Making me Happy: Being able to stay home with my daughter. A Stay at Home Mother/Wife's job is never done but don't let people tell you it isn't work. I recently read that women who are SAHM/Ws work an average of 90 hour weeks, versus an average of 72 hours for a partner who works out of the home. This includes duties such as childcare, housekeeping, grocery shopping, bill paying, the lot. It isn't a job for everyone but its a job I take with pride. I do my best to "dress for success!" even if I never leave these four walls for the day. My daughter and my family are my everything and I know I am blessed to get the opportunity to stay at home and watch her grow.
Excited For: Now that the holidays are over and we are through the first few months of our girls life, I am thrilled to start getting out more and seeing friends. I am blessed to have a few great girlfriends who all have little ones (who are also all girls!) that live close by. One is six months older than my daughter, the other is eight weeks younger. As spring approaches, we will be seeing eachother more which means more adult interaction during the day. Now THAT'S something to smile about!
Thinking About: Our progress with Little One's sleep schedule. She has been an amazing sleeper from the get go, but now we are facing a bit of a challenge. She wakes up an hour or so after bedtime and its a workout to get her to go back to bed. She's also having some troubles soothing herself to sleep during the day for naps. Now, I know she's only 14 weeks old, but I can't help but think Are we doing something wrong? We are big into baby wearing and she will fuss and fuss and fuss until we put her into the Moby wrap where she eventually falls asleep.During the day I have been letting her sleep that way, and at night its a careful removal of the Moby to place her into the pack-n-play by my bedside. Sheer exhaustion!
I will say, I nursed her to sleep in our bed just now for a morning nap and carefully put her in the PNP. As of now she's been sleeping a solid 28 minutes -- hooray! Some time with her asleep and not on my person! (ETA: She literally woke up after I finished writing the previous sentence. Nap attempt #2 was explosive and is resulting with her in the Moby wrap, currently :/ )
Reading: I've got two books I'm thumbing through right now:
1) On my kindle, I'm re-reading parts of Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child to troubleshoot the issues laid out above. I started reading this book toward the end of my pregnancy and had a good idea of what I would try. Needless to say, I've forgotten most of it and in between nursing sessions, I find myself desperately trying to find some insight in the pages.
2) From the library I've been reading (and have just about completed) Brain Rules for Baby: How to Raise a Smart and Happy Baby from Zero to Five. So far I've enjoyed what appears to be a good advice book. Its a pretty easy read that is backed with research and real life experiences from moms and dads alike. So far I've taken away that the television in our home needs to be off more than I care to admit its been on. Most researchers and pediatricians, the author writes, suggest NO screen time before the age of two. Makes sense. It has been difficult, I won't lie, but I've actually enjoyed having the radio on more. I've actually gotten into some old albums I haven't listened to forever and find the absence of the television sort of liberating. After our sweet girl goes to bed, we tune in and I find that I actually enjoy watching TV more now that I've limited our exposure. Its not perfect (weekends are hard to not have the TV on), but its progress!
I like this book so well I may do a review on it in a following post. There are more points I wish to outline so that I won't forget down the road. We shall see!
Listening To: As I mentioned above, the TV being less present has afforded me the time to listen to podcasts and albums I haven't visited in quite some time. Last week I really enjoyed listening to Miles Davis' Kind of Blue. It honestly put me in such a great mood - I even cleaned up the house with it on! Some other albums I enjoyed recently are: Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and right now I'm listening to Neil Young's Harvest (while my girl sleeps on my chest)
In fact, if you haven't noticed the trend, I've enjoyed searching YouTube for "full albums" and playing them over our AppleTV. Its amazing how many are on there!
Watching: Over the weekend my husband and I enjoyed Looper - a sci-fi flick with Bruce Willis and Joseph Gordon Levitt. Well, I think I enjoyed it. When I think about the details of all the time travel, my head starts to spin. Good storyline though!
Well there you have it, my first Currently post. They may look different in the future, but there it is for now :D
my sweet girl and I a month ago today.
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