HaleyLast week marked three months since I had Beau and started staying at home, so I thought I’d give a little update as to how things are going in the Hobson household.
BEAU
This not-so-little fella is a dream come true for this mama. He really is the sweetest, most laid-back little baby. The boy isn’t big on crying; when he wakes up to eat in the middle of the night, I hear a brief yelp or two, and that’s it. Of course, then I hear him ferociously sucking his fist. He’s waking up once or twice a night to eat. A couple times he’s gone a 6 to 8 hour initial stretch, but it’s hit or miss. Other nights, he’ll wake up every four hours. But I really can’t complain, because after I feed and change him, he goes right back to sleep.
As opposed to JM as a baby, who was wide awake from day one, little Beau took much longer to wake up. And even now, he still sleeps more as a three month old than it seems like JM slept as a newborn. (No complaints here because my hands are full with JM). But when Beau is awake, he is all smiles, laughs and coos. He loves to make eye contact and is really starting to take notice of everything going on around him.
In the past two weeks, he’s picked up some of JM’s baby habits, such as wanting to sit up so he can see everything that’s going on. And I’m happy to indulge him until my arms give out from exhaustion from toting around his 17 pounds.
Two weeks ago, I retired all his 6-month clothes and he’s barely fitting into 6-9 month onesies, but 9 month ones are a good fit for now. It’s not that he’s super long, but he has a long torso. Last week, I cleaned out his dresser to fill it with the few 9-month items we have and stocked the rest with JM’s old 12-month clothing. Crazy to think that Beau may be wearing them this winter, but I am glad that we’ll get more use out of them.
He’s still nursing on demand, and mostly eats every 2.5 to 3 hours during the day, though sometimes in the evening he will cluster feed for a couple hours. And I’m fine with that if it means I get a decent stretch of sleep at bedtime. He will sometimes suck his thumb, and it’s the cutest thing ever. Some people are very against babies sucking their thumbs, but I’m much more open minded. My brother sucked his thumb and he turned out just fine 🙂 Plus, I can remember months of JM losing his paci and having to go find it for him in the middle of the night. At least you can’t lose a thumb.
Beau is looking more and more like his daddy. To me, he looks so different from JM as a baby. Beau’s eyes are still a blue gray, whereas JM’s were brown by this point. And though his hair is still just little fuzzies, it looks to be blonder than JM’s was as a baby. I can’t wait to see how his looks and personality develop over the next few months.
JAMES MICHAEL
JM has really surprised me these past three months. I didn’t know how he would react to having a baby brother, but he’s really done much better than I could have ever imagined. He loves his brother something fierce, and still wakes up in the morning and from his naps asking for and looking for him. Three times now, he’s pushed another child who got a little too close to his baby brother. As much as I don’t want him being overly rough to others, I can’t help but smile at his protectiveness. His latest thing is repeatedly kissing Beau (and getting in a few licks in the process, but we’re working on not licking anyone). He’s also started to dance for him and tried to share toys and snacks. As gentle as JM is with him most of the time, I still prefer to be right there beside him to ensure Beau doesn’t get some random raisin stuffed in his mouth 🙂
Besides interacting with his new brother, JM has really impressed me in other ways. Sure, he still has plenty of times where he gets frustrated and whines or throws a tantrum or goes into timeout–after all, he’s a toddler. But overall, it’s just amazing to see him as a little inquisitive person, exploring everything and seeing how far he can push his own limitations. I am so thankful for our fenced in backyard, because as I’m with Beau on the deck, he has the freedom to explore the backyard without me worrying about how much trouble he can get into. The witching hour has eased up a bit, as we are normally in the backyard or at the gym with other kids during this time.
JM woke up often as a baby to eat, but he’s got this toddler sleeping thing down pat. Most of the time, he sleeps between 12 and 13 hours at night, and takes a 3 hour nap after lunch. That sounds like a lot of sleep for a nearly 2 year old, and it is, but the boy just plays so hard and is go, go, go unless he’s sleeping.
MAMA
I hear many stay at home moms talk about the daily monotony. Fortunately, I have yet to experience that. Of course, Beau has just come out of the newborn faze and I’m just starting to get enough sleep to feel fully functional. Between JM’s preschool two mornings a week, my weekly bible study one morning, chiropractic appointments every two weeks, CrossFit classes when I can squeeze them in, hosting gamedays at our house half the time and running errands all the time, life is anything but monotonous. If anything, there are times when I wish there was just less to do. And then when we have a rainy day where we’re stuck inside, I’m grateful for all of the weekly things that make it normal for us.
No day is perfect or a breeze, but we’ve had some amazing times. Is my house clean all the time, or even half the time? Absolutely not. This week I got a chance to mop all the hardwoods downstairs and I felt like that was huge for me. I’m getting the hang of this cleaning all.the.time thing, though admittedly, if it comes down to it, I choose cooking over cleaning. After all, since we don’t eat fast food (except for James’ random trips to McDonald’s in an attempt to get in as many calories as possible), having dinner made is much higher on my list than making sure the steps have been vacuumed. But I’m getting better about this cleaning thing.
Naptimes, as all mothers can attest, are a blessing. Especially when both boys, or all three guys in the house, are napping at once. Some days I use that time to clean and do chores, other days, I use the majority of it to cook or sneak in trips to the grocery store.
Dinner and bedtime are the hardest times of day for me, since James is at the gym and I’m balancing both boys on my own. But as James Michael gets older, he’s getting easier. If Beau’s not in his baby bathtub inside the big bathtub that JM bathes in, he’s likely nursing while JM is bathing. You can imagine how fun that balancing act is.
Workouts are still sporadic. Last week, I made it to the gym 4 times because James was able to watch the boys. This week, I haven’t made it in once (but have high hopes of going tonight). I’d consider going twice a week to be a success. I really need that outlet to be the best mom and wife I can be.
