Happy New Year!
January is a blue month for most, but as it's my birthday month I always welcome it in with open arms! This year however it's all been about motherhood: my first full month as a new mummy and getting to know J as he starts to grow and develop.
Seven weeks in, sleep deprivation has definitely been the biggest hurdle! - Mixed with the additional energy it takes to navigate new parenting skills. L is now back at work too, so I've had to figure some things out solo and scrape the extra energy together to amuse J in between feeds and sleeps. (Mostly dancing to The Jungle Book soundtrack, singing Twinkle Twinkle and researching baby classes to try out.)
Here's what I've been up to so far in 2017:
1. FIRST SMILE
The biggest highlight of motherhood so far: J's first smile. Mostly because it's a sign that he likes us. - And that in between sleeping, feeding and crying - we're doing something right and he's happy. Always good to get some reassurance!
2. WINTER WALKS
I had no idea getting out of the house would be easier than staying indoors with J - the motion of the pram helps him drift off and it gives me some time to clear my head and get some exercise. Or if L's with me, the opportunity for us to chat - whether it's baby-related or a completely different topic such as holidays and future plans. England has seen some beautiful sunshine this month (even though it's been freezing!) so we've been enjoying bright family walks in the fresh air. This particular walk around our local park's boating lake was fun as it was frozen over apart from a small section, which quickly became a watering hole for birds of all shapes and sizes, with many of them ice skating their way there.
3. BIRTHDAYS
Papa B, my brother-in-law G and I all have early January birthdays so it's always a month of celebrations. I love it this way as it keeps the happy momentum of Christmas going that little bit longer. This year, L and I decided to celebrate a trio of birthdays with our nearest and dearest as L's big day was overshadowed by my labour (!). We booked an area in a local pub and not only celebrated our birthdays together but we toasted J's new arrival. We received so many lovely presents for him from outfits to toys, including this Daddy Cool dog from L's friend, which I thought was lovely as sometimes the dads can get overlooked a bit.
4. BABY CLASSES
I've been scoping out some local baby classes with my NCT friends, from swimming to baby sensory. It's great to get J experiencing new things while getting out and about. J created his first piece of (abstract!) art for L this month. Very messy, but aren't all the fun things?
5. PUB LUNCHES
We've always wanted to explore our local area more and with J now in the mix, we've been using our time at home to enjoy weekend walks to local pubs for lunch. It's also nice not to have to wash up at the end of a long week(!). We recently enjoyed crispy roast potatoes with the BEST steak sandwich overlooking a stunning view of our town one Sunday. It was just what the doctor ordered.
You can get a closer look at my month over on Instagram. What have you been up to so far this year?
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