This weekend was special because…
- Clara and I went to a sing-a-long with other babies, moms and seniors at a nursing home and Clara really enjoyed it! She loves songs and music. I’m glad she’s now at an age where she can enjoy outings with me!
- I finally went to the eye doctor, which I’ve been avoiding for way, way too long.
- It was gorgeous weather here in Chicago. Like, 65 degree gorgeous! In March!
- We decided to participate in the craziness of St Patrick’s day by taking Clara downtown to see the green river. Then we decided to stay down there to see some friends (my college roomie!) at a nearby bar. It was fun to see the ridiculousness that is St Patty’s day, while not fully participating in it. I think Clara especially enjoyed the bagpipes.
- We spent time with Tim’s aunt who we don’t see as much as we’d like.
- We celebrated Pi day by eating pear apple cranberry pie with pecan crumble from Hoosier Mama Pie Company, which is a fantastic place to get pie. I had wanted to try it forever, so I’m so glad I finally did. I will now be eating their pies weekly, at least. Seriously.
- We went out to brunch with my brothers and mom to Lula Cafe. At first we were told there would be a 2 hour wait, but then (miraculously) we were seated immediately! If you’re in Chicago, make sure that’s on your list of places to go. And if you’re vegetarian or vegan, definitely get the tofu scramble. It’s seriously the very best thing ever.
- I went on a jog for the first time in forever. It still sucked. My post-pregnancy body seriously does not remember how to run and I’m really getting frustrated by it. Still, it was nice to be exercising outdoors for a change!
- We went to church as a family for the first time in way too long. Clara went to the children’s room for the first time and did great! The volunteers said she was really good and didn’t really cry at all. Three cheers for that!
The reason this weekend was so special in a lot of ways is because we were finally able to take Clara out and about and do our normal activities with her. Over the last week we’ve been working on her sleep schedule, and this entails cutting her naps down from three naps per day to two naps per day. Also, we aren’t letting her sleep longer than 2 hours at a time during the day. I might post more about our attempts at ‘sleep training’ at a later time (if anyone is interested), but for now what’s important is that her sleep schedule allows us more freedom as a family! Instead of needing to put her down every 2 hours, we now have 3 to 4 hours to hang out before she needs to sleep again.
I absolutely love being out and about with my baby girl, especially with such beautiful weather! I love being able to show her things and watch her as she sees the world for the first time and share experiences with her… it’s one of the best parts about being a mom! I’m really not a stay-at-home type person, so this new phase we’re starting to embark on is doing great things for my soul.
I’m starting to feel a bit of freedom again!
Once upon a time I was great at going out with Clara. When she was a newborn (once I recovered from my c-section) I was always taking her places with me. She would sleep the day away and was very portable – so we had fun together! Or, rather, I had fun and she was well-rested. Then when she got to be about 4 months old, things changed. Around that time, she decided she only wanted to nap in her crib and we fought to get her on a schedule.
I’m convinced sleep schedules make even the sanest parents a bit nuts. I mean, who wants to live their life in 2 hour increments?! Not me!
Thankfully, I think this phase is ending. Clara can now comfortably go 3-4 hours between naps, which means we can cut down to 2 naps per day – phew!
And now that this transition has taken place, I’m going to enjoy it by getting our butts out of the house as frequently as possible. As some of you moms probably know, this is easier said than done. Sometimes it’s easier to just stay at home with a baby, since going out consists of making sure there is food and diapers and no naps needing to take place and toys and a diaper bag and clean diapers and … I mean, the list goes on. And sometimes I just don’t want to fight that battle.
But I’m trying to overcome those overwhelmed feelings and do it anyway.
Clara was able to join us at brunch over the weekend. Also, if you have a teething little one, you need these
Take church, for example. Usually Tim and I watch our church service from the comfort of our home. Our church offers live streaming of the services, which works out great for us! We can eat breakfast and watch the service while Clara is taking her first nap of the day. But, we miss our community on Sundays, so yesterday we decided to physically go to church.
And it was great. We made it there on time. We dropped Clara off with childcare. We sat through a great service on worship. We saw and chatted with a bunch of friends. We picked Clara up and she had dry eyes. And we came home and put her down for her nap. Yes, we had to prolong her first nap a bit longer than we would have liked to, but it was oh-so-worth it.
I’m writing this post for a few reasons.
| I want to commiserate with those moms who feel like they can’t do anything because of their babies schedule, and encourage them that this is normal and fine and more importantly, it will end!
| I also want to encourage those moms who have babies with consistent nap schedules to take the challenge to leave the house, at least once per day! Yes, it can seem daunting, but it’s also worth it for your sanity and for the change in scenery for your little one!
I’m sure that by the time I have another baby, I’ll be a pro at this sort of thing, but for now, I’m figuring this stuff out as I go! Even though it seems like a small deal even as I write this, to me, this week was a big success for me and our family.
