toddler

Subtle Summer

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It dawned on me the other day that it was almost August! Where is the summer going? I realized that I had yet to do anything “summery.”  The days were marching on and I was not participating in the standard joys of the season.  Who am I? Oh wait, I’m a mother of a one year old.

Our days have been consumed with our crazy move and making this new house our home.  It’s all coming along, but far from finished.  But if we don’t take some time to enjoy this beautiful summer it will be gone before we know it.  I feel like I should rush out to play some mini golf or get some ice cream at a seasonal creamery.  Or go to the beach.  Or go sailing. But O is only one.  He doesn’t do ice cream yet or mini golf.  The beach is daunting on my own with the little guy not to mention the summer sun would fry his milky white skin. He’s napping twice a day lately so the window of time I get out of the house is small….And we don’t own a sailboat.

Past summers have been spent in the sunflower fields of Tuscany and on exotic Greek Island Beaches.  I would get excited for the summer sales at Gucci in Rome and for walking through the Bazaar in Istanbul.  I’d spend my days that happened to be stateside on a beach, reading, working out and getting far too tan for the likes of my fair skin.  I’ve had all the glamour, excitement and travel a person should be allowed.  My husband asked me the other day if I missed my old life.  🙂 Without pause, I said, “No.”  And that’s the Gods honest truth.  It’s not that it wasn’t great….it was.  But this is just so much better.  And I really believe you just don’t “get it” till it happens to you.  Till your ready for it.

I find myself opening all the windows in our new home, feeling the warm breeze and listening to all the sounds of summer.  I watch O practice his walking like an Olympic athlete.  This kid is tenacious! I watch the clouds from the skylight in our beautiful great room.  Light pouring in.  It’s heavenly.  It is my summer this year.  And I realize,  that it’s all right with me.  Next year, O will be older and more ready for the beach.  He will get excited for an ice cream cone and will have mastered the art of running, let alone walking.  But for now, our summer is on the subtle side.  A slower pace, if you like.  I don’t mind it, surprisingly.  But hold onto your hats,  things are about to get crazy…When O wakes up from his nap we might go to the farm down the road to get some fresh vegetables and I think I’ll make my Mom’s raspberry pie.  That always makes me feel like it’s summer.

Until next time, keep fighting the good fight! And remember, behind every great kid is a mom who is certain she is messing it up! Xo

 

Thoughts on the Bottle

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I’ve been thinking a bit about the bottle lately.  It seems like ever since O turned a year old, the pressure to get him off the bottle comes from all directions.  Every parenting article I read tells me it’s time to give it up. Every well meaning relative, every Tom, Dick and Harry (every Tom, Harry or Dick) thinks once a child turns one we should take the bottle out of his hands.  If I was nursing, would there be pressure to get my child off the boob at a year old? I’m interested to know.

Why is it that my baby went from infant to toddler in the span of a day? I mean, I know he’s not an infant anymore, but he hardly qualifies as a little boy yet.  He’s still a baby for goodness sake.  That bottle is a comfort for him before bedtime…and (here it goes) I still give him one early in he morning.  That one is more for me, because O will sleep another two hours if he has a bottle.  That’s time for me to shower, enjoy my coffee, and DO things.  It’s GOLD! And really, I have to change his diaper after he sleeps through the night anyway.  ( God knows, there is no room in it for his morning poop…it MUST be changed!)…so what’s the problem with a bottle and a cuddle?  Is there something wrong with that?

He drinks pretty well with his sippy cup during the day…but only water.  He won’t do “milk” in it at all.  So the only milk he gets is before bed and in the early morning.  So it’s not like I’m giving him too much.  And why is my tone so defensive? Why is it SO important to get my son off the bottle so quickly? Why does society want my baby to grow up so fast? It seems to me that O lets me know when he is ready for things.  I introduce things and in time he takes to them.  I don’t push foods on him, but just keep introducing and re-introducing them.  Sometimes the 7th time is the charm! I am digressing.

The point is, my boy has a lifetime to drink out of cups.  I really don’t believe it is detrimental to him to have a bottle for another year.  Maybe more. I don’t know.  What I do know, is that I am in NO rush to have him do anything un-baby like.  That time will be here before I know it.  I don’t mind keeping him little for as long as I can.  I’m sure someone out there thinks I am holding my child back or being a complete hover mommy.  But the fact is, at least in O’s case, he eventually hits every milestone with joy and gusto….when he’s good and ready.  I’ve learned now, not to stress over it.  He’s gonna do everything he’s “supposed” to in his own time.  Why push?

Well, friends, that’s my two cents for this week 🙂 Until next time, keep fighting the good fight, and remember…behind every great kid, is a mom who is sure she is messing it up.