Slow down, January!

The boy has taken the month of January off for FMLA leave and its been so incredible for us to all have this time together. We had been plotting for weeks all the things we planned to do during the month, but its going by so quickly and there are still so many things on our list!

The first order of business was to buy a second car. When I left my job in November to become a contractor, I turned in my company car, leaving us with one to share. We are now back to being a two car family and the boy no longer has to depend on the bean and I for rides to and from the train station. This was becoming a necessity as the bean has decided to move her bedtime to just before we'd usually leave in the evening and our nights were becoming very hectic.

Coincidentally, the bean has also outgrown her infant carseat, so we've had a new one installed in each car. We have our carseats installed by our local police department, which is something I highly recommend. Its insanely difficult to get the seats installed tightly enough, particularly in an older car that doesn't have the LATCH system. The bean now rides in a "big kid" convertible carseat. We very rarely used the infant seat to carry her around in, but we are definitely missing it those times that she falls asleep in the car and we'd like to bring her into the house without waking her.

Also in January, we took the bean for her 6 month well baby visit. After gaining 2 pounds per month consistently since birth, the bean gained barely 1/2 pound between 5 and 6 months. The boy and I were noticing that she looked like she'd thinned out a bit and we were right. Perhaps we won't have a 40 pound 1 year old after all!

The bean also had her first overnight away from home on a long weekend with family in Vermont. We had a lovely time relaxing and shopping during the day while most everyone else was skiing. We did learn something that will probably be true for the rest of the bean's childhood and that is that sleeping in a strange place is hard. It was hard to get her to fall asleep and, while we've been spoiled at home with a baby who wakes to eat and then goes right back to sleep, it was a different story away from home. Each night, we had a middle of the night party lasting at least an hour and during which the bean was wide awake and ready to be up for the day. We also experienced the limitations of co-sleeping with witnesses this time--the bean goes to bed between 6 and 7 pm and we don't leave her alone in an adult bed. She won't sleep anywhere else, like say a crib or pack 'n play. Our very gracious hosts eat dinner late and each night ate without my company, as I was lying in bed either nursing or reading a book and watching over a sleeping baby. Doing something about our sleeping situation was on the list in January, but we so far have had no success. I'm still planning to write more on that later.

But moving on. The bean also took her first trip to New York City. The boy had to go to work for a few hours, so the bean and I followed along so she could be shown off to co-workers. We were both impressed with how she handled the long train and crowded subway rides. After this trip and the long car trip to Vermont, we're starting to feel a bit more confident about being able to survive a trip by plane in the near future.

The bean liked her mommy's big chair!

We have continued on with solid foods and the bean is finally starting to get the hang of it. She is so cute as she opens her mouth when she sees the spoon approaching. She's still not eating very much, just a tablespoon or so a day, but at least she's eating something.

Finally, we started experimenting with the potty this month. Our plan is to get her familiar with sitting on it over the next couple months in hopes of having a routine of going potty several times a day by the time she's a year old. The bean is obesessed with standing and has starting learning how to pull herself up and each time that she sits on her potty, she lets us know that she's done by just standing up. I'm simultaneously proud that she's learning new things and sad that our little baby is gone.

And now we have one last week in which to cram the remainder of our list. It will be so hard to see the boy going off to work again. And with February, comes our first days at daycare.