5 months
5 months ago was our first full day at home after coming home from the hospital. After our first few nights as parents, the first night with our baby at home, a mix of adrenaline, sleep deprivation and wacko hormones, I remember thinking to myself, “this is really your life right now. Things really are this good.”
It didn’t feel real, and Tom and I still say to each other, “we have a baby. This is our baby.”
She’s changed so much since we brought her home:
She’s growing quickly, and is so smart, happy, alert, and most-importantly (thankful everyday for this one) healthy.
Here’s what’s going on this month:
1) FOOD! I’ve been so excited about solid foods for a while, particularly since I’ve had such a hard time with breastfeeding. I was happy to be able to give her whole, organic foods and introduce her to some of the things we love. It’s so much fun to have dinner together as a family, to watch her face as she tries something new -when she first tasted the sweet potato, she looked up at me like, “why have you been holding out?!”- and so far she’s had sweet potato, fennel and avocado. She loved all three of them. For this week, I picked up some organic peas, carrots, green beans and apples. We’re trying the babyled weaning route (more info on that here) but one thing we’re both kind of worried about is the issue of choking, so I make sure the food is pretty mushy before giving it to her. We still haven’t bought a high chair, but for now, she likes sitting in my lap at the table, which works pretty well for restaurants, too.
2) Jumping queen! We got her this exersaucer and I love watching her jump and jump in it.
Some other things we’re loving this month:
-Still lots and lots of books- we read at least a few everyday and she starts kicking her feet as soon as I take out a book. She likes to flip the pages herself, make sounds and try to eat the book.
The newest in the collection: “Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed,” “Whoo hoo are you? and “Little Babaji”
-Elmo! I was wondering what to do for the last 15 minutes before her nap -we’d already done the bath, a couple of books, tummy time, jumped in the exersaucer and taken Bell outside- so I went on YouTube and pulled up an Elmo video. She WENT CRAZY for it. It was Elmo singing ABCs with India Arie and she had the cutest little smile on her face. Those Sesame Street people know what they’re doing.
-Adventures. It’s nice to feel like I can take Liv anywhere and do anything with her. At first, I seriously thought I’d never leave the house again -I was either attached to the Brest Friend pillow or the pump- and now, I love to take Liv on little adventures and to see new things. Many days we stay home and just hang out and play, but it’s great to have the option and feel confident that we can do whatever. Before, getting ready to go anywhere was at least a 2 hour ordeal (get kinda-ready, let her nap, feed her then go), and now I feel like I can pack up the diaper bag and have us ready to go within 15 minutes.
Yesterday, we went to the park to see the ducks:
She watched the ducks, and I watched the adorable curiosity and wonder on her face.
-No teeth yet, but I have a feeling it’s on the way! We have a tradition that the first person to spot a baby’s new tooth gets them a pair of shoes. Not a bad deal 😉
-I’m still kind of crazy about her naps, and have a feeling that I’ll be that way until she’s in elementary school. We did a combo of “The Baby Whisperer” and “Healthy Sleep Habits” methods -which I can’t recommend enough. No crying and she’s been sleeping through the night for quite a while, following the Eat, Activity, Sleep routine. It works brilliantly, but I usually try to have her at home for her midday nap in her crib. When she sleeps well, she’s so much happier and sleeps better at night, and I sleep better and am happier, too 🙂 Of course, we shake up her schedule a little bit if we need to, but most of the time, we try to be home for her midday nap. I’ll run errands or go out and about with her either in the morning or the afternoon.
-Speaking of elementary school, I told Tom yesterday that you potty train kids when they’re 7. He was like,”Wait a second, they make diapers that big? I thought I was potty-trained way earlier than that.” And I said, “Nope, 7 is the magic number.” I got a kick out of it, but I think I scared him for a second.
-As I’ve mentioned a handful of times, but haven’t gone into the full nitty gritty, I went through some stuff after Liv was born. It was a huge adjustment for me, I didn’t feel like myself, and while I loved our new baby with all of my heart, it was a challenging time. I considered stepping away from the blog when I went through the first bit of mommy judgment. I’m sure many of you can relate. As you know, mean comments are hurtful, but when you’re in an emotionally fragile state, they can be devastating.
A few people have asked me to talk a little bit more about it, but I’m waiting until around Liv’s first birthday when I can look back at that time with a different perspective- one that isn’t so fresh in my mind (even though I’ve been writing this entire time). You may have noticed, but I usually talk more about difficult points in my life after they’re over. I don’t like to be the complainer that says “this is hard. I’m having a rough time and haven’t done anything about it yet.” I like to be the one who makes it through and is able to say “here’s what was difficult for me, here’s what helped me, I kept a positive attitude, but I’m glad it’s over.”
Of course, Liv is going to have times in her life that are challenging. I wish I could take the mean girls out of her life before they show up, but I can’t. I just hope to give her knowledge and confidence, the ability to keep a positive attitude, fight through it, look back and be proud of herself.
From what I can already tell, she’s a smart little firecracker. I think she’ll be just fine.
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You mentioned ‘The Baby Whisperer’ and ‘Healthy Sleep Habits’
I searched on Amazon..
Is it ‘Secrets of the Baby Whisperer’??? and Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child??
Would love to get these on my Kindle before my little guy pops out, which could be any day now.
Chin up, lady! You’re doing a fantastic job. Pictures don’t lie (even ones you pick selectively lol). Your family is happy, your baby is healthy and happy, and you’re doing a good job figuring out your balance! You do what YOU know to be right, naysayers or “you shouldn’t do X” or “you should do it THIS way” be damned. I hope when I get to be a mom I can do half as good a job as you’re doing! If any of my strongly opinionated comments (me? Never!) have caused offense, please know none of them were intended in any sort of hurtful way at all! 🙂
Lots of love and good energy headed your way from me.
thank you, lovely <3
I wanted to de-lurk and tell you how much I love your blog. I have a 5 week old and I plan to use your summer shape up to get back to feeling like myself fitness wise.
Also, I’m going to second Elizabeth’s request, and ask how exactly you combined Baby Whisperer and Healthy Sleep habits. I’ve read the Baby Whisperer books (love them) and Baby Wise. I saw that you mentioned Livi (who is BEYOND adorable) has been sleeping through the night for a while, and this is a huge goal of mine for my son so that maybe I can function when I go back to work. What worked for you guys?
thank you so much, cailyn!
we did the eat play sleep, and also followed the guidelines in the “healthy sleep” for bedtimes and nap times. if you need help, send me an email with any questions! i’m not a sleep pro or anything by any means, but hopefully i can help. i will tell you, too, that the dream feed is a LIFESAVER. we still dream feed liv around 10:15 every night
Gina, your daughter is beautiful and you truly are a glowing family! I just quickly want to say that, as the first time mom of an 8 week old boy, I have found these past 8 weeks incredibly emotionally challenging. I love my little guy like crazy, but have struggled to live up to the cultural myth (and I think that’s all it is) that new Moms are constantly elated by motherhood and that bonding is instant. I have found neither of these things to be true. I have been so scared to open up about how slow and gradual my bonding with the little man has been. The love was instant, but thee chemistry and bonding took time..and is still a work in progress. Not to mention tht the first three months are hard…period! Between postpartum healing, breastfeeding and sleeping 1-2 hour stretches at most, I think we need to make morspace in our new mom communities to air out the dark side of things. None of this seems culturally appropriate to discuss, though :/
i couldn’t agree more. i’ve tried talking to other moms about it, and they look at me like i have 3 eyes or something like that. it’s frustrating because as amazing and beautiful as it is, it can also be really, really hard and scary at times. my hormones were all over the place, and while i loved livi with all of my heart and the bonding was there, it took me a long time to feel comfortable with my new role and all of the breastfeeding issues i had were pretty hard on me. i was hard on myself, too.
hang in there and know that it really does get better and so much easier. i thought everyone was lying when they said that, but it’s totally true!
I’m not in a place where I can even start thinking about having children, but I find myself looking forward to your Liv-focused posts. I think this may be because your baby is the prettiest, most facially animated baby I have ever seen.
You and the Pilot deserve a slow clap.
Hi Gina,
Sorry to hear that you were/are having a rough time of it. I had my baby 1 week before you, and I started following your blog right around the time I got pregnant. I think it’s fantastic. This is the first time I’ve ever commented, but I just felt very compelled to do so after reading your last blog. I can certainly relate to the competitive/ judgy mom issue, but I also know a part of it is me struggling to be the perfect mom, to the point were I found myself being overly sensitive and my own worst critic. I hope this doesn’t hurt your feelings, but the truth is I even stopped reading your blog for a while during my 3 trimester and right after I had my baby. Not because of anything you did or said offended me, but because you just make pregnancy and motherhood look so fun and effortless.. and I was already down on myself. I had gained over 60 lbs craving nothing but junk, my babies nursery was also our livingroom, and my mother in law came and stayed in our 1 bedroom appartment (bringing with her all of her oppinions of course) for a month! I struggled to enjoy my baby as much as I desperately wanted to because I was beating myself up so badly inside for not having this perfect life all laid out for her. Now that she’s older and things are easier I have fallen in love with your blog all over again. I can’t wait to see your pics and hear your tips and funny stories about Livi and the Pilot. And now when some stranger tells me what I should be doing about my daughters cradle cap or a “friend” wants to be competitive I’m mentally making a grocery list in my head instead of worrying what they may think of me. The fact that we want to be perfect for our babies is what keeps us striving to be great moms, and the fact that we can’t be perfect is what keeps us grounded and normal. I still get down on myself, and will always struggle to not compare myself to people who seem to be doing better… but I know when I allow myself to be flawed and make mistakes, its easier to face the people who like to point them out. Somewhere in my heart I know that the only opinion that matters aside from my own is my daughters, and she thinks I’m great!! Remember Livi loves you and so do your readers! xoxo Laura
Hey Gina – just wanted to give you a shout. I’ve been an avid reader for about 2 years now and just wanted to let you know that it is also upsetting to see those hurtful comments! I generally try to avoid internet drama but thought it would be a good time to let you know all your fans have your back. 😉 From what I read you are an amazing mom, wife, daughter, sister and most importantly a kind human being. Thanks for being so devoted to the blog!
🙂
I am getting such baby fever! All of the bloggers I love to read are having babies and they are all so cute and I’m learning so much. Thanks for sharing and what a doll Livi is, quite adorable 🙂
Gina,
Just getting caught up on posts and wanted to say that I think you are doing a fantastic job as a new mom balancing a public life with the blog. I don’t typically read the comments on blogs, but I can’t even believe you got negative comments or judgement based on anything I have seen on this site. Sometimes I just think people are looking for ways to criticize or find fault with others’ lifestyle. I can’t imagine being “out there” like you and having to deal with judgement from people I don’t know.
I love your blog! It has been exciting for me to be able to read along about your pregnancy & adventures as a new mom. Don’t let negativity from a random internet stranger(s) change the way you live, think, or express yourself on the blog. There are plenty of us who enjoy you (and the blog) just the way you are!