Diary of a First Time Mom

If you have been wondering what’s happened to my NaBloPoMo challenge, I’ve been posting on my other blog, Insanity is Relative, over the past few days.  Have a look, if you like!

Well this strange stomach flu bug swept through our house, and also killed my perfect NaBloPoMo record.  But that’s ok.  We spent this week pretty much at home and on the floor.  Once the symptoms passed (I will spare you the details), we stocked up on Thanksgiving supplies and yesterday morning the cooking began!

Wyatt enjoyed his first Thanksgiving:

After several attempts, I finally caught Wyatt on the move on video…

But first, here is a sneak peek at Wyatt’s Christmas present.  Which we never wrapped, and opened as soon as we got home.  (drat!)

And here’s a little clip of his walking antics.

Right now he seems to be on a milk strike, and only wants his freedom. So William Wallace marches on throughout the house, with a new record of walking from the chair in his room to the living room couch. Of course my phone was no where to be found. But take it from me, it was quite a sight!

With Wyatt being so busy yesterday, he just did not want to stop to nap all day.  This resulted in him waking in the night every two hours.  So this morning, we spent all our time in bed and in pajamas.

In His Santa PJs

A three hour nap this afternoon has resulted in a mellow and lovely evening, and after two yawns, he looked at me and said -ok mommy, it’s time for bed.  Seacrest out.  It really reminds me of the early Baby Whisperer days where I read how the more the baby naps in the day, the better they sleep at night.  It seemed like the opposite of how it should be, but as he was not beat down exhausted tonight, he got to unwind in a nice relaxed way and let sleep creep in.

I do not want to jinx anything, but I have a feeling he will have a very long and restful sleep tonight.  So shall we all!

Tomorrow I hope to post a video of him walking.  So far every time I start recording, something happens…  so watch this space!

Hand Made Pumpkin Pie…

Crust Ingredients

Rolling in Dough

With Filling

Ready!

What a difference four days makes!

Today, running errands with Wyatt seemed… dare I say… easy!

Colors are brighter.  Food tastes better!  Am I in love….?  Well yes, but that is not the point here.

I.  Feel.  Rested!

For the first time this year, I actually feel fully rested and energized.  Which probably means I’m only at about  75%.  But compared to running at 30% all year, that is damn good.  Taking advise, (finally!), to nap when Wyatt naps, and go to bed when he does (at 8pm) for four nights in a row…  I feel like a human being!  That being said, Wyatt is going down for his second nap today, and I have not napped yet.  Back on the nap wagon tomorrow.  Today I have work to do!

The one very interesting thing I noticed was that every time Wyatt napped, I thought I was not tired.  Till I put my head to the pillow.  I actually heard my body sigh a sigh of relief.  Who knew how exhausted I was?!  Is everyone this tired and we just don’t notice it?  Is that why we pay $5 for a cup of coffee to keep us going?  I am glad to be resting my adrenals for probably the first time in my adult life.  And it feels very strange.  Like, isn’t there something I should be doing…  zzzzzzzzz……

I recently discovered the website KidsHealth.org while looking for easy, healthy recipes to make for all of us.  It’s actually funny because when you Google “clean family recipes” you get tonnes of amazing cook books  that are also in the library.  But when I bring them home, I discover words like “reduction” and “coulis” and while I may know what these words mean, that does not mean that I want to tackle them while chasing after a newly-walking baby and kicking the dog out of the kitchen every two minutes.  In fact, these days, even the words “cous cous” make me close the book.  And I’m from the West Coast!

Enter KidsHealth.org. It’s a website for all sorts of parenting advice as well as first aid, growth and development and of course the recipes section.  At first I thought it was just another “one of those” websites, but it is simple and easy to navigate.  No pop ups or garbage to wade through.  And when you click on “Recipes for the Whole Family” it gives you a simple, alphabetized list of all the recipes.  That’s it!

Today we started with the recipe for French Toast.  We used organic eggs and whole grain bread.  Oh and Frontier Organic Vanilla Extract!  So good.  I kept saying how the whole house smelled like Krispy Kreme!

Officer Ducky Looks On

Wyatt and I both slept through lunch, so dinner was Chicken Salad & Greens. I modified the recipe by using Vegenaise instead of mayo.  And left out the red onion as we ran out of time (aka – patience waiting for Mommy to finish chopping).  Wyatt has recently connected the idea with me being in the kitchen and food.  When he smells food, he goes “mmmmmmmmm!” enthusiastically.  so tonight while making dinner, and kicking out the dog, I heard -slap slap slap slap- of his hands crawling on the tile and “mmmmmmmmmm!”

So I put him in his little high chair, and gave him spoons filled with Fage Greek Style Yogurt.  He showed his appreciation by smearing it all over his mouth (inside and out) and letting the dog lick his fingers clean, as to not waste any!

MMMMMMMMMMM!

Sharing

We both enjoyed the chicken salad with some Annie’s Mac & Cheese. Mmmmmm!

First Bites

Cheese!

Loves his Sporks