Seven Months with Baby L

We’re painting with all the colors of the wind with this month’s princess theme being Pocahontas! We dressed up as Pocahontas, Flit, and Meeko to celebrate our girl!

These are some of the updates and lessons we learned from this past month:

Routines are Allowed to Change
I was starting to feel a bit of resentment that I was the “default parent” even when Kev was home to help. He carries a very different mental load from mine where he makes sure the house is running smoothly, but sometimes I crave a break from parenting to take care of house chores instead. My therapist suggested checking in with Kev daily to see where we can switch tasks to help offload some of the stress from each other, and so far that’s been a game changer.

Will My Arthritis Ever Go Away?
My arthritis is gradually getting worse, and while unfortunately there’s no cure, I’ve been trying to put less strain on my hands and wrists whenever possible. I’ve been using a baby hip seat carrier which has helped shift some of the weight whenever I need to carry Baby L.

Sleep Training Will Happen… Eventually
Letting go of co-sleeping has been harder than I expected - while I would love to get a good night’s rest by having Baby L sleep in her own bassinet, there’s a special closeness in having her next to us in bed. We’ve been sporadically trying to sleep train, but I think it will still be a while longer until we fully commit to it.

“Me Time” is Possible, But Not Until the End of the Day
Making time for myself is increasingly more difficult these days. “Me time” is important, but it’s not something I can fully get to until the end of the day after we put Baby L to sleep. I tend to be impatient and there are times that I want to do things like journaling, editing, etc. during the day, but I find that I’m more stressed out trying to juggle it all vs. being able to quietly sit with all the thoughts floating in my head and properly focus when it’s quiet in the house.

xo,
Keshia