12(ish) Months Later

We are getting things packed up slowly but surely. I don't really care how quickly we have to be out, I refuse to throw things into boxes at random. We are still doing a "trash, giveaway, sell, store, keep with us" sort as we pack and it feels good. Moving is always a chance to purge and de-clutter. Our last day for moving is Sunday so we plan to have everything but the bed and our necessities out by Saturday night. We have a lot to do still but are well on our way! It doesn't help very much that Ayden likes to unpack as we pack but we have had some help with keeping him occupied from friends and family in the evenings. Moving with a toddler is very interesting to say the least.

Tooth number 8 popped through overnight and once I noticed it everything made sense. Ayden has been going through a biting stage while nursing over the past few weeks and then last night he wanted to nurse and nurse all night long. He usually nurses for a bit and then rolls away for a few hours. Last night he was wanting to pacify all night long. Nights like that make my hips hurt and obviously keep me from sleeping comfortably for most of the night. From what I have gathered after talking with some other co-sleeping mamas, I have gotten pretty lucky in the sleep department (never thought I'd hear myself say that!). It seems as though many co-sleeping babies spend every night the way Ayden spent last night but for us, on a normal night, I am able to sleep in whatever position I want for a majority of the night. Well tonight is a new night and now that the tooth has made it's appearance we are hoping that the biting and pacifying will subside.

Last night David and I were talking about how we were feeling emotionally now that we are 12+ months postpartum. For the longest time, we'd see another couple with a newborn and our first thought would be, "Better them than us!" Ayden was an exhausting newborn and those scars ran deep for a long time. Now, a year later, seeing a newborn or hearing about a new pregnancy still does not make us ache for it to be us but it does make is feel nostalgic and happy that we will someday do it all again. We are still very much enjoying Ayden being our only baby and are still very much on board with spacing or kids out.

During the same conversation we talked about some of the lessons that we learned and what we would do the same or differently next time around. Birth order is so interesting to me because a first born gets all of the excitement and attention of being the first (and only for a while) but in the same light they are total guinea pigs. I will love experiencing pregnancy again, love having a tiny, squeaky newborn again and I will love having a do over of sorts where I get to put the lessons that Ayden has taught me into practice. My parents caution me with how many pictures and videos that I take, saying that there's very little chance that I will have the time or energy to do any of it for subsequent children. I just figure if it is something that you really want, you make it happen. If I don't do the same thing I will probably do something of the equivalent in a different way. By the time we do have another baby we will be living a completely different life and will most likely be pretty different people too. Who knows what the future holds and that is what makes it all so fun and exciting!

What big lessons did your first child help you learn? How did you do things differently the next go around?

~Sarah