Lydia these days...

 Hey guys!

It’s been a while since I’ve taken the time to write about Lydia, motherhood and all that good stuff… I’m happy but at the same time think it’s bananas that my darling Lydia is now five months old! I am happy because her personality grows more each day and am still amazed by how quickly time is passing because it felt like the first few weeks leading up to her turning one month were an eternity. Anyway, I am going to try my best to take a minute to reflect and share what our little chub has been up to these days…

It’s surreal to me that I am a stay-at-home mom at only twenty-two years old. Yet it feels so natural for me to be home with her. I might not always be a stay-at-home mom but right now I’m appreciating it and taking full advantage of this time I get with Lydia. She’s only five months old and is already teaching me to appreciate the little things in life like morning cuddles, being flexible with time and not taking myself too seriously. Some days can be a little uneventful, while other days are all over the place but for the most part these days have been joyful!

I am still breastfeeding Lydia exclusively and don’t necessarily keep track of how many times a day I nurse her, she basically runs the show! I also want to say Lydia sleeps through the night but that’s not always the case. She doesn’t fuss but lets me know when she’s hungry. I am not bothered by this because we’re usually half asleep during these feeding sessions and we both pass out shortly after. As far as going out on dates, Lydia will happily take a bottle of expressed milk from her grandparents and that’s been good! Breastfeeding has so far been absolutely successful, and Lydia’s got the cankles and sweet dimples on her knees to prove it. She’s downright delicious!! It’s also been rewarding for me as we have created a special bond. I find it fascinating and wonderful that not only does nursing nourish my daughter but it also soothes her when she’s feeling overwhelmed. I love being there for her in that way.

We haven’t started solids just yet, but when we do we’re planning on going for a baby-led weaning/self-feeding approach. Hopefully this will teach her how to feed herself by giving her soft finger foods to explore, grab and eat! I am mostly excited because I don’t have to buy special baby food or puree anything. Yay more time for mama! Though, I am not against those squeeze-y tubes that they sell where you can add in your own smoothies and fresh fruit purees. I’m aware that baby-lead weaning is a recipe for future messes and testing my patience but I think it’ll be worth it. I am hoping she’ll enjoy the foods we eat an early age too!

Lydia is a sensitive little soul; we learned this at around two months old when we visited Michael’s family and she cried most of the visit. It was nothing we were prepared for and nothing we had ever dealt with before. Lydia never had an issue being at my in-laws house; let alone cried when anyone but her parents held her. She seems to get overstimulated when a lot of people are around her and paying attention to her. At first this was difficult to deal with because I felt bad for Lydia and I also didn’t want my in-laws to take it personally or to not want to be around her because she was fussy or something. They obviously didn’t take it personally and now my mother in law makes weekly visits in effort to make Lydia more comfortable around her. This has helped tremendously. And when we visit my family in New Jersey, we stay more than a day which gives Lydia plenty of time to warm up to the environment and of course her beloved grandparents!

These days Lydia finds happiness in playing with her doll, being tickled, rolling all over the place and loves it when we sing to her. She really is the happiest baby! I am not kidding when I say the girl wakes up in a good mood smiling ear to ear, and just about ready to start her day. She is getting strong too; almost able to sit up on her own for long periods and when she’s on her belly she tries so hard to crawl. This often times frustrates her because she obviously isn’t strong enough yet she manages to rotate herself by kicking legs and arms around. Almost always I put in her bassinet vertically and she wakes up horizontally!

Because Lydia’s usually a happy baby the hardest thing is to witness her teething! Last week she fussed, screamed in pain and needed something to chew on constantly. I froze a mesh feeder and she sucked on it like a popsicle. I even added some frozen pieces of mango and she loved that! It was a difficult few days for us but we all got through it! On Monday when she turned five months we took her to get her ears pierced. She sat on Michael's lap while she got both her ears pierced and it went by quicker than I thought. Fortunately she only cried a few seconds and was back to her smiling self again. That Lydia and her happiness truly bring joy into both mama and daddy’s lives!

That’s all for now,