Berend: 6 Months

November 24, 2018January 12, 2019 nk3301 Comment

I can’t believe we are already halfway through Berend’s first year! The days (and nights) can be long, but I’m still a little in shock that our little bear is half a year old already.

Age: 6 months on 15 November 2018
Weight: about 18.5 lbs (18 lb 13 oz on 26Nov)
Height: about 27.5″ (27.52″ on 26Nov)
Teeth: none
Clothing Size: 9 months, 9-12 months, and a few 12 months
Diaper Size: size 3 in disposable and one size in cloth
Milestones: making the “buh” sound, grabbing everything in sight (faces and hair included), recognizes and responds to his name, blowing raspberries/spitting, scooting/spinning on tummy, first solid foods, turning items in hands to inspect them, moving from sink to big tub for baths

Likes: chewing on everything, standing, watching and playing with Gerrit, laughing at Mama, holding Mama’s hand while nursing, bouncing when standing and supported

You wouldn’t believe how many photos of Berend have something in his mouth: a toy, his hands, his foot…

Berend wants to be standing all the time!

These two! They love each other so much!

Dislikes: going to sleep, car rides, Mama walking away, getting stuck on his belly, having gas at night

Sleeping: In terms of naps, Berend officially transitioned to 3 naps a day this month. He typically takes such short naps (30-45 minutes), that it seemed like he was taking 4 naps a day for a long time. But between his wake time moving to 2 hours and his naps occasionally being a decent length, he finally dropped that 4th one. Once in awhile (like I can count on one hand), he refuses that morning nap and we end up napping together:

Berend continued to spend a few hours each night in bed with me this month. He doesn’t seem as restless in bed with me for the most part, although he still has nights that he screams for no apparent reason. Then I need to get up, bounce him around a bit, and try to crawl back into bed holding him without waking him. Sometimes it takes a few attempts.

In general, Berend goes to bed between 7 & 8 at night, wakes up every 1-2 hours (or as often as every 30-45 minutes) all night, comes to bed with me around 2 or 3 in the morning, then wake up for the day between 6:30 & 7:30 in the morning. He nurses during the night every 1-2 hours as well, so I have to change his diaper around 1am every night (the kid pees so much!). In a 24 hour period, he averages about 12.5 hours of sleep.

Eating: Berend is still nursing every 2 hours all day and night for the most part. He nurses more during the first half of his night than the last half, so I still wonder if he’s not nursing enough during the day. Unfortunately, he just doesn’t want to nurse for long during the day. Even if I’m trying to nurse him before a nap, it seems like he unlatches as soon as he feels like he might be falling asleep, because heaven forbid he not fight his naps with every ounce of his being. I feel like now that he’s upright more often (sitting on his own), he spits up a lot less, although I can always count on him to spit up on himself or myself when we’re running late and heading out the door.

Shortly before Berend turned 6 months, we started giving him solid food! We are planning to do baby-led weaning (BLW) again, since we liked that method when introducing solids to Gerrit. His first taste of food was applesauce while Andrew’s parents were still here, because I wanted them to be able to witness that. About a week later we introduced other solids: banana, roasted sweet potato, and avocado.

He hasn’t actually consumed much yet: he’s still working on taking nibbles and trying to work it around his mouth without gagging (which happens a fair amount right now). I can say that he has eaten some solids though, since I’ve witnessed them on the other end haha.

So far it seems like he really enjoys trying solid food! I’m hoping the whole process is a lot less stressful this time around. I honestly don’t know if I even have the time or energy to worry as much about it this time around.

Mommy Update: I feel like having 2 kids has mellowed me out so much. Well, as much as I can mellow out, haha. I have few to no expectations when it comes to sleep for Berend, so I can’t get very upset about bad nights or crappy naps. I still definitely get frustrated here and there, but I guess I just don’t worry as much as I did with Gerrit.

Physically I feel tired but like my body may be getting itself back to normal. I’m not losing heaps of hair anymore which is nice. I finally got a hair cut too, so maybe that helped! I’m definitely not worried about my weight right now. Loving the cooler weather so I can live in leggings and sweaters. I really don’t love bringing Berend to bed with me in the early morning, but I think I definitely get more sleep going that route. I’m tired, but I don’t feel exhausted every day. Andrew is great about letting me sleep late into the morning on weekends too and that helps so much.

I’d love to get back into my hobbies, but with the holiday season upon us, I feel like I’m always working on other things when I get the chance. I did order a bunch of photos to hopefully get family photos on the wall, finish the pregnancy book I started for Berend, and finish up Berend’s bedroom (which I’m super excited to share soon). I’d love to get back into crocheting soon… I miss it.

Memorable Events: After a quiet 5th month, I feel like Berend’s 6th month was pretty exciting for him! Shortly after turning 5 months, we went to the local pumpkin patch to get pumpkins for Halloween:

Andrew’s parents came to visit for Gerrit’s 4th birthday, and they also got to meet Berend for the first time! Here’s Berend with his big brother and Gram on Gerrit’s birthday:

Right after Gerrit turned 4, we got ready for Halloween! Obviously, the boys didn’t help with pumpkin carving, but we did get a family picture out of it:

Gerrit chose the designs for our pumpkin this year. He wanted a scary face and a dinosaur, of course. Andrew took on the dinosaur, and he did an awesome job!

Even though it was pretty cold, I took Berend around our loop when I took Gerrit trick-or-treating (for the first time!). Mostly because I had put a bit of effort into our costume of a koala in a eucalyptus tree (right down to leave in my hair haha):

He seriously was such a cute koala! And it was a super easy costume: he already had a gray hoodie and gray pants, and I had the koala hat from when Gerrit’s 2nd Halloween. I just added the fur to the ears for Berend.

Berend also sat in the shopping cart for the first time this month. Normally, I leave him home with Andrew, and Gerrit and I go shopping together. But Gerrit wanted to stay home that afternoon, so I took Berend instead, and I thought I’d try him in the cart. He did pretty well, but he wanted to be carried in the ring sling after only a few aisles.

After his first go with solids, Berend also had his first bath in the big tub this month! He doesn’t really play much yet, but I think he loved all the extra space.

And literally a day or two before he turned 6 months, I got my projects done for Berend’s bedroom! I got his mobile finished over Veteran’s Day weekend (Andrew insisted I finish it haha), and then I felt motivated enough to tackle the painting for his room. I’m really happy with how this part of the room looks:

Andrew was great about hanging everything for me too. Consider this your sneak peek! I’m hoping to have a post about Berend’s nursery ready to go very soon.

Here’s Berend’s November photo:

Oh Berend, you are such an adorable handful! I feel like you don’t make things any easier for us, but we just adore you anyway. When you are super demanding, you still just flash us the cutest smiles, so we really can’t be irritated for long. You want to be a part of everything our family is doing all the time, and we love that about you. We’re just all really anxious for you to really be involved! You want to be on the move so badly, but you really don’t want to put any effort into learning to crawl, haha. We’re excited to see what milestones you hit next, but don’t grow too fast… We love you, sweet Berend!

Daily living · Parenting

Gerrit: 11 Months

September 30, 2015November 5, 2015 nk3302 Comments

Ahhh, 1 month until my baby is a year old! I am in full blown first-birthday-party planning mode, although I’m trying not to go overboard with it. Social media sets the bar high with birthday parties, but I’m determined not to go crazy!

Age: 11 months on 27 September 2015
Weight: 23 lbs
Height: 30 inches
Teeth: 4
Clothing Size: 12 months & 12-18 months
Diaper Size: size 3
Milestones: cruising, climbing stairs, taking steps, waving, pointing, handing us items, shaking his head “no,” a lot more babbling, saying “Dada” and “dat” (that), vocal volume (whispering and yelling)

Sleeping: I’m getting really used to broken sleep at night. We’ve had some pretty rough nights this month again. We were dealing with yet another Mental Leap (Wonder Week #7 – The World of Sequences), which really hurt Gerrit’s sleep. Sometimes it seems to affect him more at night (we’ve had up to 8… yes, EIGHT night wakings), while other times it really kills his naps. He had days of 30-45 minute naps (normal naps are 90 minutes to 2 hours) as well as a few days where he totally boycotted nap time and skipped one completely. Those were fun days.

Unfortunately, most of Gerrit’s nights had 5 or more night wakings. I’ve tried just rocking him back to sleep, but he gets really mad if I don’t offer the boob. And I’m not in the mood to argue about it at 2 in the morning, so boob it is. Despite all the wakings, he still managed to get between 10 & 11 hours of sleep most nights, which isn’t terrible. I’d really like him to get 11 hours a night, but you can’t force a baby to sleep. Or if you can, I haven’t figured out how!

Gerrit had 3 days this month where he only got 1 nap in. It really pissed me off when those days happened. I take it personally when I can’t get him to nap for some reason. But I used to feel the same way when I couldn’t get a kid to nap at the CDC I worked at too. I saw it as a failure on my part if a nap was short or if it got skipped completely. Why do I feel that way?? Like I said above, you can’t force a baby to sleep. Most days, his nap hours totaled between 2 and 3 hours, which is good. Apparently, babies this age should be sleeping at least an hour per nap, so Gerrit is pretty much on track.

I feel like Gerrit does pretty well with making up sleep when he doesn’t sleep well. For example, if he doesn’t get a lot of sleep at night, he tends to sleep better for naps. And if he gets crappy naps, he tends to sleep in the next morning for me, which feels awesome. I have read that babies often sleep really poorly when they are learning to stand and walk. So I hope that when he conquers that milestone, he will sleep better! I just have to keep hoping for improvement.

Eating: My son has been obsessed with my boobs this month. I mean, Gerrit wants to nurse all the time! I feel like he often just wants to comfort nurse and get some cuddles, which is totally fine. It’s when he wants to comfort nurse while standing or climbing that doesn’t work so well. I’m thankful he isn’t too bad with his teeth with all the moving around he does. Crazy baby.

In terms of solids, Gerrit was really hit or miss with meals this month. Sometimes he did pretty well, other times I felt like he just played around and made up for it nursing later on. I’m really trying not to worry about it, since I’m told “food before 1 is just for fun,” but he is quickly approaching his first birthday. I don’t expect his eating patterns to change overnight, so I am a little concerned. He’s still gaining weight, but I wonder how much of that is from breast milk and how much is from solid food.

Mommy Update: I’m hanging in there, haha. The broken sleep has become normal to me again, and I don’t like that. I’ve needed a nap nearly every morning when Gerrit naps to try to make up some lost sleep. I really want to start getting away from the daily naps since I need to start the job hunt. I don’t want to start a job with my body being used to getting a daily siesta at 9:30 in the morning!

Despite dealing with another Wonder Week, Gerrit has not been terrible mood-wise. I feel like a lot of the “neediness” he normally displays is coming through with the constant nursing and wanting to be held. It’s easy for me to get him to smile and giggle, and he loves playing and interacting with me. When he is a little moody, he really just wants Momma. I feel bad for Andrew when he’s like this, but I don’t know what I can really do about it.

I have been tackling some cleaning and organizing of my craft things, which is something I get done during Gerrit’s afternoon nap. I usually put on some HGTV and get to work (except today… I’m blogging instead haha). This alone time is really good for me. I don’t love cleaning, but I love having some time to myself. So important for me!

Best Moments: I feel like Gerrit has learned a LOT of new things this month! It’s been so fun seeing him master new skills, especially the physical ones. He has come a long way with balance while standing this month. With better balance, he’s also gotten more confident with standing and taking steps. He technically started taking some steps last month, but it was more “moving his feet while falling” haha. I went back and added it to his milestones from last month, but it has really improved in September. Andrew has estimated that he can walk 6-8 feet by himself when he’s focused. We are so proud of him! Practicing walking has been a fun activity for the three of us to do. When Andrew gets home from work, Gerrit can walk between the two of us with lots of cheering and someone to catch him when he loses his balance. Plus I hope it tires him out for bedtime! 😉

I also have loved watching Gerrit’s new facial expressions and hearing his new sounds. I have come to realize that I am always asking him, “What’s that?” both in the house and out and about. I thought he was starting to say “dada,” but instead I think he has been saying “dat” (that) when looking at things outside and around the house. Sometimes he whispers, “Dat” while pointing at something. It’s so cute! Happily, he has also been saying “dada,” although we’re not sure if he really pairs it with Andrew yet. When I ask him, “Where’s Dada?” he looks for Andrew though, so I think he understands the connection to some extent.

Gerrit has definitely been trying to copy more of our facial expressions, and it cracks me up! I’m aware that I make a lot of exaggerated expressions when I interact with him, so I don’t know if that’s why he has recently been making more funny faces or what. He has also acquired some vocal volume! I already mentioned that he whispers “dat” fairly often, but he has also learned how to shout and screech too. We had one dinner where he was yelling happily about something! Andrew and I were pretty amused, although we have no idea what he was telling us.

Likes & Dislikes: Gerrit still loves moving! He no longer army crawls at all; he’s on all fours anytime he’s not standing or trying to walk. And he’s speedy! I suspect that once he gets this walking thing figured out, he will not be walking… he’ll be running everywhere!

20150927_121355 — Happily walking to Momma!

Gerrit still really likes his books. He likes to read one over and over before moving on to another one. Once I say, “The end!” and put it on the floor, he picks it up and hands it back to me. He still loves his lift-the-flap books, and I continue to tape them when he rips another flap out. One of these days he’ll learn what “gentle” means, right??

He also has shown more interest in that caterpillar toy in the picture above. He’s had it since Christmas, but just recently started playing with it. He also likes this caterpillar toy and reading “The Very Hungry Caterpillar.” Not sure if there’s a theme here or just a coincidence, but I’m always glad when he starts playing with new toys!

Gerrit has started showing interest in his stuffed animals. He really doesn’t have many since he didn’t care much about them in the past, but he likes to give them hugs and kisses, which is adorable. He’s also become very attached to Lamby, the little lamb that Andrew bought for him when I was early in my pregnancy.

He likes to suck & chew on Lamby’s ears and tail. It’s cute but kind of gross. Lamby takes frequent baths in the washing machine, pretty much anytime he starts smelling funky. I’ve also purchased Lamby 2.0 if/when it’s necessary to replace the original or at least give the original Lamby a little break.

Speaking of Lamby, Gerrit also really likes to throw everything out of his crib at nap time. If he doesn’t go to sleep right away, all of his stuffed animals and blankets end up tossed out onto the floor. And if I take my time getting him up from a nap, I also end up having to pick up all of the contents of his crib. He likes to drop his cup onto the floor at meals too, so I guess gravity is just fascinating for a 10 month old!

Gerrit is really enjoying playing on his own a lot more, which is wonderful for me. He will play with his puzzle pieces, plastic plates and bowls and measuring cups, his magnet blocks (a new favorite… anyone need an idea for a birthday gift? wink wink), and books. He loves dragging around plastic spoons and chewing on them too. Unfortunately, when he’s playing alone, the only thing I can really do is go on my phone. I tried working on my weekly menu & grocery list, and he was way too curious to let me get away with that! So that’s the goal: Gerrit playing independently while I do something productive!

Some of Gerrit’s dislikes? Getting his diaper changed. Well, really just putting a clean diaper on. As soon as his diaper is off, he rolls and scrambles away, usually to go stand and look out the window with a bare tush. He also is such a wiggle worm when I DO get a hold of him again. Along the same lines, Gerrit is a handful when getting his pajamas on. I certainly work up a sweat getting him ready for bed!

Gerrit still dislikes it when I do anything without him. Cooking dinner is the big one. I’m thankful Andrew is usually there to distract and play with him, but Gerrit still frequently gets underfoot while I’m cooking. I’ve tried putting him in the Ergo on my back, and he wasn’t pleased with it. I tried putting him on my hip in the Ergo, but I didn’t get it figured out before Gerrit got sick of being jostled around. So that’s on my to-do list. I would really like to figure out a way to cook while holding or wearing Gerrit.

The only other thing I can think of that he really dislikes is getting his face washed after meals. He’s getting better about it, but for awhile he got really upset with me when I wiped his mouth.

Memorable Events: Shortly after Gerrit turned 10 months old, we were invited to join our friends at their family’s beach house on the coast for Labor Day weekend. It was hot and humid, which meant we had to battle the mosquitoes, so Gerrit and I didn’t spend a lot of time outside. We still had fun though! I know Andrew had a good time: he got to try his hand at clamming and went for a few kayak rides.

Gerrit enjoyed playing with his friends Nathan and Audrey inside. Nathan is 2-1/2, so he is just fascinating to Gerrit! And Audrey is 6 months younger than Gerrit, so he is intrigued by her, but seems confused by why she won’t play with him haha.

Andrew even took Gerrit for his first kayak ride! Apparently Gerrit really enjoyed it — he loved checking everything out!

After this kayak ride, Andrew and I took Gerrit swimming in salt water for the first time. He loved it! He is such a water baby. I think the salt water probably surprised him a bit, but he really enjoyed splashing around with us.

Another fun event was checking out the children’s museum in Raleigh. It’s a little above Gerrit’s level right now, but he absolutely loves exploring new areas and seeing other babies and children. I can’t wait to take him again!

20150919_111909 — Checking out the mirror wall at Marbles

Marbles, the museum, was so cute. It’s really geared toward preschool and elementary school aged kids, but I was happy they had an infant area for Gerrit to explore. We let Gerrit check out a few other areas, but it will be easier once he’s walking and not sticking absolutely everything in his mouth!

So that was Month #11! Sleep was crappy, but the wake time hours were great! I just love our little guy so much. He brings us so much joy and makes us smile every day. It’s amazing watching Gerrit learn new things and gain confidence with his new skills. I’m so thankful for another month of being at home with him to see things from his perspective and share all of his memories.

20150927_121350 — Wait, I’m 11 months today?!

20150927_121709 — Not big on smiling for the camera… but he’s still cute!

Happy 11 months, my sweet Gerrit! I can’t believe how big you are and how close to your birthday we are getting. We love you so much!

Daily living · Parenting · Travel

Gerrit: 10 Months

September 2, 2015September 29, 2015 nk3302 Comments

Age: 10 months on 27 August 2015
Weight: 22.5 lbs
Height: 28.75 inches
Teeth: 4
Clothing Size: 12 months
Diaper Size: size 3
Milestones: pulling up to standing, taking steps

Sleeping: Right after Gerrit turned 9 months old, we were still going through a Wonder Week (#6 – Categories), so sleep was not great. And pretty much as soon as he was out of the leap, we were on a trip to Michigan. I think this trip and sleeping in several different places kind of messed him up too. He was just a restless sleeper. Sharing a room with him meant that I heard him tossing and turning throughout the night… so I didn’t sleep great either!

Once we got home from our trip, sleep started getting back on track. Naps became a little better (but still irregular) and night wakings decreased quite a bit. But that only lasted a few days. Things got pretty rough for the rest of the month in terms of night sleep. I have decided I’m blaming it on those 2 top front teeth. They were much worse than the bottom 2 teeth!

Naps seemed unaffected by it, but night sleep was brutal. There’s supposed to be another sleep regression between 8 and 10 months as well, so maybe we were dealing with all of that together… who knows. Most nights in August had 4 or more night wakings. I am happy to say that most of those wakings were brief: I’d nurse him back to sleep within 10 minutes. But there were a few nights where I was back and forth and back and forth trying to get him to settle back down to sleep. Hopefully things improve in month 11!

Eating: I feel like almost to to day, eating solids improved when Gerrit turned 9 months old. I suddenly realized that the food on his tray was disappearing… and not into the recesses of his high chair or the floor! It didn’t appear that he was consuming a lot, but he obviously was. It was pretty exciting!

20150818_085250 — Eating breakfast: French toast and nectarines

Some favorite foods? Blueberries and nectarines are probably his favorite fruits. He still enjoys green veggies, especially broccoli. Although Gerrit will sample any meat, I think he still prefers having a slice of steak or pork to gnaw on. Chicken seems to be a bit dry for him yet, and he’s not impressed with ground beef. Carbs are hit or miss: sometimes he really seems to enjoy pasta and bread and other days it gets swiped to the side for fruit or veg instead. He also LOVES these:

I’ve tried them, and I like them too! I think he probably likes that they have a yummy fruit flavor and that they melt in his mouth pretty quickly. He doesn’t have to work too hard to ingest those!

Breastfeeding is going great! I feel like after Leap #6 (Wonder Week), he started nursing better during the day. I also think Gerrit is getting better at letting me know that he wants to nurse. He either smashes his face into my boob or starts fiddling with my straps. But he still nurses the best right before he sleeps. I’m really starting to cling to these moments of breastfeeding. I can tell that I’m going to be sad to see it end, and I hope he doesn’t rush the weaning process.

Nursing really increased during those weeks of teething with those top teeth. I now know it was comfort nursing, and I’m so glad it was something that comforted Gerrit. I am really hesitant to give pain meds to him since he’s so little, so if he could be comforted by nursing, that is much better in my opinion.

Mommy Update: I feel like I need to do a separate post on Wonder Weeks, because my mood during those times versus “sunny” weeks is very different. As soon as a Wonder Week ends, I absolutely love being with Gerrit. Not that I don’t love being with him all the time, he’s just a lot more demanding during Wonder Weeks. So Wonder Week = stressed out, tired, grumpy Momma. And after it passes, I love my days with my little guy.

We have so much fun together during the day! Sometimes I feel like we really didn’t do anything at all, but we both enjoyed lots of smiles and cuddles, so it must have been a good day, right? 🙂 I will really miss our time together when I have to go back to work.

I was pretty sleep-deprived during this month. I started drinking coffee again (which I hadn’t done regularly since early in my pregnancy) to get through the afternoons. I also took a nap during Gerrit’s morning nap most days — I would barely make it back to my bed sometimes before I passed out!

Best Moments: Gerrit meeting more of my extended family. Everyone was completely smitten with him! He was so friendly and easygoing… I was pleasantly surprised! I was afraid he would have some stranger anxiety, but he did so well.

20150807_134007 — Spending time with Grandma Great

It was great for ALL of us to spend time with family! We had so much fun with my family, and I’m so glad that so many of us were able to get together.

Likes & Dislikes: Gerrit still enjoys being on the move! He crawls all over the place now, although he still does the army crawl when he’s frustrated or tired. He still likes us to walk him around, but he’s pulling up on furniture now (and me when I’m standing in the kitchen!) and walking along. He is still not sure about turning around corners though!

He also enjoys nursing in crazy positions now. He’s rarely content to let me just hold him to nurse unless he’s going to sleep. He likes to stand and bend over to nurse, lay across me, grab his feet and swing his arms around… it’s like breastfeeding a monkey.

Gerrit also loves getting into things! The biggest issue is keeping him away from cords. I’ve had to block off lamp cords in the living room and the cords in our bedroom too. He also likes going into the bathroom and pulling up on the bathtub so he can push his bath toys in.

He still loves books, and his favorites now are lift-the-flap books. This is his absolute favorite. I’ve had to use tape to fix this book several times already. I have started rotating his books and toys to help keep him interested in his toys, minimize wear and tear, and help cut down on clutter and clean up time. Every Monday (“New” Toy Day), Gerrit quickly digs out his favorite books and toys that he hasn’t seen in a few weeks!

Gerrit is playing with one of his favorite toys in the photo above with his cousin Kaiden. Here’s a link to it on Amazon. He started out just enjoying looking at the different sized cups, but he’s starting to try to stack them now. My favorite thing about this toy is that there are several ways to play with it, and I think he will be able to enjoy it for a good amount of time.

Gerrit dislikes being left behind or not being included in things. He hates it when I walk away from him since he can’t keep up with me yet. He’ll normally just crawl after me while vocally complaining, but if he’s tired or cranky, he starts crying, wanting me to pick him up. He doesn’t like it when I’m cooking because he can’t be a part of that. I tried carrying him in the Ergo on my back while cooking, but that just wasn’t good enough for him! All chores include Gerrit: he needs to unfold clothes as I fold them and he tries to crawl into the dishwasher when I load and unload it.

Gerrit also dislikes getting ready for bed. He has never particularly enjoyed getting ready to sleep, but toward the end of the month he really started fighting it. It’s really tough to get a diaper on him as he’s trying to flip himself over the whole time. It’s pretty much a two-man job to get his pajamas on him now. And he gets so upset when he realizes that his fun his over and the parents are going to win again. I seriously need to try to get a video of his shenanigans!

Memorable Events: I think the biggest event for this month was our road trip to Michigan! After a lot of thought, we decided to split the 15 hour drive into two days with a stop near Columbus, OH (we stayed with friends there) to get the best result from Gerrit. He is a very busy little boy, and being stuck in his car seat for hours and hours is really hard on him. He is not the type of baby to just conk out for a nap or two while traveling, which means he needs lots of interaction and entertainment. Because he is not guaranteed to sleep in the car, I felt pretty wary about trying to drive through the night. Especially because that meant minimal sleep for Mommy & Daddy too. Not good!

We planned both driving days to begin shortly before Gerrit’s morning nap. Yes, that meant a later start than we may have wanted, but it also meant we got some relaxation and play time between breakfast and driving. And giving Gerrit the opportunity to burn some energy is always a plus! So he got a morning nap on our driving days, but he refused his afternoon nap those days too. That’s a LONG time for him to be awake, but he also wasn’t able to burn any energy either.

I spent the first part of the driving days in the front seat. It gave Gerrit less distraction when trying to fall asleep for that morning nap, plus I got some time to crochet or just rest. But once he was awake, I moved to the back seat to begin my entertainment routine! I packed a big bag of Gerrit’s favorite books and toys, plus we had his kid music playing on Pandora so I could sing for him too. It worked pretty well, although it was pretty tiring for me.

20150811_163416 — Hello, North Carolina! We’re back!

But it paid off: Gerrit really did quite well on the road trip. I was so anxious about the trip because of our last big road trip (back in February). But I knew he was older and more easily entertained now, so I tried to be optimistic. The trip back down to North Carolina was not as great, because he was over all the driving by that point. In desperation, I actually breastfed while we were driving! I buckled myself into the middle seat, then leaned over into the car seat for Gerrit to nurse. It really helped out Gerrit, and I only got a few weird bruises from it, haha. I avoided looking out the window, because I wasn’t sure what kind of looks I would get from other drivers!

Overall, month #10 was pretty good. Despite the crappy sleep Gerrit and I got, we had so much fun seeing family and friends! This is such a great age, and I love playing and interacting with Gerrit. I love watching him discover new things, and his personality just makes me smile. There is no better feeling than being loved by this little boy!

Here are some more photos from his 10 month photo shoot: