6 Months!

Whoa! Time is definitely speeding up. Aiden weighed 17lb 4oz and measured 27 inches tall at his 6 month appointment this week. He only had to endure 3 shots instead of 4 this time and he did very well. He rocked his pink band aids like a champ!

We hung out with Emily twice this week while Tom worked second shift. She took us to Carkeek Park in Seattle. It was a beautiful day and a beautiful park!

We went over to Rob and Des' to meet two day old little Ben (aka Nacho) this weekend. 

 

So tired...

 

This was Aiden's second swim class. He's learning to climb out of the pool (as much as a baby can)

 and of course going under water (turn your volume down before playing, the pool noise is loud)

Crawling is just barely out of reach.

Since Aiden was about 3 months old we've been going to parent-baby class for working parents every other Sunday with Wendy, one of the instructors from our birth class. It's pretty informal and the conversation is usually led by the parents. Wendy usually provides topics, resources and suggestions. This weekend we discussed managing frustrations and staying connected with your partner which I thought was very useful. Wendy discussed trying to give each parent 20 minutes to themselves each day, guilt free to do whatever they want (not chores or baby related stuff). Together you should try to get 20 minutes of uninterrupted quality time reconnecting each day. These amounts of time aren't huge, so it may not seem that significant? But when your time and energy are completely consumed by work or another person each day, 20 minutes to yourself can be a lifesaver. Wendy pointed out, and I've noticed it's very true, you can't recharge in one big chunk of time every 2 or 3 weeks. A little bit each day helps maintain sanity much more effectively. I've found 20 minutes to be a realistic goal most days. Trying to get 2-3 hours to yourself every now and then becomes a stressful attempt to coordinate and predict schedules. I have been leaving Aiden at daycare for another 30-40 minutes after I get off work a few days a week and getting time to myself home alone. Since I get off early anyway and daycare is only 5 minutes from the house this works out really well. Aiden usually goes to bed around 8 and Andrew and I will usually catch up at that point while getting bottles ready or doing any random cleaning that needs to be done. It's nice to do that stuff together because we can chat and get things done twice as fast. We've been watching Once Upon a Time together on Netflix and playing board games. I go to bed early so Andrew gets time to himself later at night. My mom also gave me advice that I think is very true... if Andrew and I take care of each other everything else will fall into place. It is  a very tough balancing act and is most often still unbalanced. But it's better to constantly be making a small effort rather than waiting to try and work on everything all at once when we magically have tons of time.