Six - Eight Months

Dear Wesley,

I have been a very bad record-keeping mommy the past few months. It's been a stressful but now relieving time. The day you turned six months, I was forced to resign from my job effective in June (in short, the church isn't always very church-like and some old dinosaur pastors don't like having babies around, even when an agreement is in writing...). The day you turned seven months, I learned it was my last day of work because said pastor was "uncomfortable" with you being around still because your mommy refused to let the church go back on its agreement by putting you in daycare. While this has been a very frustrating time professionally, the past month getting to stay home with you and your brother, away from the stress of that hostile environment, has been amazing! You always come first, so I have no regrets and am excited to spend the next year or two as a stay-at-home-mommy! So I'm sorry that I have not written about all the amazing things you're doing these past couple of months. I will try to be better!

You seem to have grown in leaps and bounds these past weeks. You are over 14 lbs now, still tiny, but definitely growing steadily! You are pulling up on everything, but you still haven't quite figured out the agility required to crawl. Maybe you'll skip it altogether and go straight to walking (you know, in several months)! We started solids doing baby-led weaning a few days after you turned six months, and in the past week or two, you have really come into your own with it! You eat a scrambled egg yolk every day and your other favorite is roasted sweet potato sticks. You eat 1.5 over 6" sticks! Last night you even had rotini with homemade pesto and ate 5 whole noodles (out of the 12 I gave you, but still!). This is even more impressive since you still only have the two bottom teeth! It's been a lot of fun and definitely a new adventure compared to solids with your brother.

You are the happiest baby ever. Everyone says so since you're always smiling and giggling and getting teased. You love strangers, so long as you can snuggle into Mommy's chest if need be, and you are just such a people person! You jibber-jabber away, blowing raspberries and clucking your tongue in excitement. You definitely play favorites with your family, though, and, as long as you aren't hungry, your favorite person is definitely your big brother! You love to watch whatever he's doing and grin from ear to ear at the hilarity. You save your best giggles for him, too!

All in all, life with you is amazing! You're still not sleeping great, but since your crib is sidecar-ed to Mommy & Daddy's bed, we're still getting a decent amount of sleep. And you'll figure that whole thing out when you're ready. At least you usually take two 1.5-2+ hour naps a day, so I really can't complain!

I don't know whether you will be our last baby or not, but we're definitely in the sweet spot of infancy so I'm cherishing this time as much as possible! I can't wait to see what the next month has in store, little bit!

Love,
Mommy

Five Months

Dear Wesley,

It's been another whirlwind month! Your first Christmas. Your first really long road trip. Your first vomit (on Mommy at 2:30 AM New Year's Day...). And this morning, your first time hearing Mommy preach! You are growing by leaps and bounds and have quite the personality. You can now sit all by yourself (for a few minutes at least). You are SO curious and try to grab everything that catches your eye. You're teething hardcore, but not too upset about it. And you still charm everyone with your default ear-to-ear grin.

With the exception of the week you were REALLY sick, you've been gaining at a wonderful rate! We're still just supplementing 6-7 oz/day via SNS, and it's making all the difference. I'm so grateful for the network of mom friends who care enough about you to share their milk! We go back to the doctor on Tuesday, so hopefully all will still check out well!

This next month will hopefully be calmer. Hard to believe it'll be the last month of your first half-year! It'll also be the last month of my extra flexible office schedule, so I hope we're able to enjoy these bonus days at home. I can't wait to see what you discover next!

Love,
Mommy

Four Months

Dear Wesley,

Well what a month it's been! First of all, look how much you've filled out! Our four month appointment isn't until tomorrow, but the extra 5-7 oz. of milk a day has made all the difference! You're gaining 7 oz./week, and, while you're still little, you were also born that way, so I'm quite happy with your progress!

You seem quite pleased with yourself, too. In this past month, you've continued to be more and more interactive. Everyone comments on how alert and strong you are. Your giggles still make my heart leap with joy, and your smiles can calm the most anxious spirit, especially handy when your mommy is a pastor during Advent... And speaking of Mommy's job, this month I also got to give you the most important bath of your life as you were incorporated into Christ's body, the church. What a joy and what a privilege!

Going back to work has been an adjustment, and at times I feel like I'm treading water in every area of my life. But then I look realistically and see that you're thriving and well-loved, Ethan is happy and just showing how well he plays independently (your big brother has quite the imagination!), and if it's been a couple of weeks since our carpets were vacuumed, it's not going to kill us. This too will pass, and in the meantime, I'm savoring the baby snuggles as the cobwebs grow.

Last night you slept a 9 hour stretch, much to Mommy's joy and accompanying discomfort! You're starting to drop your last nap of the evening, and it certainly makes the nighttime routine easier as a result. And yet, each of these little signs of your growing up are met with a slight pang as I realize that these days are just flying by. Maybe things will slow down enough in the next month that I can really enjoy them. However, since the next month will see your first trip to Atlanta and your first time meeting some of your extended family, I sort of doubt it =)

Love,
Mommy

Three Months

Note: As a sign of being a second child, this blog post was penned on Wesley's three-month-day, but I was waiting to post it until I got on my computer to attach the picture. And a month later... Oops!

Dear Wesley,

Today is both a day of celebration and a day of sadness for your mommy. First the celebration: We made it to 3 months on nothing but my milk! That's three times as long as we made it with your big brother. The sadness is that you still are itty-bitty, and the doctor wants you to be slightly less itty-bitty, so as of today, you are going to get some supplements. On the bright side, Mommy has a wonderful friend who is sharing some of her milk with us, and we'll be using a SNS instead of a bottle, so not too much will change from your side of things except that you'll get a bit more bang for your suck!

Now that the issue that's most pressing on Mommy's mind at the moment is out of the way, let's focus on how amazing you are, tiny though you may be! This past month, you became your own little person in many ways. You can roll over, you grin constantly, and your personality is starting to shine through. You are such a happy baby, and you are so very loved, especially by your big brother. You're sleeping longer and longer stretches (up to 6-7 hours at times!), and you still take most of your naps in Mommy's arms, right where you belong.

Mommy started back work this week, but it remains to be seen how much that will affect our lives. Hopefully you'll remain happily oblivious as you'll still be by Mommy's side the whole time. It will certainly be an adventure, but it's one we'll go on together!

I hope that this little extra bit of milk will make all the difference, my precious boy, and my worries and anxieties over you can ease up a little bit. Just in time for you to start making me worry in other ways, I'm sure! But I wouldn't have it any other way!

Love,
Mommy

Two Months

Dear Wesley,

How in the world are you already two months old?!?!? You are becoming more and more alert and interactive, grinning from ear to ear during diaper changes, when Mommy plays with your feet, when Daddy makes funny noises, etc. You'd still rather be nursing than about anything else, but you're content to hang out in your bouncer or on your activity mat while Mommy cooks, sews, and cleans. This makes for a happier time for everyone, and you still get to be with Mommy 23/7 on average!

You are still our little bitty guy. You've grown another inch but are still gaining slowly. You're definitely gaining and your diapers are still textbook so hopefully the doctor will help us figure it out on Monday, whether this is just how you grow or if we need to dig a little deeper. I wish you wouldn't make us worry so much, but I guess it's practice for the teenage years again.

The next month will see our biggest transition yet as I prepare to go back to work days before you turn three months. Don't worry, though! Mommy will still be with you all the time. We'll just spend more time in the car and get to know Mommy's coworkers a few days a week!

So for now I'm just savoring these last few days where you and your big brother are my only job. I hope you enjoy them, too!

Love,
Mommy

Construction Site 3rd Birthday Party

So despite having a barely 1-month-old in the house, I decided to go ahead with hosting a normal fun-filled birthday bash at home for Ethan's third birthday. Since he's obsessed with all things construction of late, the theme was pretty obvious! It was definitely more low-key than last year, but everyone had a wonderful time, and I was actually more creative than I'd expected as far as activities and such (thank you, Pinterest!).

The big decision this year was guest list. Last year, he'd just started preschool so we decided to go with some LLL friends, since they were the main ones who had invited him to parties thus far. This year, we had to choose from three groups: LLL, preschool, and the local meet-up group we've belonged to for 2.5 years. I decided to rule out LLL since there is such an age spread there and the kids closest to his age are mostly girls (I usually shy away from gender-stereotypes, but I wasn't sure how much fun they would have at a construction party based on the toys they usually bring to play with). With the preschool set, about half of his classmates are new so he doesn't really know them, a couple of the other ones aren't my favorite (sounds awful, but I got to know the kids working at the preschool last year...), and it just gets difficult inviting some but not others when that is all they have in common with other party goers. So in the end, I decided to go with the meet-up crew + Ethan's best friend from preschool since she is also a member of the meet-up group. That meant leaving out one preschool friend that we had wanted to invite, but he ended up going to the beach the week I did invitations anyway so it would have been too last minute by the time he got back. My main hesitancy in going with the meet-up group to start with was that I could not invite everyone I wanted to and still maintain my sanity, but in the end I just had to deal with leaving some friends out and hope they understand.

The invitation was not quite as involved as in years past, but I made it when I was 39 weeks pregnant and most of the time I had Ethan in my lap telling me, "That's a nice picture of an excavator you have, Mommy!" I used GIMP to create it, the same program I used for his first birthday party invitations, and it was much quicker going this time around. They don't look professional, but they're still cute and themed, so I was happy with them!

In years past, I've also done a banner. Each year, it's gotten less labor-intensive, and this year, I just stuck some construction-themed decals on the wall in the dining room. My in-laws got these for Ethan months ago, but I didn't have anywhere to put them and decided to save them for his party instead. It added some themed-interest to the house, but I certainly wouldn't have bought them for this purpose. They're still stuck on the wall as I write this so eventually I need to take them down and find a piece of plastic or something to stick them to so Ethan can have them to play with. No sense wasting them!

Once again, a simple spread this year. His party was at the same time as last year, but I just didn't have it in me to provide anything more than snacks. And since we've been to plenty of ending-at-lunch-time parties that only provided cake with no real food, I decided to be OK with that! So we had apples and grapes in a bowl and pretzels in the dump truck. I did make the cake, of course. Since I find myself not using carriers quite as much with Wesley as I did with Ethan, I did everything with him either asleep in my arms or nursing, so it was no small feat to make the cake! I'm quite pleased with how it turned out, and everyone was raving about it. Probably because I put 1/2 cup of (decaf) coffee in the icing. Coffee makes everything better, especially chocolate!

 

My little construction worker!

 

We spent most of the party outside this year since it was a BEAUTIFUL day. Seriously, it's like Autumn decided to descend for 24 hours just for Ethan's party. I had a few construction-themed activities set up. I took his busted kiddie pool and put sand in it with mini-construction vehicles. This was a big hit! Then of course we had the rock box for more digging fun. I also had been saving cardboard boxes (made easier by the large number of Amazon shipments received in the week leading up to Ethan's birthday!) to be used as outdoor building blocks. These were put out on the lawn, and I don't think people really knew what they were for. Once I explained it to one mom, she and her son went over and had a lot of fun with them, but everyone else stuck with the sand pit and rock box. Oh well! And of course, the goats and the chickens were a big hit as always.

As for the last picture in this series? Well, that's my favorite picture from the entire day. It's Ethan and his best friend from preschool. They are so cute talking to each other and hugging on each other. Seriously, every time they see each other, even if it's just been 2 minutes since they parted, they give each other a hug, and they were constantly walking around holding hands or with their arms around each other. Adorable.

 

 

It was a wonderful day, full of fun, friends, and family! Wesley did wonderfully, sleeping for about the first hour and then nursing for a bit before being passed around by the grandparents for the remainder of the party. One of my friends was laughing at me at one point because I was walking around with Wesley nursing in the ring sling and still taking pictures =) There's no such thing as single-tasking when you're a mom of 2! Ethan seemed to have a great time, and that's all that really matters!

So there you have it! 3-year-old birthday party with a 1-month-old went off without a hitch! Thanks to the visiting grandparents, clean-up was a breeze, and I enjoyed having the last few slices of cake this week as a reward for my efforts. Now next year I'll have to plan a 1-year-old party and a 4-year-old party within a month. Thankfully I have 11 months until then!

Three Years Old!

Dear Ethan,

It's been quite a year! You have changed so much, and it's such a joy and a privilege to watch you grow. You are hilarious, sweet, and oh so smart! You carry on adult conversations (complete with the occasional grown-up word...), you know exactly what you want and who you are, and you are always curious to learn more about the world around you and how it works. You love construction vehicles, cars, trucks, trains, and airplanes. You spend a lot of time playing with Play-doh, and your favorite color is purple. You make up narratives and plots as you play with your cars, speaking for them as they interact. You have quite the imagination!

The biggest change this year has been becoming a big brother. You are so proud! You tell everyone you meet all about it, and you are such a big helper. Every night before bed you tell me "Let me know if you need anything for Wesley! I'll bring you a clean diaper and put the dirty one in the pail!" You hug and kiss and sing to him. You reassure him when he cries. You speak to him in a special, softer voice just for him. Sure, you crash your toys and wake him up, but you also get down on the floor and try to play with him. Wesley is one lucky little boy to have a big brother like you!

You are so independent, but you still love Mommy and Daddy. You and Daddy have tickle/sword/rubberband-gun fights and take care of the animals each night. You go fishing and to the playground together. You watch excavator movies on YouTube every night before bed on his tablet. You cuddle and read with Mommy and help her run errands. You create Play-doh scenes while Mommy fashions traffic cones and barrels. And while our nursing days seem like they may be coming to an end, you still usually ask to nurse at least once a day.

It seems like there's not much you can't do. You're even writing your name already! I think 3 might be the most fun year yet!

Love,
Mommy