Time is Flying.
I feel like I say that every other blog post but here we are: it’s April, Easter has come and gone, and my baby is 6 months. What?! I’ve reached a point in my life where I actually very much want time to slow down. I thought Charlie turned a corner in terms of looking more like a little boy than baby at around 3 months, but he was just a peanut! Now he is filling out and filling our hearts with so much joy. This stage is the best! Silly, happy, and not on the move yet… so much fun.
I finally feel confident in my role as a mom. You may remember that 3 months was really hard for us. Charlie had a major sleep regression and I felt totally out of my element. I had no idea what I was doing and was stressed all the time. I suffered a bit of postpartum anxiety and had many doubts about my job as parent. Could I ever get this kiddo on a schedule? Will sleep training even work? Does the Merlin sleep suit actually make a difference? Should I stop watching TV while I feed him? Is that too much screen time? Is this constant spitting up normal? The list goes on. I felt under water.
If any of you are new mamas that are feeling under water, I promise you, it gets better. The fog will lift! Your exhaustion will subside and you will find your rhythm with your baby.
When Charlie was a little over 4 months, we established a schedule. I thrive on routine and was so excited that I could count on at least three 45 minute naps (and maybe even get one in myself). It wasn’t perfect every day but it was a start. I generally fed him every 3 hours and followed the wake, eat, play routine. Over the course of 2 weeks, his bedtime moved from 9pm to 7pm in a natural progression. He just became tired quickly and we realized just because we put him down earlier didn’t mean he would get up earlier… it was magical. Eric and I finally had a few hours to ourselves before bed.
Here are our big updates with C:
Sleeping:
We just transitioned Charlie out of his Merlin suit into pajamas in a sleep sack… Why? Purely because I didn’t want him to become dependent on the magical suit that keeps him comfortably weighed down at night. It’s really meant for transitioning. But Charlie loves that thing. Seriously, I can’t say enough good things about the Merlin! If you’re looking for what to transition your baby into after the swaddle, I highly recommend :) Also, I just purchased the Dohm sound machine (runs all night ) after a few recommendations and it’s awesome. Our others worked well but ran on batteries. I wanted to be able to plug it into the wall and not worry about it turning off. It’s been great! We still give Charlie a bath every night and a rub down in lotion before reading him a book. I’m such a morning person but bedtime has been really special. Charlie sleeps from 7 to 7.
Feeding:
Charlie is now exclusively eating formula over breastmilk with the exception of my remaining frozen supply. I stopped nursing completely a few weeks ago and I feel totally free. I know everyone has their own opinions on nursing but it was time for us to move on. The main reason is family planning. I needed my body back before I could even think about doing this all over again. Happy mama = happy baby. I will say this: NO ONE tells you about weaning! It was so hard for me. I did it over the course of 3 weeks and experienced nausea, dizziness, and a great hormonal change. Some moms experience symptoms of depression/sadness: a chapter has ended. But I just felt physically ill, like I was pregnant all over again. I dropped a feeding every 3-4 days and I hear that’s pretty normal. But it took a toll on my body! I hope it goes well for you!
We introduced solids beginning at 4 months and it’s been SO FUN! I also think it helps with Charlie’s sleep! We’ve tried all sorts of foods: avocado, mango, green beans, squash, apples, bananas, pumpkin, and so on… I can tell you that he enjoys his fruits more than his veggies, ha! This week we will be introducing nut butters and I’m praying we don’t have any issues.
Play time:
I love my little inquisitive, talkative, happy boy. He absolutely loves his Jumparoo and activity mat. He loves to grab toys, turn things over in his hands, kick his legs, and squeak and squawk while doing it. It’s the best. I think why I want to slow down time so much is because this stage has been my absolute favorite. Charlie now grabs my face to look at me. He giggles like crazy when he sees his doggies. And he just loves taking in his surroundings. The other day we sat and looked out the window and watched the rain. You forget that all these things are brand new to a baby. It was nice to refresh and see the world through his eyes.
These days we no longer follow a strict schedule. I’m actually pretty relieved by it. We do lots of activities together and I didn’t want to be tied to the house because Charlie had to nap at an exact time. If his morning nap is only 30 minutes, then his next one is usually a lot longer. I used to get so stressed out about how I would go to mom’s group or get to my fitness class if it fell during Charlie’s nap time, but he has been just rolling with it and it’s been great. As long as he naps about 3-4 hours a day and eats 30oz of food, I feel good. He always sleeps at night!
I finally got around to making Charlie’s baby book. It will be the first 6 months of his life and we were not short on pictures at all. Just going through it brought back so many memories! The days are long, the years are short. Never has that been more true.
-XO-
