Baby Sullivan | Week Forty One

Week Forty One. As of today, Sullivan is 292 days old and every day with him is a new adventure. I see a new piece of the puzzle in terms of his personality and the little boy he is becoming. I'm starting to see this little boy slowly coming to the surface. Soon he will no longer be our little baby but our little boy. I try to not think about that too much because I love the age he's at but I also know that time passes so quickly and he is growing up so quickly. 

We are not planning on having any other children so this is the last era of diapers and sleepless nights, of baby giggles and teething. In many ways, I am alright with living life beyond that season but in other ways, I am slowly starting to mourn the loss of that season. I'm soaking it in while I can. I am trying to soak in the moments when I am still nursing him, in the early morning hours or right before bed time. I can feel those moments slowly falling away. 

Sullivan has been loving all food lately. He is such a good eater and I am sure that he will pretty much eat us out of house and home when he hits the teenage years. Seriously, we will buy so much food! Just yesterday for lunch he had turkey, half of a grilled cheese sandwich, peas, carrots, and a mum mum. Good gravy. The kid loves to eat! He has been slowly taking less and less breastmilk and formula. 

He's definitely working on some more teeth. His nose has been running, his cheeks have been rosy. He's been gnawing on anything he can get his hands on and drooling like crazy. I can see three more teeth, one on the bottom and two on the top, just waiting to break through. He has his first dentist appointment next week with big sis. He has gotten teeth so much earlier than Marin ever did. 

He still is not crawling, not even a little. He is not a fan of being on his tummy. He will sit and play to is his heart's content. He will stand and lean on things for an extended period of time. But crawling, not so much. I know it will happen when he's ready but I'm ready. 

Ryan is on vacation this week and I'm excited to spend some time together as a family. Since I started my new job, I feel like our weeks move so swiftly and we don't really have any days or extended periods of time to spend together as a family. We have some fun stuff planned and I am so looking forward to it. I will still be working a bit but overall, we get some time together and it's much needed. 

Here's Marin at 41 weeks. 

Baby Sullivan | Week Forty

I spy Sully. 

 My mind hasn’t quite wrapped around the fact that in 12 weeks, give or take, we will have a one year old son on our hands. How did this happen? I was just waddling around, pregnant as can be, awaiting the arrival of Sullivan James Hollen. This time last year, we were getting new kitchen appliances. I was on a rampage to get the house ready for his arrival. We replaced some closet doors. I touched up some paint. We hung the decor in the nursery. We got a new furnace and had air conditioning installed in our home. Nesting was kind of expensive but well worth it.

Now he’s here and I can’t imagine not having him in our lives. He is a little tank of awesomeness. He could pretty much eat most of us under the table. He sleeps pretty much through the night. He’s napping like a little champ as I write these words. Most people comment on how they hardly ever hear or see him cry. He’s a pretty great baby and I am thankful to be his mama, over the moon even. For the second child, he has been very easy. Marin wasn’t really a difficult baby by any means, but Sully has been a part of a seamless transition to having a family with two children in it. With Marin, everything was so new and unknown. Nursing her was always a bit of a battle. She was such stinker with eating solids and still is. She now is a feisty preschooler that pretty much runs this home, at least as far as she’s concerned. Every child is different, that’s for sure. Both of ours have been so different but wonderful in their own unique way. They both keep us on our toes. 

I took Sully to his 9 month old appointment on Monday. Luckily, this appointment didn’t have any vaccinations to speak of and I am super thankful for that. Most of the time, Ryan is by my side for all of these appointments, along with Marin. But, now that my work schedule has changed and we don’t have a day off together as family at the moment, I had to fly solo. Marin was a great helper and Sully did a great job.

He weighs 23lbs, 1 oz. He’s super tall and his head is also large. He is in the 95th percentile and above for everything. He mostly wears 12-18 month clothing and currently is in size 4 diapers.  When Marin started potty training she was in size 4 diapers. Sully is 9 months old and is not tiny to say the least. Sully even wore his first pair of jeans this week and I can't believe how old he looks. He still isn't mobile yet but the doctor wasn't too concerned. She told me to just make sure he gets plenty of floor time and he will move when he's ready. 

His little jeans. They kill me. 

The past few weeks have been pretty nuts with a job transition but I feel like everything is slowly falling into place. Working for 3 days straight, from 7:30am-5pm, is a long set of days. But, now I have four days off of freedom. Not having to work during naptime has been a wonderful addition to our lives. I’m not glued to my phone or computer anymore. Granted, I still have to clean the house and catch up on loads of laundry, but I’m with the kids and that’s what counts. Too bad we can’t afford a house cleaner right now because that would be so awesome. Also, if someone wants to come fold and put away the mountain of laundry that continuously resides in our home, I would be grateful. 

Here’s Marin at 40 Weeks.

Baby Sullivan | Week Thirty Nine

 

This week has pretty much been super crazy. Today is the first day I’ve actually had a moment to sit down on the couch and try to not do a whole lot of anything. I started my new (old) job this week back at the dental office. I have been staring at spreadsheets and Quickbooks for days until my eyes pretty much are ready to give up all together. It’s strange being back at a place where I used to work. A lot has changed in three and a half years but at the same time, hardly anything has changed. I know only a few people from when I was there before. 

Overall though, I think I’m really going to love it. It’s a nice new challenge and I’m ready to actually know what I will be doing day in and day out. The one thing that I absolutely love about this switch is the fact that I no longer am working from home. It is so refreshing to not check my email constantly or work like a madwoman during naptime all the while praying that the children sleep just a little bit longer so I can accomplish something. Working from home was an amazing thing at one point in our lives but I’m ready to be done with all of that. I’m ready to just focus on our family when I’m home and then go to work and actually just work. Hallelujah. 

Sullivan has his 9 month appointment coming up this Monday and I’m curious to see how much the little chunk weighs now. He’s still eating great. I feel like he’s slowly wanting less breastmilk from me or the bottle. He just loves to eat solid foods and is just content as can be eating meatballs and broccoli to his heart’s content. 

We have been trying to do a lot of floor time lately because I feel like he’s a little late on the whole crawling and becoming mobile thing. I know I should eat my words because before I know it...he will be unstoppable and the baby gates will have to come out. I think part of it is because he’s not tiny by any means. I also think that being the second child, we are so focused on both kids. With Marin, it was constant encouragement to crawl, walk, talk, etc. It was just her at that point. I know I shouldn’t worry and he will move when he’s ready. 

Pumping at work is pretty much the bain of my existence at the moment. I’ve slowly been dropping pumping sessions. As of today, I will have only nursed before 7am and at bed time. We will see if I can make it through the afternoon without the insatiable desire to pump. I’m not ready to give up nursing entirely but having to pump at work or during the day just isn’t working any longer. I’m hoping I can get my body to respond to only nursing during the early morning and at night. Hopefully, I won’t lose my supply entirely. It’s such a process and since I’ve been ever so slowly getting rid of feeds, I’m hoping I don’t go all or nothing. 

Baby Sullivan | Week Thirty Four

Pure joy at Costco. 

As of today, Sullivan James Hollen is eight months old. He has now been with us for 243 days and counting. What a whirlwind our lives have been since his arrival and I'm sure life will only get crazier from here on out. Someday in the near future Sullivan will start crawling. The baby gates will have to be taken out of the back of our closets.

I feel like Sullivan is hitting milestones a bit later than his sister and I'm trying not to let that go to my head and worry. I know that every child is very different. Marin and Sullivan are pretty much night and day with a lot of things. At this point, Marin was pretty much crawling and saying, "Mama." Sullivan isn't a fan of floor time and rolls over the second you get him on his tummy. At least he is now rolling over because that was a little slow going for a while. 

Sullivan also eats a lot more solid foods than Marin did at this point so I'm counting that as a win. We have been giving him lots of vegetables, sweet potatoes, some fruits and chicken. I want to continue to expand his eating horizons one meal at a time. He's a great little eater and I am thankful for that. I can slowly feel him nursing less and less though. We are still consistently nursing but the sessions aren't for nearly as long as before. I know that having solid foods alters those feedings but I don't want him to start weaning himself yet. I don't think he will but I like where we are at with breastfeeding. My goal is one year at least with him and I feel like we are well on our way to hitting that goal. 

My goal this week is to make sure he's getting lots of floor time and lots of tummy time. I know he will start becoming mobile when he's ready. He's also not a small dude and sometimes I think his size hinders him at times. I do believe that's why it took him so long to roll over. I also think with the second kid, everything is so different. You still are caring for your first child so your focus is not just on one child but two. He does a lot of hanging out with us and it perfectly content just staying in one place. 

We are getting our kitchen cabinets resurfaced & refaced this week and a backsplash done. I am super excited but I am definitely not looking forward to not having a kitchen for a week. I'm trying to figure out feeding our children...perhaps we will set up shop in the living room and use the Instant Pot a bunch? Who knows. It will be an adventure for sure, but I'm so excited for that project to completed. 

Happy 8 months, Little Dude! 

Baby Sullivan | Week Thirty Two

I find it hard to believe that I am preparing for Marin's 4th birthday party this weekend. The gifts need to be wrapped, the food needs to be ordered. She's been growing up so quickly right before our very eyes and time needs to slow down a bit. As of this coming Sunday, we will have a four year old. Four years ago at this time, I was super pregnant, quickly passing by my due date, and anxiously awaiting the arrival of our little girl. Now she's in preschool, lives life as a little sponge soaking up so many things. She also has been a great big sister to little Sullivan. Their relationship is continuing to really grow into something awesome lately. She likes to be near him. She likes to help me with him. It's pretty adorable. 

Arm rolls for days....

Sully is quickly moving away from the jarred baby food it seems. Over the past week, I have been trying some new baby led weaning recipes. It is weird to me that people use the term "weaning" for what we are embarking upon though. He's not weaning himself from breastfeeding, quite the opposite. Baby led weaning is pretty much the process of letting your baby feed themselves with solid foods that are prepared in a way that is safe and easy for them to handle. Sully loves to eat to begin with and he has embraced this new form of food with vigor. 

So far with BLW, he has had avocados, bananas, oranges, broccoli, green beans, roasted sweet potato, and his mum mums. I have been watching him closely when he eats and also watching for any reactions to any of the food. It is recommended to slowly start introducing foods so you can monitor any reactions to the food. 

We still have some jarred food that I will try to get through but he's getting to the point of not wanting to be spoon fed and just wants to dive right him himself. I'm a lot more daring this time around with what I have been giving him. Marin didn't try most of these foods until a bit later but I want Sully to have an expansive palette when it comes to food and not be so picky like his adorable sister. I think we are on a good path. He will eventually just eat what we eat. Granted, Marin doesn't even really do that but that's something I really want to work on. I would LOVE to not have to cook 3 different meals during one meal time. I also really want to share dinner together AS A FAMILY soon. Our schedules are so all over the place but someway, somehow...I want to make it happen. I think it's super important. 

Funny broccoli face. Derp. 

I am also currently shopping for new carseats for Sullivan. He is pretty much at the weight limit for his carseat. He actually might be above the weight limit...Little dude isn't so little any more. Lugging him around in that car seat has not been kind to my back either. I do like the convenience of carrying him around in the car seat but those days are going to be gone very soon. The crappy part about buying new car seats is that the new ones will not click in to a base like his current one does. What that means...every car he rides in needs to have a carseat. So, we are looking at purchasing two car seats for us and the grandparents need to get one too for Sundays. Budget wise, that's not ideal, but you aren't supposed to take those car seats in and out constantly. That's not how they are built. I'm researching like crazy for something budget friendly but safe and reliable. The one's we bought Marin are great but they are a little out of our price range at the moment. 

Week Thirty Two. 

Here's Marin at Week Thirty Two. 

Baby Sullivan | Week Twenty Nine

We are really getting into the swing of things with Sullivan James lately. I feel like we hit 6 months with him and so many things just started to fall into place. He is hitting so many milestones lately that I feel like there's a million new things about him every morning he wakes up. He is growing like crazy and I'm trying to soak it all in. We feel that we are done with two kids so I'm trying to embrace all of the little milestones and details of little Sullivan. He may be the last baby I nurse at 1:30 in the morning in the glow of his night light. He may be the last baby we introduce solids to and the last baby that I have to wipe down after giving him solid foods. He may be the last baby that we buy so many diapers for. It's weird to think about. 

He's been taking pretty good naps for me lately and for that I am thankful. Nighttime has been another story though. He is happy as can be all day until the moment we lay him down in his crib for bedtime. Then he cries and cries. I hate having him cry it out but he's a smart cookie and knows that mommy or daddy will come running in if he looses his binky and starts wailing. Luckily, he usually zonks out fairly quickly but it still stinks. 

He's been eating solid foods 3 times a day lately and he's loving it. We usually start the day with mushed banana and oatmeal or a jar of fruit baby food. Lunch is usually a mum mum and a jar of food. Dinner is the same. He really likes peas and pears. This week we are going to try some with meat in them, more Stage 2 foods. He's a great eater and it's been fun having him sit at the table with us while Marin eats. 

I really want to try and have some family dinners though. Right now, Ryan works late enough that I usually feed the kiddos before he gets home. Then I cook dinner for the adults after the kids are in bed. I think family dinners are important. I realize our children are still young but I also really want to expand Marin's palette beyond chicken nuggets and cheese for dinner. She should eat what we eat. I know saying that is one thing and actually doing it is another but I would like to make that my goal someday. 

We hit another milestone this week as well. Sullivan sat in a shopping cart for the first time at Costco. We usually push him in his stroller and the other parent pushes Marin in the cart but on Monday, he rode in the cart with her. He thought that was pretty much the coolest thing ever. It was nice not having to push a stroller and a cart. We are slowly getting closer to me being able to go grocery shopping by myself with two kiddos. 

Week Twenty Nine!

Here's Marin at Week Twenty Nine.