I've been pretty busy lately (hence the long delay in blogging!). Some friends and I have successfully pulled off a surprise birthday party bus for Justin and his friend Ryan who are now at the ripe old age of 30 :) and it was a much-needed BLAST. I've kind of been planning this since Justin turned 29, and then I got Ryan's girlfriend and some other friends in on it shortly thereafter, and we went all out with personalized t-shirts and bus decorations and crazy birthday hats and buttons and sashes that the guys happily wore all night long. It was awesome!
It was Harlee's first sleepover too... he stayed at my mom and dad's, and mom reported that while he did pretty well with his first overnight trip away from us, my she was a little sleep deprived... Harlee sported his "What Happens at Grandma's Stays at Grandma's" shirt the next day too... I, on the other hand, felt GREAT (and fortunately not hungover). I love co-sleeping, but it sure was nice to have one little break to sleep all through the night just me and the hubby.
Yes, we're still co-sleeping. I get asked that a handful of times, along with being told that's going to be a hard habit to break. I hope not, but I've decided not to worry about it. We'll cross that bridge when we get there. It's working for us, as it has been since he was born. I'm not sleep-deprived (except for those few nights during this teething period that he's gotten up WAY more than I prefer), it's actually much easier having him in bed because when he does wake up wanting to eat I don't actually have to get out of bed to tend to him. Plus, he's not going to be little forever. I want to take advantage of having this snuggly little thing next to me as much as I can, because he soon enough he won't be snuggly and little anymore. The one thing I've heard the most from parents is that time goes by way too fast. First you've got this tiny newborn in your arms and before you know it they're asking for the car keys. So many parents are so sad to see their kids grow up so fast, or cry on their first day of school, and I don't want to be like that. I want to embrace every passing stage and phase that he goes through and build up as many fond memories as I can during each one. I've had myself braced since the day he was born for time to fly by, and I think it's helped. He's six months old, and that actually feels about right, rather than "Oh my god where did the time go??" I don't feel like I missed anything, I don't feel sad that he's growing so fast, I feel like we're just where we need to be. I was excited when he learned to roll over, I'm excited that he can sit up now, and I'm super excited to start him on solids next week (although I'm not excited about the stinky poop that comes with that...).
Nope, he's still not on solids. That seems kind of odd, beings most babies are on some sort of solids at three-four months lately, but I guess it's kind of rare that they're breastfed past that time too. I know everyone's case is different, but I'm beginning to think I'm one of very few moms left still breastfeeding, which is odd because really I'm still in the beginning of it. That's another thing I get asked a lot - "Are you still breastfeeding?" Sadly, I've been asked that since he was three months... Yes, I'm still breastfeeding - I brought him into this world, I should probably keep him fed while he's here, huh? I hope to still be breastfeeding when he's a year, too. Just because he's eating big people food doesn't mean he should be done breastfeeding - I've got the best nutrition for him right now, and he needs to be supplemented with that probably for the first two years of his life. I don't know if I'll nurse that long, though - I figure I'll play it by ear after he's a year. Breastfeeding can definitely be hard and demanding, like on the party bus this weekend, having to take a break to pump isn't really the most fun, but it's worth it.
I guess sometime soon I need to find an ideal blender, either one specifically for baby food or a regular blender that I can use for baby food as well. I'm excited to start making my own baby food. It seems easy enough, and much cheaper! Plus a lot more trustworthy - I like having complete control over what's in it and what my kid consumes. I've had my eye on the Baby Bullet, but there's a handful of other blenders out there too. Any suggestions would be much appreciated!
Speaking of saving money by making our own baby food, oh my goodness do I love cloth diapering! That's been our biggest money-saver so far! I'm sooooo glad we switched. I went on GreenMountainDiapers.com and ordered the Thirsties Duo wrap and I love it - I now have 8 of them and that lasts us for 2-3 days - and I use their Cloth-eez Prefold Diapers inside the Thirsties cover - only folded in thirds too, so I don't need to fumble around with folding and pinning and all that. You can, but you don't have to. I got two dozen of those. I change out the prefold when I change him, and the cover can usually be used about 2-3 times. No leaks, and best of all no blow-outs (and if anyone follows me on Facebook and remembers my posts from before our cloth diaper days, Harlee had LOTS of blow-outs and that's just a nasty mess that I don't think anyone cares to deal with!). It's so easy, nothing like what our grandparents messed with when they were using cloth diapers. Much better for the environment too :). And they're super cute!
Alright, well, kiddo is awake so I'm going to go play with him. Here's one more picture of the cutie pie though:
Photos courtesy of Be Lovely Photography, which were taken at our house yesterday. He did soooooo good, we had such a great time! JJ makes it a lot of fun anyway, she's become more of a friend than our photographer!
