I can’t believe that we are here already, time is just flying by so fast! Rather than moaning that he’s growing far too quickly, which he is, I’m taking each day as it comes and cherishing every special moment with my little man. Things are more settled now and even though I’m constantly making it up as I go along I feel much more confident in what I’m doing compared to those early days. We have a lovely network of mummy friends now and go to various classes and playdates. Despite the almost obligatory meltdowns here and there we’re really having a great time.
Sleep Deprivation
Now that Aiden has put himself in a sleep routine my quality of sleep is better than it has ever been since he was born. By 7pm, he’s out like a light and seems to be on schedule every night so I’ve planned his night-time routine around this. If I’m not too exhausted by this point and haven’t passed out on the sofa (classy!) I can get a couple of hours alone with Alfie before heading to bed. He’s still not sleeping straight through the night, but the other night he slept from 11pm to 4am only waking up to feed…bliss!
Breastfeeding
We’re still going great guns in this department and haven’t run into any serious issues. I’m struggling to get into a routine to express and bank some breast milk in the freezer because it’s difficult to find the time during the day. Now that Aiden is almost 6 months we’re going to start weaning him. I’ve always liked the idea of baby-led weaning where the baby feeds themselves chopped up pieces of food and I’m going to start him on that. He likes shoving things in his mouth at the moment so I’m hoping that he will like it. We went to a baby weaning course at out local children’s centre the other day and picked up a lot of useful information. I’m really excited for Aiden to start his journey into food.
Body
Now that I’ve got into a better exercise routine I’m beginning to feel more like my old self again. Pilates has been a big deal for me recently, especially where my posture is concerned and knitting my abdominal muscles back together again. I don’t have any major gapping of my abdominal muscles, however, I can feel a slight separation that I’m keen to get sorted through gentle exercise.
Over the past week or so my I’ve experienced some sharp pains in my right thumb, which I think is down to ‘mummy’s thumb’ a form of tendonitis called De Quervain Syndrome. It affects 50% of mums and can be caused by how you pick up your baby causing the tendons in your thumb to become inflamed. Now that Aiden is bigger rather than scooping him up under his head and bum to carry him I’ve picked him up from under the armpits, which I think has caused it. I’ve got a doctor’s appointment later today and hopefully we’ll get to the bottom of the issue.
Mind
Sorry to sound like a cliché, but I’m really loving life at the moment! Like all new mamas, I have my moments when I think I’m a completely rubbish, everything has gone to pot and have a complete meltdown because I don’t know why my baby won’t stop crying. When I weigh up how often these moments occur and how better equipped I am to deal with them now, I know that we’re not doing too badly and in fact we have been very lucky to have been blessed with a generally chilled out baby.
My two favourite boys!
Aiden’s Milestones
What has struck me is how quickly babies develop and learn new things, especially in such a short space of time. Aiden now shows a lot of humour and affection towards people and has become very tactile, he likes to touch everything from his daddy’s beard to pulling my lips, even pulling at his baby friend’s dress the other week…such a stud muffin! 😉
He’s such a strong little man and has great head control and can hold himself up well when he’s on his tummy, now he wiggles his little legs like he’s trying to go somewhere. I caught him rolling over a few weeks ago unaided and we’re trying to help him sit up too, he’s not quite there yet, but his spine is getting stronger day by day. We started putting him in a bouncer for 15 minutes every day and he just loves it! Aiden also takes after Alfie in the fact that he’s so vocal and loud once he gets going. He rabbited on to himself throughout the entire baby weaning class, thankfully everyone thought it was cute instead of annoying!
The next 6 months are so busy for little AJ, with weaning, sitting up, crawling, talking and walking. It’s such an exciting time seeing him develop into a little boy.
What were you most excited by when your baby reached the 6-month milestone?
What weaning method did you use? Do you know if you were weaned on pureed food or fed yourself as a baby?
This is such a wonderful post, I have to show it to my cousin’s wife who just gave birth a week ago! All the things she has to look forward to! You look so happy and stunning though! 🙂 I can’t wait to be a mummy as well, aww babies!
I hope everything is alright with your thumb though, and how do you manage to juggle having a 5 month old and do pilates?!
Ree // Coffee with Ree
Oh she has so much to look forward too. It’s such an incredible journey, challenging but so worth it.
Congrats on the little one, he’s such a cuuuuutie! I bet being a mum is tiring but you’re doing a fabulous job sweet 😀 x
Thanks Olivia! It really is tiring, but the best job ever. 🙂
Awwwh, he is so cute. I’m happy to hear you are nice and settled in to a routine. You sound really happy 🙂
I’m really feel settled into motherhood now and Aiden is such a joy – lots of reasons to be happy! 🙂
Congrats on the new milestones. Being a mom is rewarding and Tiring but just enjoy it with every moment that passes
Thank you. It is tiring, but so worth it.
Sounds like you are really enjoying motherhood! Your reflections are beautiful! Thanks for sharing! xox
I’m really loving every minute. 🙂
Sounds like you’re really enjoying motherhood. I never knew about the thumb thing – how random! Hope it gets better quickly.
Yeah, it’s really weird. The tendon in my thumb is inflamed, but it should settle on its own.
He is so unbelievably cute Jemma, such a joyful little face!
Awww thanks Claire We think he’s going to be a heart breaker, but we are slightly biased. 🙂
I can’t believe how fast the time has gone by! Such cute pictures! x
It’s just zooming by!
Aw your little guy is adorable! It’s so fun seeing babies learn and grow. I’m a nanny and it’s been such an awesome experience seeing the little guy go from 4 months to over 2 years.
Thanks Lisa! It is incredible watching them develop into little people.
Awe Aiden is adorable. You seem to be handling motherhood very well. You are so right babies are very smart and develop quickly. So enjoy every moment of it. That’s not a cliche at all!
It’s amazing how smart babies are and how quickly they pick things up. Such incredible little humans. 🙂
Ahh it sounds like you’re doing really well! I did baby led weaning for my boy, I’d highly recommend it xx
Thank you! I’m really looking forward to the whole weaning experience.
Aww what a cutie! The first year is such an exciting time with babies learning so many new skills. I did purées with my first just because I didnt know about blw and blw with my second. I would definitely recommend blw. It’s so much easier and has definitely helped my son be more independent at meal times and less fussy. He will eat most foods whereas his older sister is a lot fussier.
I do think that they get to experience so much more through blw. The first year is such an amazing time. I’m really enjoying watching him develop each day.
Aww, what a lovely post. Congratulations
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Thank you! 🙂
I can not believe is already past 5 months, just the other day we were counting down his birth lol. He’s so cute.