Marie The Mommy

So this is totally late, but I’m posting this anyway because I’ve been wanting to and just never had the time. My baby boy turned SIX MONTHS OLD last March 30, 2017! ^_^ :D

Seriously though.. WHERE DID THE TIME GO??? I feel like I just gave birth to him, and now he’s already halfway through his first year. This past month brought in a lot of new achievements. He just successfully finished his first roadtrip with us(more on that on another post), and although he hated being stuck in the car seat longer than usual, he loved being in the carrier and seeing all the exciting places we went to. He’s on his way to mastering sitting on his own and crawling (more like, scooting and dragging himself) towards his toys.

Here’s some of my favorite shots of his six-month milestone photoshoot:

Yup, we dressed him up as R2D2 from Star Wars. Daddy’s a big fan of the series, so we can’t NOT do at least one milestone month shoot without Jett dressed up as one of the characters. I took and edited all the photos myself, and although I’m as amateur as they come, I’m pretty proud of my work.

Oh, and I HAVE to include these here. These were taken on the same day:

That’s how his face transitions whenever he sees our pet beagle, Milo. I LOVE that I was able to capture that. <3 <3 <3 Milo’s always been gentle with Jett, but he doesn’t really reciprocate Jett’s enthusiasm with him yet, so when I do see him interact with the little dude, I try my best to capture the moment.

I know, I know, the shots aren’t all that great (my focus here sucked), but I was more focused on getting decent shots of that sweet encounter than the image quality. Aren’t they cute, though? ^_^

My little baby boy has always slept with me during naps and bedtime. It wasn’t ideal, but when you’re a first-time Mom and recovering from a C-section operation, you settle for anything that will give you more than just a few hours of sleep. That’s how it’s been for the past five months since Jett was born, and so we just all got used to it. And it’s not like it’s been terrible; holding your baby in your arms while he sleeps is intoxicating and addicting -- the more I look at him, the more I fall in love! I mean, how could you not with this face? 

But then chores needed to be done, I needed to fix myself some food or take a shower, and I couldn’t do any of these when I’m stuck on the couch with a sleeping baby in my arms! Parents all over the world can relate when I say that when you finally get your little one to sleep, it’s like hitting the jackpot every time (lol). So, my temporary solutions were to either camp on the couch with him and my food, or strap him to a carrier and wear him while I do my chores. It was okay, but wearing him all the time was wearing ME down, plus it wasn’t safe to fry food or clean the toilet with a very fragile little human strapped to you. There are days when I’d have no choice but to wear him for hours at a time, and it took a toll on my back. 

So I finally decided, enough was enough. It was time to train the little dude to sleep elsewhere other than in my arms or the carrier.

I started off with asking my sister-in-law (who has a 4-month old and a 3-year old) for tips. I’m lucky to have her coz she is always willing to entertain and answer my questions. One of the things she suggested was using a white noise app or machine. Now, I’ve heard about those before, but I’ve already tried it with Jett when he was about two or three months old, and it didn’t work back then, so I gave up on it. I decided to revisit the idea and try new tricks as well, such as turning on the vacuum cleaner or hair dryer in place of a white noise machine (since I didn’t have one). 

Turns out it was the best idea ever. Of course, baby didn’t fall asleep right away -- I had to do the good ‘ole swaying and rocking before finally putting him down, but IT WORKED. 

And so we transitioned into a new routine. Before it was ‘play, eat, sleep’ (I had to nurse him to sleep every time), but now it’s ‘eat, play, sleep’ -- which is how it should’ve been from the beginning, apparently, but hey, this is my first rodeo in the parenting world. We were actually thinking of just selling the swing (pictured above) because it’s just been sitting in a corner like a sad puppy, but now I’m glad we didn’t coz we’re FINALLY using it! His naps on the swing are definitely a lot shorter compared to when he sleeps in my arms, but at least he can sleep on his own now. 

Babies and Classical Music

When I was pregnant with Jett, I did what all first-time Moms do: I read pregnancy and baby books like I was studying for the most important test of my life. And in a way, I was. Motherhood is a tough test on your physical and inner strength. One of the things I read was that, while you’re pregnant with your baby, you should listen to classical music. While I had every intention of doing so, I somehow just never did, and before I know it, my precious bundle of joy was here.

I forgot all about it as I concentrated more on helping Jett grow and reach his milestones. Then today, while enjoying a quiet afternoon, I thought about playing some music to help him fall asleep. I reached for my phone, immediately clicked on Pandora (yay for free internet radio! ^_^), then remembered having that goal to listen to classical music with Jett. So I changed my station to Classical Music for Babies, and first song to play was none other than Claude Debussy’s famous Clair de lune.

Listening to it made me regret that I hadn’t played it sooner… there’s just something about this type of music that not only calms and soothes you, but makes you feel like nothing could ever go wrong. Looking at my baby boy, I realized that this is the exact same feeling I get whenever I see his face, his smile, and especially, when I watch him sleep. That feeling of calm and love is incomparable and nothing like anything in this world.

So I finally gave in.. I’m finally starting a new blog. The last one I had was made years and years ago, and I can’t even remember my login or what it looks like. It’s okay though, I’ve started a new chapter in my life, and so I think this would be the perfect time to make a new one.