by Rachel | Family Life
My favorite milestone so far: independent play. Parker has enjoyed demanded my full attention since he was born, and it wasn’t until the last couple of weeks that he has finally been able to entertain himself for longer than just a few minutes.
Since he mastered sitting up on his own — both getting into sitting position and sustaining it — he’s been very content to play with his toys on his own (as long as I’m in sight). I’ve dubbed the far side of our living room “Parker’s Playhouse”, because that’s where we spend a LARGE portion of our day together. Most of the time I’m right down on the floor with him, but now that he is happy to play on his own for a little while, I can use my laptop/eat lunch/fold laundry and still keep an eye on him from just a few feet away.
The key is to have a LOT of toys on hand, because this baby has the attention span of a gnat. I usually dump out two bins full of various toys, teethers and stuffed animals, though it is inevitable that he makes his way off the playmat eventually (he’s a champion roller, scooter and backwards crawler).
I also have a mobile version of the playhouse for when I need to work at my desk for a little bit. Since my office is carpeted, I can spread out Parker’s toys on the floor and plop him in the middle of the room where he’s perfectly content. He especially loves listening to me write songs or record, my little musician in the making :)
Our plan is to finish Parker’s downstairs playroom in time for his 1st birthday, but for now, I love that he has his own space in the room where we spend the most time together as a family.
by Rachel | Family Life
Can we just take a moment to process the fact that my 7-month-old baby is STANDING UP in his crib? My brain is having a little trouble with that one.
Zach’s cousin Matt came over today for a quick photo shoot with Parker, so Zach served as his assistant/baby attention-getter while I corraled Sadie in the kitchen. I’ve never seen Parker stand on his own like that before until Matt sent me that photo, and it totally stopped me in my tracks. Who is this big boy and what did he do with my tiny infant?
I have so much to blog about, like Parker’s acting debut on Christmas Eve and our New Year’s trip to Florida. But like everything else in my life, I’m so overwhelmed by it all that it’s easier just to put it off a little longer and catch up on episodes of Parenthood instead.
by Rachel | Motherhood
Sometimes the fact that I’m a parent sneaks up on me. I had one of those moments tonight, actually: Zach has been playing in a soccer tournament all evening, so I had a few hours to hang out by myself after Parker went to bed. I watched a movie in our bedroom and caught up on some blogs on the computer, which is how I spent many evenings before the baby was born. (Nowadays most post-bedtime hours are spent catching up on laundry and doing the work I didn’t have time to complete during the day.)
When I came out of the bedroom to refill my water bottle, the pile of toys in the living room caught my eye. It took me by surprise at first — maybe because those particular toys are new and I’m not used to seeing them. But this wave of holy crap, I have a kid washed over me, just like it had on Christmas Eve as I was wrapping gifts and wrote “Love, Mommy & Daddy” on Parker’s gift tags.
I’ve experienced the same feeling at the grocery store, when I’m loading my stuff onto the conveyer belt and pick up a pack of wipes from my cart. And when I’m talking to a student’s mom, who asks how the baby is doing. The list goes on…which is surprising considering I’ve had almost seven months to get used to this role. After all, it consumes most of my waking (and “should be sleeping”) hours.
I always thought that once I became a mom, I would all of the sudden feel more grown up or have life all figured out. But in all honesty, that hasn’t happened; in fact, the opposite is true. Now that I have a baby, I question all of my decisions and wonder if I’m doing the right thing for him and our family.
But maybe that’s normal. Just like Parker is figuring out the world as a new human, I’m doing the same as a new mom. Everything is different with a child, whether he is physically with me or not, and sometimes my brain has to process that (again and again).
Another sneaky parenting moment I experience often? When I’m hit with the fact that holy crap, this beautiful creature is all mine and I get to keep him. I really like when that happens.
by Rachel | Motherhood
This weekend, Parker will turn 6 months old. And it kind of blows my mind to think about the fact that I have provided every last drop of nourishment for his entire life thus far. I knew before Parker was born that I wanted to try breastfeeding, but I had no idea how much I would enjoy it and how important it would become to me.
I also had no idea what a huge commitment it would be, and that there would be bumps along the road. I was extremely lucky that Parker latched on right away and the first few days went so smoothly, but I’ve dealt with quite a few plugged ducts (even as recently as this week) and supply issues before I realized I was exercising too much and not eating enough. Those were easy fixes, to say the least!
Being a nursing mom is a full-time job, or at least it feels that way at times. I feed Parker every 2-3 hours throughout the day, and on top of that I pump at least twice so that he has bottles when I’m working. As soon as I finish work at night, we do bath time and then I nurse Parker to sleep, which can take anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour.
And I’ve excused myself from parties, family gatherings, and dinners on countless occasions — not because I’m opposed to nursing in front of other people, but because Parker is SUCH a distracted eater. If there are other people around, a TV or music playing, or even bright lights on, I can forget about a successful feeding.
But I wouldn’t have it any other way; I never take for granted the fact that I’ve been able to breastfeed this long. I’ve been a little reluctant to start solid foods just because breastfeeding is so convenient (no preparation or cleanup involved!), but I’m pretty sure Parker will love exploring new foods. Not to mention that it will be super cute, messes and all.
The older Parker gets, the more busy and wiggly he becomes. Our daytime nursing sessions are getting shorter and shorter, but I look forward to cuddling him at night and nursing him to sleep. I know I’m going to miss it so much when it’s all over, and I can only hope to make it at least another six months.
