Happiest of Fridays friends! Can you believe that we’re just 11 days out from Christmas? The only real shopping I’ve done so far is for a 10 year old girl who I “adopted” from our local school system who wasn’t going to have much of a Christmas otherwise. I got her all sorts of fun things from her wish list like a diary, colored pencils, books, puzzles, games and more. I’m wrapping the gifts tomorrow and dropping them by a neighbor’s home who is organizing all of it. I am so grateful to her for doing this!
Thanks so much for your thoughtful comments and feedback on FB and IG about yesterday’s post, Instead I Held You. I ended up doing my first Instagram live last night to talk about it a little more. I feel like I’ve done a lot of blogging about how hard the transition into motherhood is…on so many levels…and especially in regards to the abrupt change of pace that happens with a newborn.
I’m not living in lala land over here gazing at my baby all day…it can be crazy-making to spend all of your time with a baby and while I do enjoy moments where Finn naps in my arms, I also REALLY love it when he goes down for a nap and I can work/eat/clean/get dressed/whatever the current need is. Related, some kind of sleep training is in our future because mama needs some evening adult time.
And I try to take advantage of the time that he’s not with me to take care of myself and my needs, whether that is working, working out, sleeping, enjoying downtime or whatever it is. It’s OKAY and healthy to also enjoy time away from your baby.
I mostly subscribe to the style of parenting where the baby comes along for your life and you kind of narrate that for them and let that be their entertainment. So yes, I am trying to be present in the moment of doing life with him but I’m still getting on with my life to an extent.
The whole point of my Instagram live was that there is no one right or wrong way to do this whole mom-ing thing but I think we can all agree that it is hard. “The days are long, the years are short.” Right?
While we are talking mom…
This is mostly how solids are still going for us over here but we have made progress! He still makes this face once food makes it into his mouth but he’s much more interested in putting food in his mouth. Baby steps! 🙂
So far we’ve tried avocado, butternut squash, carrots, apples, sweet potatoes, pears, bread, gnocchi, spinach, salmon, tomato and greek yogurt.
Mealtimes look like this now. Me at the table, Finn in his high chair and dogs very close by! 🙂 I absolutely LOVE having Finn at the table now and it’s nice to have company…as silly as that might sound.
He’s MUCH more into this cup than he is food right now! The pediatrician said he could start having a little water so I got this cup. It’s very highly recommended by dentists, occupational therapists and lactation consultants and many of you commented on my Instagram story that you love it too.
Two balls, a bone and a toy. Love this sweet nugget. (No reason for this photo other than it’s cute!)
Here’s what is on deck for us over the next few days!
- I’m going to take Finn for a swim lesson on Saturday morning. He’s been going with his dad for a few weeks and loving it. Apparently, he’s been submerged and enjoys being on his back.
- I’m going to check out the Girl Tribe Pop Up on Saturday or Sunday. If you’re in the Charlotte area, come!!! It’s an awesome event!
- I’m also going to swing by Erin McDermott’s studio for her open house on Saturday! Another one you shouldn’t miss if you are in Charlotte!
- Take Finn to see Santa! (I will probably wait until it’s not the weekend to do that)
- Holiday shopping…if you also need to work on that, don’t miss my gift guide. It has over 100 ideas for you!
That’s all from me! Have an amazing weekend friends!
Have you started your holiday shopping?
What are your weekend plans? Anything holiday festive?
Any tips for a first Santa visit?
It does NOT sound silly to enjoy having company at the table! It’s fun to have thur kiddos enjoying a meal with you at all ages.
Your other post about the Instead I Held You video was beautiful. My kiddos aren’t babies anymore (sigh), but I still have to remind myself that laundry, dishes, etc. can wait so I can read them a book, help with homework, play, or just give them a hug. The “holding” part changes, but the time spent with them stays important and wonderful.
Saw Erin’s Open House and so want to go! May try and make it over there today.
Enjoy swim lessons!
Thank you. <3 Yes, I’ve been surprised by how much I like having him there with me. I’ve also always preferred to eat at the table and not in front of TV so it’s nice to have more of an excuse to do so.
I love your thoughts on the quality time. Thanks for sharing those. <3
Try to get by Erin’s if you can!
Hey Jen, your weekend sounds full of fun activities. We have taken out girls to see Santa a few times. My 6 year old knows he isn’t real but our 2 year old love the idea of him. We went to Denver the past two days just to get things off our mind and explore some ideas too.
Have a great day!
Would LOVE it if you could write a blog post on how what your “plans” are with feeding Finn (baby led weaning, solids vs. purees, etc.)!!!
Ahhhh I don’t really have a plan. I am just winging it. I’m doing a mix of BLW and purees but mostly BLW because he loves to touch and play with the food and has no interest in the purees. At this point it’s so much easier for me to give him little pieces of what I am eating than to do purees that he is not going to eat. At least he’ll get tactile with the pieces of food. He’s starting to bring them to his mouth but not eating most of them. I figure eventually he will!
I tried one of those cups for my son and he didn’t really get it. It’s been awhile now so maybe we’ll try it again!! He’s seven months, we’ve been doing purée for about six weeks but he’s been sick so totally not interested lately which worries me!! I’m trying to remember they’re just exploring at this point but it’s hard to turn off that momma worry!
Don’t stress! My friends with kids all tell me that it can take a while…so many people have said that their babes didn’t really show an interest until 8-9 months.
I just give Finn the cup every time he’s in his high chair and figure he’ll get the hang of it eventually. I do a lot of demoing to show him how to use it. ???
My son LOVED swim classes, I started him at 4 months old and he just had a blast with it. I think I was more nervous for the classes thne him haha. We sadly had to stop a few months into it b/c he kept getting ear infections but I’m hoping to start him back in the spring. Enjoy the class!!
That is so sweet that he loved it at such a young age. I’m sorry about the ear infections. I hope they are getting better!
What kind of sleep training are you thinking? My daughter is 5 months and sometime after 6 months I should probably do the same! I love the snuggles but I’m tired! I don’t love the idea of cry it out…
I’m not sure. I’m also struggling with CIO. 🙁
I let her CIO for a nap the other days because I just had to get stuff done and she cried for 5 minutes and went back to napping for a total of 1.5 hours! I felt awful but she woke up happy as could be! Night is a whole other story…
We have that cup too but my son definitely didn’t master it until more recently. Early on we found the munchkin weighted straw cup was awesome. He still uses those for water every day. We use the 360 for milk because I feel it’s easier to clean lol.