What motherhood looks like right now

Hey.

The last time I shared what motherhood was looking like, she was practically brand new still.  What a great excuse for me to show you a ridiculous number of photos of her!

Gosh- I just looked back at the first motherhood post, and while many of the emotions are the same, our life has changed significantly in the last six months.  (And mothers everywhere are saying, "duh.")

This is how it looks now, with an eight month old:

Still taking loads of pictures.  (Obviously)

Still checking to see if she's breathing from time to time.  (I can't help myself.)

Still going to Target, but now it's just a way for us to get out of the house and we don't worry about the time of day- turns out Target is very nursing friendly.

Still cracking up at her faces, her sounds, her personality.  She is truly a delight.

Laughing as she talks to herself in mirrors.

Realizing that soon I will probably not be able to eat whenever I want in front of her.  I actually said these words out loud the other day, "No, Evelyn.  You already had lunch- this is for Mom. Go away."  (Just being protective of my food, guys- it's not that I didn't want her around!)  Also- she has her begging face dooooooown.

Feeling little hands pull their way up my legs.  She has pulled my sweats off twice this way.  Activities done with the following view include, but are not limited to: doing dishes, cooking, and bathroom breaks.

Longing for nap time so I can get things done or have some "me" time, but missing her by the time she wakes up.

 

Speaking of naps- only two a day now.  We started regulating them a bit, and now she typically has one morning and one afternoon nap.  And now that she puts herself to sleep on her own for them, we snuggle for a bedtime story, and then I smile while I listen to her babble to herself until she falls asleep.  It's the sweetest.  (Oh let's be real- everything she does is the sweetest.)

Sleeping through the night again!  Boy, she really spoiled us at the start.  She didn't start waking up during the night until about three months in, and it just got worse and worse until last month.  Then we started letting her cry it out and regulating naps.  Now she sleeps all night, we start our day at a more reasonable time, and are generally happier all around. 

Holding my breath and deciding whether I should step in at moments.  I mentioned this before, but I don't want to coddle her too much.  I want her to be strong, but know that Mom is right there if she needs her.

Looking forward to bath times.  She has always enjoyed them, but it's much less troublesome to me now that she can steadily sit on her own.  She's figuring out she can splash and play, so I caved and grabbed a couple bath toys at the store the other day, but she still prefers conditioner tubes or cups.  Go figure.

Loving our reading time.  I've really been trying to spice up my characters' voices.  Go big or go home, right?  She really is attentive to the stories and pulls herself up to get a closer look at the pictures much of the time.

A lot less sitting.  At least peaceful sitting.  Since she's started crawling and standing, my day sounds like this: "We don't play with cords.  That's not for baby Evelyns.  We don't climb on the fish tank.  We don't want to chew that basket.  Where are you going?  Does that seem like a good thing to climb on?"  

Whispering our way through closing the blinds and curtains, and then standing beside her crib, telling her how much I love her as she rests her head on my shoulder, winding down for sleep.

Marveling at how simple nursing seems now.  I cannot stress enough how much it has changed.  I had heard people talk about how painful it was, but I did. not. understand. until I bawled for an hour after a brief run-in with my bath towel.  One day, just- poof.  It stopped.  And now I can't get over how convenient it is.

But of course, now I get to laugh, or try not to laugh, while I feed her baby food.  I laugh because she growls at almost every spoonful and flails her arms.  I try not to laugh because she gets so excited that she blows the food out half of the time.

Giving her sips of water and every once in a while a taste of an orange.

Cheering as she starts to stand on her own or takes steps holding our hands.  And being baffled at how she is old and big enough to do this already.  

Rearranging the bookcase, TV stand, and anything else that may be within her grasp so that she won't cause major destruction.

Dancing around the kitchen, singing in silly voices and throwing out jazz hands and kicks to get her to laugh.  (She was just really focused on chewing her doll's arm- she really is entertained by me.)

Wishing warm weather would head our way soon because cabin fever.

Getting the biggest kick out of watching her play with her dad.  Her giggles are the. best.

Well, that's just a quick peek at how things are now.  We are just loving it, and motherhood is shaping up to be way cooler than I thought it would be,

Talk to you later.

Aim