Settling in...

We’re beginning to settle into our new routines and adapting to life in our new city. In the midst of the move I got out of the habit of cooking Little Man’s baby food and have since gotten in the habit of buying it. One thing I absolutely love about living in a large city is the availability of good food, shops, and a fabulous farmers market. For the first time we’re in close proximity to a Whole Foods, and they have an incredible selection of baby food as well. We’ve started introducing stage three foods, and although he was a bit resistant to the varying textures initially, he’s starting to be more accepting of this. He absolutely loves his morning baby oatmeal and really is pretty good at eating most fruits and veggies. He currently has two bottom teeth and four top teeth. Any tips or tricks for introducing textures further? He’s still nursing and at this point and I’m planning to likely continue through the summer and then begin to get more serious about weaning. I never had expected to breastfeed for a year (and definitely not past it), but it’s been such an incredible bonding experience for us and continues to bring him so much comfort. I know there has been a lot said in the past week or so regarding this topic and I loved this post by Rage Against the Minivan, I think she sums it up well. There are far more important things for us to worry about instead of tearing each other down. I know at times I get caught up in little parenting decisions that really aren’t all that important, and her post really does offer a generous dose of perspective.

Hard to believe Little Man’s birthday will be coming up in a little over a month! We’ve been starting to discuss how we want to celebrate his special day. Really at this point we’ve only nailed down one detail, we saw all these great first birthday cake recipes for little ones and are planning to choose one of these to make for Ian’s smash cake. Since we’re in our small temporary digs away from our immediate families we are trying to decide how we want to plan a party. Whether we want to try and plan a short weekend trip home or if we want to just have a small get together at a location in the new city with whoever is able to make it. For those who have planned a first birthday party, what would you say was your favorite part of the celebration and what would you change if you could?

It’s been almost a year since our lives were changed for the better in such a beautiful way. Crazy what a difference a year can make!

To close with a little blog love…these were two incredibly poignant beautiful posts I’ve read recently; if you haven’t read them I’d encourage you to check them out. The first is written by Glennon at Momastery. It’s long but so worth the read; the letter to her son is one of the most heartwarming posts I’ve read. It is a love that I wish more children & adults received in this world.

I know Mother’s Day has already passed, but a friend shared this post with me and it’s such a great way to not leave out and isolate so many women on Mother’s Day that might not fall into the formal title our society is familiar with. I urge everyone to remember this in the years to come.