Speaking of weekends, last sunday John and I decided we would take Evan to his first ever Christmas parade here in Barrhaven to get him in the Christmas spirit. We bundled him up and made our way to the parade route. Only problem was we were at the end of the route and the parade itself didn’t start until 5:30pm. By the time 5:40pm rolled around we realized it was far too cold and was going to be far too late by the time the parade got to us so we packed up, pretended like we saw the parade, convinced Evan it was the best thing ever and went home. Ha!
This year for Christmas both my family and John’s family have agreed to simplify things. Instead of all of us buying presents for everyone we’re drawing names! Yes, I’m a big fan of this! Not only does it make Christmas shopping less hectic, but now we can spend good money on one gift instead of stretching our dollar on gifts that our family members probably don’t really need or might not even want. Evan and I are going to get busy shopping next week! Can’t wait!
The Christmas spirit is definitely running through my veins. Last weekend I finished my Christmas potters which I love (see pic below)! And next weekend (maybe even this weekend) I’m going to get busy decorating inside! Yay! I’m really looking forward to this Christmas, and future Christmas’ with Evan. I look forward to starting our own family traditions. John and I have started a whole new chapter, and the best part is we’re writing it. Our future can be whatever we want it to be! How is that for optimism at this yucky time of year?!
Potter before...
Potter now...
All bundled up for the Christmas parade we didn't end up watching...
As you can see Evan loves his rice cereal...
Bananas not so much...
Evan getting his second haircut to date...
Doesn't he look like a big boy with his new haircut and awesome Adidas track outfit...
Evan is just too cute Josie! what a proud mama you must be! I know what you are saying when you say that you are looking forward to THIS Christmas...I was the same way for my daughter's first Christmas...(she's 4 now), I was never big into the Christmas spirit until she came along and now it's a very enjoyable time of year for me...other than the freezing temperatures of course.
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas Josie, John and sweet little Evan!
Josie,
ReplyDeleteMy son is just 2 months older than Evan, and I often read your blog and exclaim, "ME TOO!"
It sounds like we have the same challenges wrt night feeds. I rtw full time about a month ago, and the demands of my work did not allow me to be exhausted from being up through the night (11, 2, 4, 6 or some variation). So many people including my family MD advised to have him cry it out. My gut said he was hungry, even though they said no he wasn't. My gut said he is teething, learning to crawl/pull up/stand, combatting ear infections, developing cognitively, habitually nursed to sleep because I allowed it...you get the pic. I just didn't think simply having him cry it out was the solution.
Another new mom friend of mine made a comment, and it triggered me to re-look at the Baby Whisperer. I, like you, didn't think my guy really fit into a schedule. Anyway, with the Baby's Whisperer's guidance, I relooked at how much sleep he was getting during the day, and how much food he was consuming the day, and realized that he perhaps was not getting enough sleep as well as not eating enough during the day. With some commitment I rejigged things to ensure he was rested during the day (good day sleep contributes to good night sleep), and consuming enough calories during the day (hence when he cried at night I could at least be confident the cause was not hunger). It took commitment, but we are at the point where our son is asleep by 630 pm, has a dream feed at 1030ish, wakes at 3, settles back down without a feed and a little help (rubbing his back, and gentle put downs), and his up for a feed at 530ish to hold him over until his 7 am breakfast.
Not perfect, but manageable, and we got there knowing his needs were being met.
I don't know, maybe the Baby Whisperer is worth a look if you haven't already. Good luck.
And please blog as to how the sleep challenges progress. As a new mom, I am so obsessed with sleep, and I oh so want to know how others get there.
And I think you are doing a fantastic job as a mom.
I really like reading your blogs! I can relate. My son just turned 6 months old yesterday! He's eating vegetables now!
ReplyDeleteTo all the new moms...sleep will come back one day. I have 2 kids and i swore after the first i wasn't having another. My first was colicky and cried for hours on end. She never slept. Then one day just like that she slept through the night. My second slept great and then all of a sudden a 5 months she woke up every 3-4 hrs...it lasted until she was 12 months. I was exhausted..working and caring for 2 kids plus husband travels for work..but now both kids sleep from 7pm till 7am. So believe me when i say this..SLEEP will come back. Every baby is different but eventually they get it. Good Luck to all mom's and dad's. It isn't easy but obviously it isn't impossible because we keep having kids.
ReplyDeleteIn the same "sleep" boat as you....our little man is 7 months old and I think he is ready to drop night feeds, just not sure how to go about it....and every time I resolve to settle him in other ways, I give in at 3am, because I'm so tired and know if I feed him he will go back to sleep!
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