Also of note, this is Morgan's 4th valentines day outfit. She got me back today with a lovely explosive diaper. Ha!
Watching your baby get her first round of shots is the saddest thing ever! Morgan cried (screamed!), I cried. It seemed like an eternity for them to administer them in her little chunky thighs. I felt so bad. Snoopy band aids to the rescue.
Also of note, this is Morgan's 4th valentines day outfit. She got me back today with a lovely explosive diaper. Ha!
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Our little real life cabbage patch girl had to get her first round of vaccines on this Valentine's Day so we got her photo session for the holiday out of the way this morning, after our AM trip to Starbucks of course ;) She's growing up so fast!
Dear Morgan,
On our walk home from lunch with Erin (Daddy's friend from high school), we stopped by church and got our ashes for Ash Wednesday. You snoozed through the event but I sat in the last pew and allowed myself some mindful prayer and meditation time that has seemed to escape me since you've been born. A wash of emotions came over me as I sat there thanking god for all of our blessings and for you, this healthy and vibrant little child who we've been given to raise and nurture. The past 8 weeks have been life changing for us and taking those few silent moments fueled me in a way that I needed yesterday afternoon, allowing me to find perspective in the daily newborn pangs. I was a calm and relaxed mama leaving church and found myself smiling at every corner as we continued back home. I rocked you to sleep last night with such enjoyment, soaking in your sweet cheeks & face, smelling the straight from the bath perfect baby scent on the top of your head as you lay swaddled in my arms. These times are flying by and I know a day will come when bouncing you into dreamland wont be required, where your yawns and coos will be replaced by forceful toddler "NOs" of not wanting to go to sleep. And while the peaks and valleys of these first few months are starting to become a blur, I want to always remember how it feels to cradle you in my arms when you were just as you are now...almost 2 months old and just a perfect gift from above. Week 7: Be ok with 45min naps. Put baby to sleep drowsy but awake. Stop naps in baby carriers if at all possible (and if we're out and she falls asleep, fine!)
Lots of good changes made last week in week 7 of Morgan's life. It was freeing in alot of ways for me, allowing the scheduling aspect to fizzle and just enjoy her and let her lead the way. With friends in town and a few meals out, I'd say we did OK. Lots of visitors, extra commotion, and Morgan rolled with it. In fact, it wasn't even a big deal to her. Babies, I'm telling you---I can't believe how resiliant and adaptable they are. I'm still a huge ball of tired but you know what? I'm managing and it's all a very good lesson in rolling with the punches. Week 8: Nurse on-demand. Do away with the iPhone baby tracker app. Be OK with leaving her (even if she won't take a bottle.) While we gave up on the napping schedule, I was still trying to hold strong to the nursing every 2.5-3hrs or so. Partially because I didnt want Morgan associating nursing with falling asleep and getting into a rut with that, and partially because I dont want to feel like a dairy cow. But here's what I've come to realize, Morgan still doesn't do anything consistantly. And I have to be OK with that. A fast eater, she will sometimes nurse for 5min and push away as if to say "you put that thing back in my face I swear to god I'll lose my sh*t" and other times I look at the clock and think there's no way she just nursed for 15-20min (that is a loonnnngg time for my speed nurser daughter.) Until this morning, I was timing every feeding of hers, clocking every diaper, and noting every nap time...SINCE SHE'S BEEN BORN. Yes, for 8 weeks around the clock I was glued to the Baby Connect app in a fierce way. And if the doctor asked me how many times she nursed a day I could not only tell her the count but also the average time, the longest interval btwn feeds, and every other metric you could possibly imagine. This satisfied me in a number of self-controlling ways but was again, becoming way too stressful as I worried my heart out if she seemed to not follow suit from previous days (because I could check and confirm and not have to rely on my mush of a brain right now.) But today? It's gone. No more Baby Connect. And I'm telling you, I feel better already. Mama needs a haircut in the most desperate of ways and tomorrow I'll be leaving her for a bit to take care of these split ends and tattered locks. She'll take the bottle if she's hungry enough and if she doesn't, ah well. She wont die. If she screams the whole time I'm gone (which I highly doubt, she's more of a fusser), she'll survive :) Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get back to this week's episode of Girls and my frozen york peppermint patty (apparently this pregnancy craving has become permenant...) My kind of Saturday with our little family. (And undeniably, a far cry from Saturdays we used to live.) 7am has replaced the leisurly no-alarm-clock mornings of yesteryear and the late trendy brunch has turned into a definitive breakfast before noon. But today was a highlight since Morgan's been with us for so many reasons. To start things off, she experienced her first snow walk through Central Park after Nemo dumped a foot of snow in our "backyard." While she may have snoozed the entire time, it was so peaceful to be some of the first to stomp and tread through the fresh white powder in CP. Not more than a handful of runners on the road, a few young families charging with their little ones up the hills, and many sets of cute couples snapping pictures in the city oasis turned winter wonderland. As we marched through untouched banks of snow, we marveled together at how quiet it seemed and laughed at how Morgan was totally unphased. (Gosh, she loves that Bjorn. She's out like a light in 3-5min flat once in its cocoon.) Afterwards, we ate breakfast and laughed with our dear friends Will & Stacy and their daughter Paige who are in town visiting from Florida...no reservation necessary, no perfectly put together J.Crew outfit needed at 10am. A sweatshirt and snowboots will do just fine on the UWS. And to round out the afternoon, mama took herself to her very first spin class since the little peanut was born! Armed with a 4oz bottle and a sleepy baby, I left Lee with Morgan and to Flywheel I went. Good lord have I missed that "me time." The march to the studio. Setting up my bike. Feeling the energy that takes over the room as the lights go out and the torque board goes on. As nervous as I was (hello, nursing mom here), I vowed to flick off the Mom switch and allow myself to be in the moment. (My mom and I discussed a few weeks ago how she felt even more determined in her workouts after having me because time was so limited. And it's so true!) I have never been more convicted in class, pushing myself in each climb series more than I ever had in the past, loving the sweat and the burn. I was practically in tears at the end of class, just so happy to have allowed myself to do something FOR myself. And the smile I received when I came home to Morgan? PRICELESS. (It was like a "hey! where did you go!? I got so hungry I HAD to take a bottle from Dad!" kind of grin and I loved it ;)
So tonight...we'll get M down by 830, start Season 3 of Downton Abbey, eat some stew, pour some wine and chalk Feb 9th up there as one heck of a weekend day well lived. Let's get out of baby mode for a hot second, shall we? I haven't done one of these posts in AGES. A bit of a change up since my free time is in 40min chunks when Morgan naps so here we go, sans photos, but links provided!
If you're blonde and want to extend a blowdry or wash your hair less frequently, this is by far the best dry shampoo volumizer I've ever discovered. For new moms in your life or mamas to be, a simply way to document each and every day without it being overwhelming. One line a day! The perfect tshirt. The ABSOLETLY perfect long sleeved tshirt. Easy way to snazz up a simple daily outfit. If you're in NYC, march yourself to Levain and just get one of each. Have your life changed. And go back every week like me for a midday treat;) No post of favorites is complete without a candle reccomendation. Best bedroom scent there is! Go to town! Hope you love! It is really easy as a new Mom to fall into the rut of comparison and the what your baby "should" be doing pot. From the moment you leave the hospital, it's all about counting diapers, managing hours between feeds, and figuring out how to get your little one to sleep. For each of those categories, there are a million and one subcatagories and theorists on how best to complete each baby task. And let me tell you, it is exhausting. For me, I easily fell into the pattern the past few weeks of trying to get Morgan on a schedule...a "routine" more or less. I am not someone who functions well outside the bounderies of a daily planner (and I like having lunch dates and visitors over or plan an outing) that by week 6, in my mind...scheduling Morgan became a necessity. So I looked to Babywise and to The Baby Whisperer and tried to follow the eat-play-sleep or EASY (eat activity sleep youtime) and quickly realized it didnt feel natural. I was trying desperately to get Morgan to go 3hrs between feedings and extend her naps by using a carrier. She would snooze for hours on end with all my props to get her to sleep and stay asleep but it was seriously wearing me thin. I didn't and couldn't see an end to it all. She has to sleep right? Why can't she, on her own, sleep in those 1-2hr stretches in the Rock N Play like she does in the Bjorn or Moby wrap? My ah-ha moment came this morning after a chat with KCS (read: me breaking down in tears, she listening and providing such sound advice from the mouth of a reflux fussy baby mama too.) I just had to let it go. Let go of my expectations of when and how and how long it will take to soothe her back to sleep. I was becoming completely unraveled and unable to even enjoy my sweet girl! She coached me on basic mama things that I needed to hear: follow your baby's lead not that of a website. I was wanting Morgan to so terribly take on the perfect 3-hour routine that I wasn't allowing her to do so on her own with some tweeking. So she naps for only 35-45min each time? Ah well. Normal (on the low side but normal.) It takes a number of pick up/put down shhh's and white noise makers to get her to calm? Normal. And if she's fine just laying in her Rock N Play awake but not crying? Let her work it out. Allow her to attempt to self soothe. All of this is a bit more difficult with a baby with reflux but as we get that issue in check and have less nap interruptions due to her little system being awry, the more time we will have to get into a good solid nap groove.
Today, I finally found like I got MY day back. And it was because I let Morgan lead the way. I took her cues and acted appropriately, helping get her to a drowsy state to fall asleep by herself or feed her more when (even though it had only been 1.5hrs), it seemed like what she needed. I enjoyed my daughter today more than any other day since she was born. Letting go of the expectations and allowing my daughter to be who she will be...pretty big parenting lesson learned right there, huh? Hands down, the best cards recieved for baby Morgan were from her second cousins Ella & Grace! You girls are the best. Morgan can't wait to meet you in May!
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AuthorSarah: one part of a family of THREE with my husband Lee and sweet girl Morgan, simply wanting to chronicle the path I'm on and the path that will come to be. For now it's NYC urban mamaville where everyday is a new adventure! (Actually, just getting to the post office is an adventure.) Ask Me Anything!Blogettes I LoveJoey & The Owl
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August 2015
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