Firstly, I must apologize! I have been so bad at blogging and commenting - wow a whole month! Spring has definitely "sprung" here, with lots and lots and lots of rain! Today is finally a sunny day and I can see my gorgeous tulips standing tall and colourful. I still remember my younger sister on her hands and knees planting them for me last fall while I was way too preggo to bend down, but I really, really, really wanted pretty tulips :). So I just pointed and bossed her around LOL. My sister rocks! :)
Elliott has been doing great - he is 7 months! He's babbling (sorta more like uh uh uh, mummmmhmm), screaming in excitement and can sit up for about 20 minutes before getting a bit tipsy - I find that if I give hims this ball toy that lights up he will be able to sit much longer as he's trying to figure out how to play with it and make it play a tune.
Life has been great with my ever changing baby. Every day there is something new or funny that I can't wait to share with my hubby when he gets home from work and we have a good laugh about it after. I can already tell that Elliott has a big personality. Very head strong and passionate (I'd like to think a combo of both of us) and a wee bit impatient sometimes (I think that would be from me lol) He loves looking at my face and touching my eyes, nose, cheeks and of course, he loves to pull on mommy's hair haha!
I've slowly been introducing new foods to him each week. For the record, he HATES butternut squash so I will have to find someway to mix it in with something else because I don't want it all to go to waste. I love the Baby Cubes that stores the food neatly in its own tray and be stacked in the freezer or fridge. Oh he also hates peas but I don't blame him. I tasted it after I saw his expression and subsequent gagging reflex so my hubby asked me if I've tried it first? So I tasted it and promptly made the same reaction as E.
May 7th, 2011 was our official last day of breastfeeding. I was very sad that it came to an end but I did what I thought was best for the both of us. You see, from the last time I posted about this, I had tried to keep E on the boob longer and more frequently but he would arch his back and refuse to nurse and just cry and cry..it was stressing the both of us out. I hated seeing him so upset and I didn't like how it was making me feel either. So I talked to my hubby, I talked to my mom, and also some mom girlfriends. With their support, I finally came to the decision that it was time to stop forcing him and just go with 100% bottle. I wouldn't say I'm 'happy' about the decision but it is one that I am comfortable with and that I know now, that it was the right decision and time to do so. E started to thrive again and we were both happy and back on track. I know that a lot of you who are new mamas are still bf'ing and I am so, so proud of you. I know how tough and what a sacrifice it can be sometimes and whenever is the right time for you to wean, will be the right time. I just hope that you all can understand that it really pained me to arrive at this decision as I thought I could go on longer. I hope you don't think I'm a bad mother! :(
Now as for the title of this post, it relates to sleep. Ah, glorious sleep. Everytime someone IRL asks me, oh how is Elliott sleeping at night? They almost always follow my response by saying "oh, you're so lucky you have a baby that sleeps through the night!"
I always correct them.
We worked hard to get to this point, getting him staying asleep for 11-12 hours a night.
There were nights of rocking, walking, bouncing on a ball.
Then there were long nights of crying, shushing, reassuring, and holding.
Then he started sleeping 6 hours. (2.5 months)
Then 7. (3 months)
Then 9. (3.5 months)
Then 11. (4 months + now)
There are still some nights (few, but still some) that he will suddenly wake up crying, but we've noticed that most of time, he will settle back to sleep. There are times (such as last night) that he couldn't calm himself down so we would have to hold him and pat him, and start the whole going to bed routine again. So yes, I guess we are lucky. We are lucky that he took so well to sleep training early on and that it has stuck - for now. I can really see a difference between Elliott and other babies in our Mommy/Baby Fitness class that are not sleeping through the night. They are more fussy, super needy, and can't focus for a long period of time. I tried to tell them that they really need to start and commit to sleep training but they tell me that they can't stand hearing their baby cry. Even for 5 minutes. Unfortunately, I think that if they can't do that, then they will still be getting up 5-6 times a night. :(
On the homefront, relationship with hubby has been great as we continue to learn each day how to handle the situations that come at us with baby. Taking a trip as a family really helped with that, whether we resisted it or not :) I really am glad that we have fallen into our roles as parents quite comfortably. I'm sure there will be lessons that we both learn along the way and he's been nothing but a great daddy to E. We've been *ahem* "close" since E was about 2-3 months so I think it really helps to keep the intimacy there. I haven't gone back on bc pills and I don't plan to so we are just using regular protection. We chatted recently about the timing of "planning" for the next one. I say 'plan' rather liberally because we know that plans, well, they don't always pan out the way you had imagined. I am a tad fearful of what will happen as we're trying for the 2nd baby but I know once again, it's in God's hands and we just need to go with whatever comes our way. Don't worry though, we won't even be trying until end of this year or early next - depending on how things go. I think it will be very different the next time around. Having been through such a roller coaster ride to stay pregnant, I'm sure there is a little bit of toughness there that I have left.
But I'm liking where I am now. I am happy and gaining more confidence each day at being a mom and the only aches and pains I have are from working out hard the day before. I hope all of you are well and happy. I continue to think about and pray for all of you, especially those that are going through some bumps in the road.
One more pic to leave you with from Mother's Day:
