Don't forget about your spouse

The past few nights I have been granted with a full night sleep and it's been amazing! My little pumpkin has gone back to her normal sleep pattern of 9-12 hours of sleep. I can count the nights since she's been born that I have actually gotten more than 6 hours of sleep in a row. Part of that is my fault for not wanting to go to bed earlier. But I need quality time with my husband and the few hours after she goes to bed does the trick for us. We're able to relax, unwind and catch up on the days events. I have read recently that a lot of parents don't take advantage of adult time after a child is born. They will wrap themselves in work and their kids and gradually grow apart. Before they know it, the only thing they have in common is their kids.

My husband and I from the beginning of our marriage have vowed to keep each other first. We will have time each day to spend with our children, but also make time for each other. So far the best time to do that is the last few hours of the day. Sometimes we chat, sometimes we watch a movie snuggled on the couch with a glass of wine. But we ALWAYS make sure that time is about us.

And now that our Pumpkin has a bedtime routine down pat, we will incorporate a date night at least once a month. We'll have a babysitter come while we take time to ourselves to go out on a date. It will be something to look forward to every month and a perfect opportunity to keep the romance alive! This will be a special treat and a perfect time to enjoy each others company. We plan on living a long life together and appreciate each other always. Making time for each other each day seems to be the best way to make that a reality.

Is it time for Solid Foods?

My pumpkin seemed to be a little hungrier than normal recently. After consulting with the Pediatrician, I thought maybe it was time for solid foods. So I set up the highchair, got the camera, put a bib on her and made the rice cereal as recommended. It was extremely watery for the first meal, but I used the spoon to have her get used to it. She was confused by the spoon, but she was seemingly open to trying it. After a slight mess and ample effort she probably ate a total of 2 bites. I continue to make the cereal as a part of our morning routine for my Pumpkin to eat. Of course, some (or most) of it ends up on her chin, cheeks, hands and toes. It takes patience and time, but she does eat a little rice cereal each morning. I follow each feeding with breastfeeding so I can ensure she does get the nutrients needed for the day.

Most of the articles I have read suggest that there is no correlation between eating rice cereal/solid foods and sleeping better. Coincidentally she has started to develop her morning nap around the time she started to eat the rice cereal in the morning. It has helped me because instead of 45 minutes, I have 1.5-2.5 hours to get my morning chores done and get ready for the day. I am NOT saying this is true for babies in general, just in my case!

Thank you for my family

Sometimes certain news stories or people come into your life that make me think about myself and my family. Sometimes it is people who are just unfortunate and sometimes it's people who don't make decent decisions that make me reflect. Last night I went to bed thinking about how lucky I am. And how thankful I am to have a loving family.

My husband is amazing and everyday he strives to be the best father possible. I'm certain that he is one of the best Dad's that I have seen. He loves playing with our daughter and will be a few minutes late to work just to hang out for an extra 5 minutes with her. My husband and I were "night owls" until she was born. Now when we hear her coos in the monitor at 7am, we're both up and greeted by our baby with that cute gummy smile. It puts us instantly in a good mood! In the evenings when he gets home from work he gets to witness. the "witching hour" You know, the time of day when she has on her "crankypants", just before bedtime. But he doesn't mind. He just plays with her, reads to her and helps me bathe her and get her ready for bed. After her bedtime we can have adult time to discuss the day and relax.

My baby girl is also amazing. She is so well behaved, happy and curious. I am thankful that she enjoys to sleep. She will typically go down without a fight and will sleep through the night (most of the time). She is typically in good spirits and loves to play with me. She enjoys playing with new toys, snuggling with me when she gets tired and recently she loves to watch our cats! She will smile and coo at Buddy the cat. Buddy seems to have grown fond of her, and he even lets her pet him! (Huge step for buddy, since he was the baby before our Pumpkin's arrival). Her little grin, giggles, wonderment and coos keep me amazed each day.

Snuggle baby

I would have to think that most Moms love nap time. It's the perfect time to take "you" time during the day and to catch up on any nagging chore. I always try to exercise, take a shower, and complete chores around the house during nap time. But yesterday I was slowed down from my typical mindset of having 45 minutes to get everything possible accomplished.

My little Pumpkin decided she didn't want to nap much during the morning. I think she napped 20 minutes, maybe 30. But around 1:00 she ate a tiny bit and then fell asleep on my lap. I thought about getting up to place her in her crib, but she seemed so happy and peaceful. She snuggled up and slept for a record 2 hour nap. I just loved it. I loved watching her little eyes move around in REM. I loved watching her little twitchy smile that she does while sleeping. And I loved the rhymthic breathing and her warm little body snuggled against me.

When she woke up, I was thankful that I kept her on my lap during nap time instead of placing her in the crib like I normally do. I know she won't be able to sleep snuggled up on my lap forever and it was a special moment of relaxation for both of us.

For my new trick

My little pumpkin has been rolling over for about a month now pretty inconsistently. Every time she rolls I tell her good job and give her the attention she deserves for putting forth such a great effort. Suddenly on Monday she has decided to start rolling from her back to her stomach every time she is on her back. It was so cool to watch her on her play mat and see her roll over and watch her be happy with her accomplishment. She will roll to her tummy and start playing with the crinkle flower on the mat or other toys I put around. She loves it and I love watching her!

This morning I was totally freaked out as I walked into her room and she was laying on her stomach, face turned to the side and sound asleep. I panicked, but she was just fine. Then I realized I came from a generation of babies that slept on their stomachs and I survived, as did most of us. But the little voice in my head has to remind me of the SIDS stats that claim SIDS dropped 50% after babies started to sleep on their backs. I did speak to my Peditrician who said my baby is at a stage where she is strong enough to move her head to the side and is less of a risk for SIDS. That made me feel better. I guess the next step is to somehow remind her that she can roll from her stomach to her back.

It's amazing to see her grow and develop new skills. But I'm realizing as she grows and learns new things through out her life I'm going to be worried about new dangers that can occur! I guess as a mom I have to realize that I need to do all I can to protect my baby, but try to not be too over protective. This will be quite a challenge since I seem to be a worrier.