Let The Rough Housing Begin

Ready for the day!

 We were late for story time today! We had a *better* night last night (woke for feedings around 2:30 and 5 and also had a bad dream or something around 11:30 because he was crying but was back to sleep by the time I made it in) and were awake for the day at 7:30. The reason we were late for story time was because Ayden napped for almost and hour for his morning nap! The 30 minute long story time is often a bit too long for Ayden anyway so it was no big deal. Since we've been wanting him to start napping a little longer, I wasn't about to wake him when he was actually getting a good nap in.  When I went in to get him he was just sitting up and looking around his room.  He gave me a big grin when he saw me so I knew he must have needed that extra sleep.

Picture for Daddy after story time :)

When we got home in I had an hour before I had to go teach dance so I worked on my usual ongoing tasks: kitchen clean up and laundry. David texted me to ask me what my plans were and when I responded, "oh the usual... dishes and laundry" he replied with a sad face. I reminded him that one of the things I've learned from Fly Lady is that you need to stop seeing house work in a negative light and start looking at is as "ways that you bless your home and family." They need to get done and it's my job to do them. I am living my dream job and I knew going into it that housework would be a large part of my job description. I recognize and feel the monotony of it once in a while, hence my response to David's text, but I'm not going to let myself get into a negative mindset about it!  I got both tasks done and felt great leaving the house knowing those tasks would already be done when I got home.

Ayden had fun crawling around the studio and all of my students were amazed at how much he's changed since they last saw him.

Ayden has already mastered crawling.  He doesn't do it often but when he does he's a little speed demon.  He seems to stay close by so that makes me think that either he hasn't built up the courage to go exploring on his own or hasn't yet realized that possibility...  Whatever the reason, he can take his time because though he's "on the move" it hasn't changed much about our days quite yet.  Here is a clip of our little speed demon this morning:

Though he doesn't go far, we have seen a big jump in his curiosity.  He's become a busy little bee exploring his world.  It is neat how some developments that go hand in hand happen simultaneously.  His curiosity peaked a little more right when he was able to get to things and get his hands (and mouth) on them. 

Baby Led weaning is also still going wonderfully!  Today, when I ate lunch in a hurry before heading to dance, I was just going to leave him on the floor to play while I scarfed down my lunch.  He saw me eating and was having none of that.  He crawled over to me and was whining/crying which leads me to believe that he knows exactly what mealtime is now and that he's supposed to be a part of it.  I was telling David that we need to ease ourselves into making sure we make time for him to eat with us (since it takes a while and makes a HUGE mess) during these first couple of "exploration" months.  That way when he's actually beginning to depend on outside food sources for nutrients (around 9 months or so), we'll already be accustomed to allotting enough time for him to join us for every meal.  

After dinner tonight, we took a family walk and then David took Ayden up to his room to play while I enjoyed some alone time (even if it was while I cleaned the kitchen again...).  When I made it upstairs they were playing and having a grand old time. 

Let the rough housing begin!

Just the beginning of a wonderful father son relationship. <3 br="br">

I shall end this post with this wonderful quote that I found on Pinterest:

source

Oh man.  The part that gets me is where it says "think of the warm sweetness of their tiny bodies when they were just new."  I definitely have those moments tucked away to cherish forever and always.  Ayden still gets me that same way every time he lays his little head on my shoulder or nuzzles his face into my neck.  I truly do love motherhood.

~Sarah