My sweet, sweet lion is now five months old and this stage has definitely been my favourite yet. Don't get me wrong, I do miss the littleness of him as a newborn but now he's growing into his own little person and it's so precious to see.
We had the best time away. He was such a champ and I think it's because he was the perfect age to travel with! Oh, the family time was sooo, sooo good.
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Oh my goodness, my sweet baby boy is now FOUR MONTHS!! He officially is not a little baby anymore (insert crying face emoji!!!!). We have a ton of fun together. He may not be teeny anymore but he is interacting so much and brings James & I so much joy...oh how I love my little lion.
He has seriously changed SO MUCH since he was born. A lot of his dark hair has fallen out but it's been replaced with fuzzy blonde hair! He doesn't look as Italian anymore, which makes me sooo sad but he's still cute as heck...and looking a lot more like his daddy these days.
WEIGHT: 15lbs 9oz
Again, he's right on the 50th percentile for weight and height (still around the 85th-97th for head size LOLZ). My doctor at our four month check up called him perfect...I know she probably says that to every mama but oh, it made my heart beam..ha.
HEIGHT: 25.1 inches
I have a feeling he's going to be tall like his daddy. His feet and hands are HUGE!
WEARS: Still fitting 3-6 month clothing but some of it is getting TIGHT! I'm sure I'll be putting him in 6-9 month clothing very soon. We're heading down to San Diego later this month, so I'm hoping to get some cute numbers from ZARA!! I'm also on the hunt for more sweaters & jackets as it's been getting pretty cold around here. How cute is this one and this one?
SLEEPS: He's still sleeping great.....my fingers are crossed as I keep hearing about this dreaded 4 month regression! He did have a cold for two weeks and that usually caused a wake up around 2 or 3 but then back to sleep until 8. But since he's been cold free, he's been sleeping between 10-12 hours straight. We've moved his bedtime to 7-7:30pm and I think that is helping him sleep better. He also uses his hand to self soothe so I'm sure that's what helps him get back to sleep instead of nursing. I'm convinced our next child will be one who is up every two hours ha...
HIGHS: A huge highlight of my day is going into his room in the morning and seeing how happy he is to see me. He gives the biggest smiles and is giggling more and more. I also love to put on music and sing silly songs with him. That always guarantees a ton of smiles!
LOWS: Having his first big cold definitely SUCKED! He absolutely hates the nose frida and don't you even dare put a kleenex anywhere near his nose. So that being said, getting those boogers out of his nose were the WORST.
PARENTING: Ah, I love being this little guy's mama! Luca is at an age where he can just chill on our laps at restaurants/shops and it's the best. It doesn't take much to entertain him and he isn't moving like crazy so I can still put him down and get stuff done! I feel like he's reached such an easy going age and I cannot wait for unlimited family time in San Diego!
POSTPARTUM: As I shared last month, I started to make a bit more effort in the whole going back to pre-baby size. Some days have been real good and others have been GIVE ME ALL THE FOOD. ha. I did start doing a workout video program (which I do on days where I'm home in the morning..so mostly 4 days per week) and I just got a membership at a gym..yay! Hopefully this will kick my butt into gear before we go away but honestly, I'm totally okay with my postpartum body. As I continue to make effort, I know the pounds will slowly shed BUT I'm also really trying not to beat myself up when I miss a workout or eat poorly.
WHAT I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO: One word...DISNEYLAND !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We're doing one day in Disney and it's going to be INSANE but I am SOOO EXCITED. (I've had TWO separate dreams where I wasn't able to go on any rides so my hopes aren't too high ha.) Also, lots and lots of family time in San Diego.
Okay and look at those LASHES. Seriously, cutest little boy in the whole wide world, ha. Love you so much my little lion.
XO!
laura
You know there are a lot of things about having a baby that people don't really tell you. I'm pretty sure I've mentioned it before but before I had Luca, I pictured postpartum life as a delightful break from working, unlimited baby snuggles and free time to do whatever I please...HAHA.
Obviously, I was naive in my thinking and I learned that being a mom is the hardest job ever pretty quickly but I didn't expect as many, let's just put it as "surprises", that came with the postpartum body.
Let's talk about a few of those "surprises"...Now this may not be the case for everyone but before I was pregnant I was literally cold ALL THE TIME. Enter postpartum life where I would literally soak through sheets at night...it's tamed down now but still I haven't felt cold in a long time.
Another thing I didn't expect was to be in MAD PAIN. Birth was a flipping marathon...and pushing for almost 3 hours did a number on me and my body...I won't get into any details but let's just say, I took longer than I thought I needed to recover and heal...and dear Lord, remind me to invest in a donut pillow before I give birth again.
One more thing that I didn't really think about was postpartum body. I gained 45lbs with Luca, and like most of the naive world, I thought the pounds would just shed off with breastfeeding. A lot has but not all of it and what I'm left with is a body that's veeerrrrry different than before. A few years back God really healed me of some body issues (I wrote about that here!) But with this postpartum body, I found myself getting close to going down that old path of shaming and self-loathing....but thankfully by the grace of God (and encouragement from my sweet hubby) I'm beating those postpartum body blues.
Here are three ways I'm beating those postpartum body blues:
I've written before on comparison but it is one I constantly have to say OH HECK NO to. Comparison is something that so many women deal with and it seriously rears its ugly head in every new season...especially in this whole mom thing. (PS. If you're local to Victoria, my church's womens group is doing a study on comparison on Wednesday mornings!)
I definitely found myself looking at other women who had babies (in real life and celebrities, ha) and being jealous/sad that the weight seemed to fall off of them. Why wasn't it flying off of me!!?? I needed to give my head a good shake and remember that we were all created differently (with different metabolisms and finances that afford personal trainers and chefs ha) and comparing myself to others would get me nowhere. Instead of comparing my body to others I needed to embrace the change taking place within myself.
Becoming a mom changes you. I did not expect this much change but I am definitely not the woman I used to be. Motherhood is not my sole identity (post coming soon on this!) but a part of me and it has changed me for life. So often the media celebrates women who bounce quickly back to their pre-baby body. But the thing about motherhood is, you're not meant to bounce back (found this article so beautiful on this!) You're different in mind, body and spirit and that is a beautiful thing.
I'm learning to embrace the change of motherhood. I feel stronger than ever before and when I look in the mirror at my jiggly stomach, instead of thinking ugggh, I see it as a reminder that I GREW A HUMAN BEING AND THEN BIRTHED THAT HUMAN BEING...THAT IS PRETTY FREAKING AMAZING. And now I get to snuggle that human being endlessly until he is 30.
So if you find yourself looking in the mirror wishing you would look like you used to look...please remind yourself that your body created life. And that is a very, very beautiful and selfless thing.
Self-care for a momma is SO IMPORTANT. At the beginning I struggled with a lot of anxiety. My whole world was wrapped up in the little lion and I was pouring myself into him (literally as well lols). I didn't take any time for myself and I didn't take care of my body whatsoever. I ate like crap and was feeling like that too. My self-care had gone down the toilet.
But the moment I started eating healthier and exercising, I felt a world of difference. And I didn't go crazy like I would have in the past. I just started being accountable to what I was putting in my body (I use my fitness pal to track calories with my goal being around 2300) and started to exercise gently.
I'm also refusing to use shame as a motivator. Like I said in this post, my goal is to be healthy and not shame myself because shame is THE WORST motivator.
I'm also learning to give myself GRACE and to be kind to myself. Again, I'm referencing the post I just linked to but seriously...speaking God's word over yourself can truly transform your mindset. And this is for all the non-moms too...please be kind to yourselves. You are beautiful, you are valuable, you are loved.
These three things have helped me kick the postpartum body blues but I know everyone is different and different things work for different people (like hello mom of 3 kids, how do you do what you do!).
XO,
laura
My sweet baby boy is growing up!! Three months baby boy...that's one quarter of the year!! I miss him being so tiny but I love getting to know his cute little personality.
WEIGHT: 14lbs 1oz
Hello my big boy!! He seems huge but he's in the 50th percentile for weight so he's right on par with most babies. But HELLO baby thunder thighs.
HEIGHT: 24 inches
My baby grew over an inch last month! I held up a newborn onesie that was once loose on him and it almost made me cry...please stop growing my baby.
WEARS: I mostly have him in 3-6 month clothing except for pants as he can still fit into 0-3 ones. If you follow me on snap, you would have seen a few fall items I ordered for him. I got these cute little sleepers, this adorbs onesie for Halloween and a few other things as well.....buying baby clothes is SO addicting.
SLEEPS: Luca started consistently sleeping (in his crib) between 8-10 hours straight for almost the whole month (sometimes 7 hours and sometimes 11 but mostly between 8-10)! I definitely feel like a new woman but I know it could all change at the four month sleep regression...oh dear Lord. He usually has three naps a day but often fights the last cat nap at 5pm. We usually put him down for the night between 7:30-8pm and have started doing a bedtime routine (low lights, baby Einstien lullabies on spotify, pjs, bath (every couple days), boob, bed). Obviously with church and other night time stuff we can't always get him down at 7:30-8 but I really try to on most nights and it makes a huge difference.
HIGHS: That first laugh. Oh my gosh, I could have died right there in that moment. He's such a sweet, happy little guy but you got to be really funny to make him laugh...which I totally appreciate and James and I are both like that too. He laughs most when I sing him a silly song and bob my top knot around, ha.
LOWS: Honestly, this month has been really good as we both have figured out a sort of rhythm. There obviously have been some hard days when James had to work overtime on some jobs...on those days, I'm counting down the minutes until bedtime ha...but overall I don't think I had too many breakdowns that stood out to me, lol.
PARENTING: Watching James and Luca together is one of my favourite things. Luca knows who his daddy is and now not just mama can calm him down...that's such a sweet thing to see. We booked a family vacation for the end of October and I cannot wait for non-stop family time with my two favourite guys.
POSTPARTUM: So I've gone on about five runs now lols and I'm still the same weight I was at the beginning of August but now it's September and I'm starting to be a bit more accountable with my eating and exercise. We're actually going to be test subjects in a UVIC study on exercise after a baby, so hopefully that will kick this butt into gear....on the other hand, I'm not too stressed...I'm in the midst of writing a post on beating the post-partum body blues....I have so much to say and it's dang hard to get it all out but what I will say now is I'm trying to find the balance between not beating myself up and making an effort to make healthy choices.
WHAT I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO: More giggling. More family time after a busy work season. Date nights, ha. It's fun seeing Luca develop, just yesterday he blew his lips for the first time and was shocked at the noise that came out...it's so cute seeing him grow...but also very sad :( !!!
Oh my sweet lion, I love being your momma.
XO!
laura
My sweet little lion is almost three months old!! It's hard to believe he was that little. I designed this birth announcement/thank you card and thought I should share it with you all. The photo was shot by our friend Tyson. Isn't it crazy how much Luca has changed...his hair has thinned and has started to turn a lot lighter, and he's gained some rolls. Can't believe he was once a teensy 7lb 13oz...he now is over 14lbs ! Oh, time please slow down.
Happy Thursday!....it's almost the weekend!!!!!
XO,
laura
I'm Laura. Wife, mama, pastor, diy-er + chocolate addict who's just trying to change the colour on your mood ring. Thanks for stopping by, XO!
© 2017 S.S. Heart. All rights reserved. If you want to use a photo, please contact me for permission! Let's keep it real. xo.
