Month 7 of Motherhood – The Solid Saga Continues

This parenting thing is crazy. I feel like it’s a constant guessing game of “is this normal?” It is mind blowing to me that you can be given a child with absolutely no qualifications, no framework, no guide book, and no idea what you’re getting yourself into. I’ve read so many books, so many blogs, and so many articles trying to figure out this little human and he’s constantly throwing me for a loop.  First it was learning about milk supply, then it was sleep, then mastitis, then “Why is my baby crying?”, then teeth, solids, diapers, sample feeding schedules, the list goes on. My Google history is a list of insecurities as a parent thus far.

I’m constantly having the “Great. I’ve really screwed him up this time!” thoughts, but somehow we’ve kept him breathing for over 7 months. He’s perfectly plump, sleeping well, and getting smarter by the day. I have no idea if I’m doing this right, but either 1.) I’m doing okay or 2.) this kid is ridiculously resilient – I’m not sure which.

Baby Update

Month 7 was full of car rides. EVERY. WEEKEND. Our Chief doesn’t hate his car seat, but he hates it when he has to sit in it for 3 hours. It’s always a crap shoot as to whether he’ll sleep in the car or not. There’s just too much to see!

He met Aunt Haley and Baby Hazel. Haley is one of my best friends from college and Hazel was born 3 weeks after Chief. They were visiting from Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. We had the best time catching up with our friends and Chief had the best time playing with Hazel’s toes.

He met Vincenzo from Italy. Vincenzo brought Chief some of the cutest outfits (see below) and Chief belly laughed at his Italian. Vin is a funny guy!

He’s sitting up for as long as he wants. In his sixth month he would sit up for a minute or so, but I always felt like I needed to be close if he lost his balance. Not anymore. This dude is rock solid on his tiny, round bottom.

He checked the cattle in Chelsea. He wants to be a cowboy, baby… Or maybe just a baby cowboy.

He celebrated his first Easter. He wasn’t sure what was going on, but we had the best time playing Easter bunny! Chief, on the other hand, was much more excited about his basket than the goodies from the bunny.

He’s on the move. We’re still not crawling but we’re scooting, rolling, stretching, and reaching. Nothing is safe. Computer chargers that we thought were out of reach, cups on the coffee table, outlets – all of the outlets got plugged this month. I don’t understand how he reaches half of the things he does. I think he’s totally sandbagging us – when we turn our backs I’m convinced he walks around moving things.

The solid saga continues. The introduction of more solids has brought on a host of new challenges. I can count on one hand how many times Chief spit up before solids, now the spit up (and sometimes vomiting) has me in a tizzy.  Also, sometimes he will go a week without a dirty diaper – this is coming from the KING of blowouts. We went from 3, 4, 5 dirty diapers per day to crickets. Spit-up, vomiting, and poop keep me up at night. Who am I?!

So far Chief has tried oatmeal, sweet potatoes, avocado, pears, prunes, green beans, butternut squash, bananas, peas, and carrots. He’s the healthiest eater in our house! I hope it rubs off on his dad..

Moms – how do you keep your kid clothed when feeding them?! Chief grabs the food off of his spoon and uses it like hair gel. I see mom’s spoon feeding their babies at restaurants and I catch myself staring – how is this possible?!

Mama Update

Can I please get one month where he doesn’t change?! I don’t think that’s too much to ask. I feel like everything is happening at warp speed and I’m struggling to keep up. He sits in high chairs at restaurants, he rides in the front basket in shopping carts, he joins Mom & Dad for family dinners, he brushes his two teef, and his sweet, little, baby bald spot is now completely covered with the softest blonde hair you’ll ever see. His top two teeth are seconds away from breaking the surface, he’s teetering on the edge of going up a diaper size, and his critical thinking skills shock me.

As much as I miss that tiny baby, this boy is the coolest. Every month I say to myself “I want him to stay just like this” then the next month I say the same thing.

Month 7 was an exhausting one. We did lots of trips to Tulsa/Chelsea and Chief was a champion. I get nervous taking him into public places when I know he’s about to get hungry or nap time is around the corner. The thought of being “that couple” with the screaming baby gives me anxiety, but he amazes me every time! He turns on the charm when we’re in public then loses it (sometimes) when we get in the car. That’s just fine with me.

I lost a lot of sleep this month due to the mess solids did on his digestive system. One night Chase and I went to check on him before we went to sleep and found him laying in vomit. Neither one of us slept that night. Another day I came home from work, changed his diaper, carried him into the kitchen and he proceeded to projectile vomit all over the kitchen floor. We didn’t sleep that night either.

I’ve stressed over “Am I feeding him too much, too little, do we need to cut back on solids and focus more on milk,”  it’s ridiculous the time I spend thinking about how to feed my baby. This shouldn’t be so difficult, right?

Just like with nursing, or sleeping, I know we’ll get into a groove with solids. I’m constantly reminding myself that people have been having babies for thousands of years and mankind hasn’t ceased to exist yet – we’ll be okay.