You’ll understand when you have children of your own! Did you ever hear that when you were in high school? It didn’t ring true until we had this little fella in our lives. I feel like every waking second is spent worrying….is he too cold? too hot? where did he get that mark? oh no, he has a rash! why isn’t he eating??? is he going to suffocate with his lovey in the crib? I would say it took a good seven months to “calm down.” Even now, I’m still in panic mode over little things like hitting his head.
With all that being said, Scott and I have experienced a joy that is completely indescribable. Yes, a baby turns your world upside down and there are things that I miss doing. Yet, at seven months, we have this little human that is bursting with personality. My bestie from back home always said, it’s a different kind of fun. It really is. In the first few months you are trying to get to know one another. You’re trying to work a schedule. Your little human is trying to grow accustomed to the great big world around him and as a parent you’re trying to figure him out. He spent nine months all cozy in the womb and now he has to be in the real world! At this point, we have a schedule and a system going and Grady seems to be a happy baby enjoying and exploring the world around him.
Grady’s Schedule
You can’t put a baby on a schedule! If I had a dollar for every time someone told me this my kid’s college would be paid for! It took a good four months, but yes, Grady has a schedule. This schedule is not ironclad. I mean, there is wiggle room and we make adjustments according to certain things (if he has a class, teething, bad days, etc.) but for the most part, Grady knows what to expect. I guess that’s the teacher in me. My students always did really well if they knew what to expect.
Here’s a typical day for G. Like I said, sometimes things are moved around but this is a general idea of how things go day to day:
- 6:00 Rise and Shine!
- 6:30 First feed (6-8 ounces) and play
- 8:00 First nap
- 9:00 wake
- 9:30 second feed
- 10:30 snack and play
- 11:30 second nap
- 12:30 wake and third feed
- 1:30 snack and play
- 3:00 third nap
- 4:30 wake, fourth feed and play
- 7:00 dinner feed
- 7:30 bedtime
No, Grady doesn’t sleep for exactly an hour each time (sometimes it’s more, sometimes less). No, he doesn’t always want a snack (sometimes he just wants formula all day). No, we are not home all day (sometimes we are out for his gym classes, music, or he goes with ME to the gym). I just make sure he gets 3.5-4 hours of naps during the day and at least 2 are in the crib. This book (The Sleep Easy Solution) helped me to learn how much sleep he should be getting during the day and helped me with scheduling. I also don’t wake him if I don’t have to. I schedule his classes AROUND his nap times.
Someone made the comment to me, You’re such a slave to his nap schedule… and I had to let that person know that it’s only for a little while and I’d rather be a slave to his schedule for a little while than to have a cranky baby. As he gets older we won’t be napping at much!
What Grady is Eating
For the most part, he’s getting formula. He usually eats 8-10 ounces per feeding. I started to introduce “solids” but for a time, Grady just wasn’t interested and I didn’t want to push it. I’m also skipping the baby food altogether. I’ve read up on Baby Led Weaning and we’re kinda dipping our toes in it. One thing I notice about Grady is that he wants to be in control of the food going into his mouth and I’m all for that! He doesn’t like being spoon fed and if I do give him something that requires a spoon and bowl, he likes to grab it and steer it to his mouth himself. Some of the foods we’ve tried:
- avocado
- bananas
- steamed apple slices (sprinkled with cinnamon)
- roasted carrots (sprinkled with cinnamon)
- roasted yellow peppers
- scrambled and boiled eggs
- steamed cauliflower
- pears
- strawberries
- oatmeal (I steam and then puree an apple or a banana and add that to the oatmeal. Then I add a sprinkle of nutmeg and cinnamon. This one is always a mess because he wants to do it himself.)
I tried boiling the carrots until they were super soft. He gagged on them (which is typical for Baby Led Weaning) but it scared him to the point where he started crying and refused to try anymore. The book says that when the babies gag, that it doesn’t bother them and they continue to eat as though nothing happened. Well, I wish I could say that about Grady because the minute he gags, he freaks out and wants out of the high chair. Now I just make sure that I roast the vegetables al dente and he practices chewing on them rather than actually eat them. He seems to enjoy that and is more interested in looking at the food, feeling it and seeing what it tastes like. I feel like maybe he’s not developmentally ready to try solids? Our motto is food before one is just for fun! It’s definitely taken the stress out of the whole puree baby food thing.
What Grady is Doing
I would not be telling the truth if I said that I had a happy baby all the time. Grady has his bad days like anyone else. He’s been teething for MONTHS now and he has days where he’s super cranky with explosive poop. Yeah, that’s not fun. Separation anxiety hasn’t gotten to be a huge problem yet but he goes through phases where he just wants me to hold him all the time. He also hates getting diaper and clothes changes these days. He fights tooth and nail when you try to get him in clean clothes. My mom mentioned that he was a “strong willed baby.” Yikes!
When he IS in a good mood, he’s crawling around the floor exploring the house. I realized that many of his toys are infant toys and that maybe we needed to get some things that were more developmentally appropriate.
Grady loves a good stroller ride, whether it be a lap around the neighborhood or riding for 30 minutes in the jogger. Same goes for cars, golf carts, boats…he just loves to ride.
He’s been attending My Gym since he was about 8 weeks old. I think he likes the change in scenery and getting out of the house. The girls that run the program are really good and always have fun activities planned. Music Together was another fun class we took. He loved the singing and Ms. Mandy (music teacher) was the first person to get him to laugh!
What’s going on with your baby? I’d love to hear about what your baby and the kinds of things you are trying!