Babies & Birthdays
Good morning!
How are things going on your end? Are you all hanging in there? This has been an interesting time, for sure.
It's hard to believe I've been home for two months now, working full-time and watching Henry. With our parents' help the past few weeks, we've been able to balance it all much better. To those of you watching your kids AND working from home at the same time, I feel you. It is no easy task and you probably feel like you're giving 50% of yourself to each of the two. The mom guilt sets in fast.... I have to remind myself often that I'm doing the best job I can and this time is so NOT normal. We're all just dealing and getting through it day by day.
For us, that often looks like lunchtime walks and weekend adventures like this pic from Wachusett Reservoir. Henry wasn't sure about the sand...
When Henry is home with Sam and I, we take turns watching and caring for him. Every hour is a juggle. Since he is so active now, one of us basically is holding/feeding/playing with him at all times, so when one of us is on a work call, the other is ON duty. 😃
Henry's naps have been a challenge, too. I think it's because he knows we are home now and just in the other room, and also because he is mastering so many new skills, he's curious to keep practicing them instead of sleeping the day away. His grandparents have said that naps can be a bit tricky for them too. 😜
He has become SO attached to us. It is quite adorable but I also wonder what that'll mean when he has to head back to daycare later this summer... When he first went he was about 7.5 months and now that he's 10.5 and way more aware of what's happening around him, the transition might be harder for (me) him. We'll see.
On a good day, he takes two naps, each about 45 minutes to an hour-and-a-half. On a not-so-good day, he'll skip his morning nap and then take a longer afternoon one. Those days can be rough. 😉 I never really understood the NEED for baby/toddler naps until recently—for both Henry and us, haha. Babies get overtired and then can become fussy. They need a certain amount of sleep every day. They help the flow of the day and give it some structure. Do you have any nap secrets? Do share!
For about a month-and-a-half, Henry was army crawling his way around the place and occasionally would move around on all fours. But now, he is up and crawling and pulling up on EVERYTHING—and cruising furniture like beds, couches, and chairs. He just wants to touch everything in site, even bags on onions, cords, and his favorite—remotes and phones. We are constantly following him around and he has gotten SO speedy. 😎
He is drinking about 3-4 bottles a day, eating three meals, and sometimes snacks on crackers/puffs in between. Water, too! Introducing a sippy cup has been going pretty well. We try to have it present at every meal, even if he just plays around with it. It usually just gets knocked on the ground. We also always bring it with us in the car and on walks so he can have a sip. The goal is to get him weaned off bottles around a year old so that he drinks whole milk out of a sippy cup and is ideally eating more whole foods than milk. It won't be a light-switch kind of change, but we'll get there. I think with babies, most things take repetition and time.
We recently confirmed that he has eczema on his face (cheeks mostly) and some on his arms and legs. It comes and goes, but some days/weeks it can get really bad. You've probably seen photos of his cheeks like that. If not...
Poor bubba. ☹️
Sometimes the teething makes them look even MORE red. We've been treating it with moisturizer and lukewarm baths without much soap since that irritates his skin. He definitely has his dad's sensitive skin. 😂 Hopefully it doesn't bother him too much (it doesn't seem to). 🙁
Henry's sleep is still about the same—7pm to 4:30/5am. He goes OUT like a light. But... This kid loves to wake up early! And, it's really tricky to get him to go back down. Usually one of us cuddles with him, or occasionally we'll feed him a bottle to calm him back down, but since he's weaned off of night feedings and it's basically morning time, we tend to not go that route. No matter what we do, he just doesn't seem to want to sleep much later than that. Does anyone else have an early-morning baby? I know sleep training can help with that, so we may try to do that again. It's been MONTHS since we last tried to "train" him in any way. Anyway, as you can imagine we are pretty much toast by 9pm after waking most days at 4:30/5am. 😴
Okay, that's about it on recent baby updates.
Now onto the "birthday" part of this post. 🎂
We celebrated Sam's birthday last week and even though it looked much different than years past (hello baby, hello quarantine), we made the most of it! I made yummy chicken enchiladas, fresh guacamole, and Spanish rice! The meal came out really well, I must say. 🤗 Sam's big birthday gift from his parents was a new grille! Yay for grilling season! So, I got him a bunch of grilling accessories and seasonings/rubs, and you bet we grilled just the next day. 🔥 He's a happy camper.
Our little firecracker will be turning 1 on July 4th! I cannot believe it. 🎇 I'm a little bummed his birthday won't be a bash like we had imagined. We were going to do it BIG with decorations and a fun theme, but now it'll be more of a quiet thing with our immediate family—social-distancing style. 😷
Maybe later this summer we can have a bigger one. I did order a really cute outfit for him... wait until you see! 😍 Also, Pinterest has the best ideas for birthday parties. I maybe pinned like 50 ideas, haha. Now I just gotta find the time to craft up some of them.
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What else can I update you on? I've been watching Dead To Me on Netflix and love it! I've been trying to do yoga when I can (struggggggle), and just walking when I have the time. It helps! Oh and we've also begun home searching but that's a different story for a different day. We're honestly JUST getting started with that but it's fun (for now)!
Have a great day,
Ari
