Moving Mountains

Snoozing on me while we watched an episode of Vampire Diaries last night.
That's him doing the same things as a newborn on the left.
(Holding our baby while he sleeps NEVER gets old!)

Before you have children of your own you have all kinds of grand thoughts and ideas about how you will do things differently than a lot of the parents you know. Whether you think you'll have more energy or patience, a stronger will to follow through with your pre-baby plans or a better idea of how to raise a child you go into parenthood feeling like you've got it in the bag. It can't be that hard, right? And then it happens to you. You become a parent and as time passes and you find yourself looking back on the pre-baby you and thinking of yourself as almost foolish. As you reflect on how you've either changed your mind or just not followed through on all of those ideas of grander you realize that none of it is because you didn't have enough energy or a strong enough will to fight the "fight." It is because all of those issues and situations that you saw as such a big deal immediately become trivial matters as soon as your tiny baby is in your arms. Your idea of having your baby "sleep in his own room by 6 months" or "just letting him cry" gets pushed aside and lost in the shuffle as your innate need to move mountains to make his crying stop take over. Once you become a parent you are initiated into a club that experiences the kind of love that has so much power that it is completely and utterly immeasurable and indescribable. The little trivial ideas that you thought were important just aren't anymore and as you fall deeper in love everyday you make decisions fueled by that love rather than what you ever thought you were "supposed" to do.

Who wouldn't want to move mountains for this guy??

Obviously I am talking about us here but please feel free to insert your own ideas and situations to fill in the blanks. We are all guilty of this in some way or another and it is just something you have to experience in order to understand, a right of passage if you will. Parents can talk to non-parents until they are blue in the face but there is just no way to help someone understand the power that the love we have for our children has over us. I was told time and time again, "it's different when it's your own" and I am here to admit they were right.

How A kept himself busy while I put his laundry away.
Just flipping page after page in book after book chattering away.
Cuteness.

~Sarah

Sweet Baby Girl

We got to meet Ayden's little lady friend today and she was just precious! She weighed in a 5lb 5oz when she was born and was the tiniest most petite baby I've ever seen, let alone held.

Ayden noticed her and was pretty perplexed by the whole thing. He fake fussed while I held her and I suppose we could call it his first bought of jealousy though it was pretty half-hearted. When she made her sweet little newborn squeaks he looked at her with a furrowed brow, trying to figure it all out. Give it a year and they will be good buddies we just know it.

We had a house showing earlier in the day and luckily the house wasn't in too bad of shape since we've adopted the "put every room back to ready" before we leave it mentality. It seems so obvious, why did we never do it before? It seriously takes 2 minutes tops each time and it really has been the missing piece of the house maintenance puzzle. If it weren't for all of Mav's fur and Ayden's ability to get things out just as quickly as I can clean them up I think our house might always stay tidy.

We went to the park where Ayden learned to go down the slide by himself!

He had the whole place to himself :)

and to let out our furry friend during the showing. When we got back home we had dinner and then headed out to visit our friends at the hospital.

That was our day in a nutshell. Meeting Baby Girl put Ayden in a whole new perspective for us. He really is a big boy now! Having our babies side by side really showed how much they change so much in a year. The first year is so special and filled with so many milestones, we can't wait to watch Baby Girl grow and change during hers! We are just so happy for our friends :).

~Sarah

Trains, Books and Belly Laughs

If it were this time last year, today would have been my due date and guess what happened?!? Our great friends brought their sweet baby girl into the world :). We haven't heard any details yet but got to see a picture and she is just precious. We can't wait to meet her! It's funny that she was born on today of all days. Because "January 17th" was the only thing we had to wrap our heads around as to when our lives would change forever, even though it didn't end up being his actual birthday, it is still a day that has gotten us all nostalgic. I thought I remembered writing a post on my due date but I actually wrote one the day before and the day after.

Because Baby Girl made her debut today, Ayden and I were out and about much earlier than normal because we needed to let their dog out before 9 am. It actually worked out perfectly! I had taken some chicken and apple with us to dance last night and Ayden ate every bite of it right before we left. He fell asleep on the way home (around 7:00 or so) and since he had already eaten we didn't worry about waking him for dinner like we usually do. We let him sleep in his carseat while we had a dinner date and when Ayden woke I changed him for bed and he went right back down. I figured since he technically went to bed at 7, that he'd be up around 7 and I was right! We were up and at 'em at 7:30 and that was the perfect amount of time to get ready, get Ayden ready, take care of our pets, round up our reusable grocery bags and get out the door.

We let out their dog and played with him for a while, went to the grocery and were still 30 minutes early for story time! After story time we came home for lunch and morning nap (which Ayden took in his carseat because despite my efforts, he fell asleep just as we pulled into the neighborhood). I also packed up a few packages that we went to mail later in the afternoon. Since we got such an early start, it ended up being a 2 nap day and Ayden was in such an awesome mood the entire time!

We can't wait to meet Baby Girl and are thinking of our friends as we remember the warm, fuzzy and surreal time of meeting your newborn for the first time. Between now and Monday I'm sure a lot of reminiscing will ensue! I went  into labor around 10 pm on the 19th and we had him just after 4 pm on the 21st. It sure has been a wild and crazy ride right from the beginning! I wonder if each one of his birthdays will summon all of these feelings. Some of them are easy to identify but others are hard to pinpoint whether they are happy or kind of sad, like it is the end of an era. I think perhaps it is just the bitter/sweet fact that time is passing so quickly and there is nothing we can do to slow it down or pause it. Life is a one way train and we are just along for the ride!

Here are a few clips from our day today.

Ayden is babbling up a storm, starting to understand that wheels are for rolling, seems to love housework, has taken his book obsession to a whole new level and has replaced his baby giggle with a big kid belly laugh. We are soaking up and loving every second with this sweet little boy of ours!

~Sarah

Nakey Time Nap

I went to change Ayden's diaper this morning and noticed he had some redness so I decided to give him some nakey time to allow some fresh air on his diaper area. He, of course piddled on the carpet almost immediately, we always tell him he's like a little puppy, and then he proceeded to happily play while I tended to some emails and such. After a few minutes he came up to me and quietly signed that he would like to nurse. I picked him up, bare butt and all, to nurse him and he went right to sleep. I had accepted the fact that he had officially transitioned to one afternoon nap a day but it seems as though he is switching back.

Glad he censored himself :)

Before we had Ayden, especially when I was in school, I had assumed that I would keep my children on a pretty strict napping schedule. Not necessarily by the clock but "x amount of naps per day for x amount of time." "I will have good sleepers!" I said (as if I had ANY control in the matter...) Fast forward to today and so much has changed. I have ended up taking on more of a "guide" role rather than the dictatorship role I always thought I'd assume. When it comes to his basic needs, eating, sleeping and such, I have found that things run much more smoothly and we are all happier when we take his lead. I've talked about this before but it is something I am noticing and reflecting on a lot as we find our way through this parenthood journey.

Other big changes that we have made post-baby, or even relaxed about over this first year are:

-Sleep Training. There was once a time when I did not think it was a big deal but when it was time I just could not, and will not do it. Ayden will move to his own bed when he is old enough to either understand where we will be and why he'll be by himself or when he just wants to because kids do grow to want and appreciate their own space.

-Co-Sleeping. This was more David than me but our goal was to have Ayden in his own room by the time he was 6 months old. We wanted to keep our relationship #1 and thought it would be important to keep our bed as OUR bed. Honestly? We don't always have much energy in the evenings and when we do find some, Ayden is in his crib from 8-11 most nights anyway. It has not been a problem and there's always nap time ;). We actually made the decision to co-sleep for my health and it was the best thing we could have done. Ayden sleeps better and therefore we all sleep better. We have grown to really love and cherish it. We wish we had done it from the start and most certainly will with our next baby.

- Television. For the first 8 or 9 months of Ayden's little life, we were strict about this but since have eased up a little. We still never put Ayden down in front of the television on purpose, encouraging him to watch and it is not on at all at our house during the week. If, however, we go to our parents houses or something we don't actively keep him from looking. The reason we aren't quite is strict was because it felt wrong that we wouldn't get a good visit in with our parents sometimes. We did not want them to turn their TVs off in their own homes, especially if a big game was on or something, so we'd just keep Ayden away from it therefore away from them too. Visiting and building a relationship with his grandparents is definitely worth a little screen time. Another reason is that David and I were craving more cuddle time. Now if we have a weekend with some downtime we'll put in a movie and snuggle up to watch while Ayden plays. We like that there aren't any commercials and honestly he stops even looking at it by 10 minutes in (unless it has a good sound track. He LOVES good music!)

So only a few changes but I suppose they are pretty big ones. For the most part though, we had a pretty good idea about the kind of parents we wanted to be going in.

What were some big changes you made once your little one arrived? Please share in the comments below!

~Sarah

Sparkly Clean

We went to help Little Miss' mom at her pet store today. She texted me last week and asked if I could start watching Little Miss again on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9-4. I didn't hesitate to say no thank you because I've grown quite accustomed to being able to go with the flow and that just wasn't possible when Little Miss was here before. Not to mention the fact that we don't even get out of bed until 9 on some days and I also have no clue how I'd get them both to nap. Though I did not agree to start watching her regularly, after finding out that they have become short staffed, and that they have some stress in their personal lives on top of that, I did offer to come into the store on Tuesday mornings if I don't have any other plans or obligations. While I am there I will keep Little Miss with me while I also help her with her invoice and expense filing. I want to help a friend in need, but I also want to make sure that I keep my family and household as top priority.

We got out of bed as soon as Ayden woke up this morning so we could get to the store as early as possible. I took a shower and got ready, all while Ayden sat and played with some old toys he has't seen in a while. I seriously think the toy rotation set-up is going to rock because he seriously sat in the middle of the floor playing for 40 minutes straight. No trying to get in the shower with me or crying at my legs while I rush through, or completely skip hair and makeup. Before we left I made sure to take care of a few things around the house. I put away a load of laundry and started another, made sure we ate a good breakfast, fed the pets, watered my plants and packed up the diaper bag. We left the house an hour later than I had originally planned but I didn't worry too much about it. A perk of being a stay at home mom is having flexibility and I take full advantage.

We spent a few hours at the store and funny enough, Little Miss wasn't even there. I switched things up and brought the papers that needed to be filed out of the office to sort so Ayden could enjoy the store while I worked. He mainly played with metal peg board pegs, and a brush while he watched the mice running in their wheel.

Once all the papers were sorted we moved into the office and he walked up to me and signed that he wanted to nurse. I locked the door, nursed him and he fell right to sleep. There was 't a single fuss or hesitation, when this boy is ready to sleep it is so easy. I was able to lay him on a dog bed that they use for Little Miss when she naps and got all of the papers filed. He woke after about 40 minutes but he was happy when he woke so I suppose it was enough.

Don't worry, it was new when they decided to make it into a baby bed. 

We got home around 3, had a late lunch and then I finished cleaning our oven. I had coated it with a home made cleaning paste that I found on Pinterest yesterday and had let it sit overnight. It worked great! We had used a product called Easy Off in the past but it gets and F on EWG's rating scale which means it is of "highest concern" toxicity-wise. Yikes... The self cleaning feature on ovens is also pretty bad. It emits toxic fumes that will KILL pet birds. If it will kill a living thing, I'll pass on having my family breath it, thank you very much. This paste of baking soda, dish soap and water worked just as well with no harm done so I will be permanently switching to this method. Here are the before and after shots:

No more greasy film on the glass!

No more drips on the sides or baked on puddle in the bottom!

David and Ayden had a lot of fun playing tonight while I did some computer work and then I did the bath and bedtime routine while David got started on Ayden's birthday present. We have so much on our to do lists and so little time in the evenings to get things crossed off. We are trying to prioritize and take it one task at a time. Ayden's birthday gift/party are at the top of our list (it is a week from Sunday) followed closely by preparing to plant seeds for the upcoming season's garden. We just have to stay focused and productive and I'm sure we'll get it all done!

~Sarah

This Is Not A Toy

source

I have to confess, I am guilty of letting Ayden play with items that are not really toys or that blatently warn, "This is not a toy" or "Keep out of the reach of children." Now, we are not talking knives and household cleaners here. We are talking about fascinating things like plastic bags and other packaging, cords, necklaces, anything that resembles a stick (chop sticks, markers, etc)... things are are actually pretty harmless if you are sitting right next to your child while they play with it. Why would I do such a thing?? Well, Ayden LOVES pretty much anything that is not a toy and honestly I don't see any harm in it.

"Cat tails and dog treats are toys, right?"
These were my failed attempts at sending David a picture of Ayden this morning. Haha.

Does this make me a bad mother? Nope. This makes me a normal mother. I have had many a conversation with other mommies who also confess that they have let their child play with a suffocation or strangulation "hazard" if it will bring them a few moments of peace. Children are drawn to them and love them so much more than any child-safe toy on the market. The thing is, it is only a hazard if you leave your child to explore these non-toys unattended. As a parent you must learn to choose your battles wisely because if you don't you will quickly become worn down and exhausted. This being said, be sure to be there if you decide it is okay to give in and let your child experience the sensorial sensation of a plastic grocery bag or the like. What a great opportunity to introduce vocabulary like "smooth" or "crinkly" and to discuss colors and textures. If your child is super interested in the object you are describing they are even more likely to soak up every word!

"Boxes too?"
(My sweet mother-in-law got me a case for the sewing machine they got me for Christmas!)

We were talking about this very topic with our good friends last night. They came over for dinner and afterward we were entertained by Ayden's shenanigans. We got his tunnel out and after playing in the tunnel for a while, he moved on to the packaging, as babies almost always do. As I handed it to him, and was actually encouraging him to explore it, I looked up and said, "This probably has some sort of warning about how I should not be doing this" and low and behold it sure did. He touched it and manipulated it a bit, realized that it wasn't as cool as he thought it might be and moved on. No harm done.

The older Ayden gets the more clear it becomes that he really doesn't need many toys. It is nice to have some that he can safely play with when I am busy and can't watch him as closely but for the most part he spends his time exploring every non-toy he can find. This is why we are adopting a Montessori, minimalistic toy rotation system. We got his new toy shelf which has space for 9 toys. And that is all he will have out at a time. This will make clean up easier, especially when he starts helping with that, and will encourage him to focus longer on toys since he won't be distracted by so many choices. When we notice he stops pulling out a certain toy we'll know it's time to rotate it out and replace it with a different one. This will keep old toys new and exciting and will prevent us from having to purchase more and more toys.

After Ayden's birthday I plan to transition his room from the current baby-friendly set up to a more kid-friendly set up. I'll be moving some stuff around, putting more clothes in his dresser drawers and transforming his closet into a storage space for the toys that are out of rotation. I've done a lot of reading and research and think we are really going to like the new set up once it is in place.

Do you use a toy rotation system? Pease share any tips in the comments below!

~Sarah

From Head To Toe

Ayden got this cute book for Christmas and it has become a new favorite.

My students always loved doing all of the motions with the animals and we are looking forward to when our little guy does them too.

Ayden has mastered most of his animal sounds and has moved on to learning body parts and that is why I think his new book is fun for him. He has liked touching people's noses for a while now and would also find his own head on command if he was in the mood. He's also always enjoyed exploring our faces. He'll grab our teeth, try to catch our tongues, and stick his little finger up our noses or in our eyes. We have always played the body part game and he would always just wait for us to show him but tonight he played too! I said, "Ayden, where's Mommy's eye?" and after thinking for a minute he gently ran his finger across my eyelashes with a big smile on his face. Then I asked the same about my nose and he laughed and touched that too! As is our norm these days, we are following Ayden's lead with his development and if he is interested in body parts that is what we shall focus on. We are also starting to talk a lot about the primary colors.

His understanding of "ah-ah" and "no thank you" is getting better too. If he is about to do or touch something and we say one of those phrases he will look at whatever it was that he was getting ready to do and sign all done. It is funny how he put those together on his own. I suppose they have similar meanings.

At Lowes getting supplies for his home made learning tower!

This weekend went by so fast but it was really good. We had another house showing tonight so maybe this will have been the lucky one???  This week and next will have birthday preparations at the top of the priority list so they are going to be pretty busy. I can't believe his birthday is a week from tomorrow!

~Sarah