leave and have plenty of time for crafting.  Did I mention it had been 9 years since I had a newborn?  Clearly my memory had gone a little foggy on me and I wasn't factoring in how much busier my life is now than when I had Garrett.  So I signed up.

By the time the end of July was rolling around, I hadn't lifted a finger towards a project other than to pick up some yarn for a project I hadn't even decided on yet.  Mike was home so we were spending time together with the baby and I was napping whenever possible.  Then we went to the beach the first week in August and I came home to realize the deadline was Monday!  

I had been wanting to make a holder for all of the grocery store plastic bags we accumulate.  Even though we use reusable bags we still manage to end up with quite a collection and I think most people run into that problem.  So I whipped one up for my swap recipient Amanda.  I felt like a slacker by sending her the yarn I picked out rather than an actual craft but I figured since she is a knitter, she could put it to good use.  My package including a bag organizer, the yarn and some edible treats.

My package came from Marianna and included lots of goodies.  She sent some granola, vanilla sugar and some awesome energy bars.  She also sent along some note cards, a pair of booties for Declan and a neat little soccer notebook that Garrett promptly took upstairs to his desk which he's decided he will use for homework this year.  The energy bars were really a great treat.  Sometimes energy/granola bars can be too sweet but these had a really nice balance.  I even caught Mike sneaking a few on his way out the door for work in the morning because at that point I was still sleeping in whenever possible.

I really enjoyed participating again this time and hopefully I can devote a little more time if Amanda decides to host again!

Growing

I keep trying to make time to post since there is a lot going on these days that I'd like to document but the fact is that there is a lot pulling me away from the computer right now.

The time is flying by, like I knew it would.  Mike has been back to work since we got back from the beach (more about that next week) and Garrett is back in school.  The fact that my maternity leave will be up in 4 short weeks is lingering over my head like a black cloud.  I keep trying not to think about it but the idea of dropping Declan off to go back to work gives me a giant knot in my stomach. I enjoy my job.  I'm good at it and I get a lot of satisfaction from being good at what I do.  It also provides a healthy dose of stress that keeps my Type A personality at bay.  But I know the first few weeks away from my little guy are going to be incredibly hard and stressful and I'm not looking forward to it in the least.  So for now I will try not to think about it and concentrate on making the most of the one month and one day that I have left.

I still can't really wrap by head around the fact that he is 8 weeks tomorrow.  The benefit of Garrett and Declan being so far apart is that I've seen first hand how quickly time flies by. It feels like yesterday and a lifetime ago that Garrett was a tiny baby and I'm trying to really savor each stage with Declan rather than gearing up for what comes next.

He is starting to smile back at us.  He's stingy with his smiles at this point but I think that makes them that much more special when he decides to bestow one on you.  Just this past week he started sleeping for longer stretches at night.  He usually eats sometime between 7 and 9 and has slept through to 1:30.  I really can't complain about the amount of sleep I'm getting at this point.  When he lays back down after the feeding he is doing a lot of grunting and sometimes even spitting up.  We think he has a mild case of reflux but since it doesn't seem to be really causing him pain, we'd prefer to ride it out and not give him medication at this point.  It's not an issue during the day because he is upright after his daytime feedings.  He's been a busy baby the past 8 weeks and we have a trip to Hershey Park planned for tomorrow, weather permitting.