1st year reflections

Orion recently turned one year old.  I cannot believe how fast the first year flew by!  I would like to take some time to reflect on his first year on earth.

I am very proud that I have been able to breast feed without issues.  Yes there has been some biting and soreness but I know I have given my baby the very best food.  I love looking down at his happy face while he is sucking down the good stuff and seeing my milk pool in the corners of his mouth. 

I am proud that we have made all of Orion’s food and it really wasn’t that hard and did not require special kitchen gadgets.  We did not make his rice cereal, oatmeal, yogurt, or organic cereal puffs but everything else.  I wish we could grow a banana tree in our backyard because he eats one a day! 

We did not sleep train but he sleeps great!  I am very lucky that I have been home because he used to wake up a few times at night.  Sleep exhaustion really sucks but it will pass.  Then when you get used to a full night’s sleep, it will all go out the window but sleep will return! 

Take Pictures!  I felt like I was taking a million photos those first few months but when I actually uploaded them and looked at them, they were all pretty bad.  I also regret not getting the baby photo in the hospital.  We also missed out on a few fun photo opportunities like laying out Dad’s suit or work clothes on the bed then laying baby under the clothes so it looks like baby is wearing the outfit.  This is impossible to do once babies are mobile.

Work on the baby book as you go along as it will be easier to manage instead of sorting through a year’s worth of photos.  I take a lot of pictures and am pretty good at uploading them and printing them out.  You do not need to make a fancy scrapbook but having photos you can touch, frame, and show off without an electrical device is a wonderful thing.

I am amazed by how much my baby makes me laugh and smile.  We are pretty laid back people and I think that has, thankfully, rubbed off on my baby.  When I get frustrated or am so exhausted, he will usually do something to make me laugh as if he knows what I need.

I really did not know that I had such capacity for love.  How could I love someone so much who deprives me of sleep, is very selfish and demanding and pees, poops, and vomits on me?  It helps that he is so friggin' cute!

I knew my husband would be a great father but I had my doubts on being any good at motherhood.  I also felt lost without my mother and more so when my dad passed away when Orion was just 6 weeks old.  I really love being Orion's mom and think the 3 of us make a great team.  Outsides sources have even confirmed that I am doing a good job but only time will tell.

I am not a baby mind reader but I do know what my baby needs without sign language.  How do I know?  I just know.  Babies do not have a lot of needs.  Wet diaper, hungry, sleepy, or they just want to snuggle, those are really the big needs for the first year.  If nothing I do seems to work, I usually blame gas or teething.  If the fussing won't stop, I will just walk outside.  For whatever reason being outside seems to have a calming effect, as does music.

I did not expect to be more emotional after the baby than when I was pregnant.  If I see anything about moms, babies, or pregnancy I usually get choked up.  I was never that chick flick type of girl but I think my insides have been replaced with pink marshmallow fluff.

I learned newborn clothes and 0-3 months are way different a little too late in the game. Newborn (NB) size is good for 5-8 pounds or so.  All the 0-3 month clothing just hung off Orion until he was about a month or so old.

Babies will grind their teeth and it will sound horrible but it is perfectly normal.  This happened when Orion was over 11 months old.  He was just seeing what his body can do and thankfully it did not last long.

Babies will shake their heads and it is perfectly normal.  It is not a muscle spam or tic, they are just learning there body and have an immature nervous system.

One big bonus of breastfeeding is that breastfed babies poop less.  This is great but totally freaks you out when you are not expecting it.  We called our pediatrician frantically around 6 weeks because Orion had not pooped in days.  We were told this was normal but if he goes for 10 days to call back.

There were some things that I did not know about being pregnant and the first year that I had to learn “on the job”.  This might get a bit graphic.

You are actually pregnant for 10 months, not 9.  You are pregnant for 40 weeks but could have the baby anywhere between 38-42 weeks.  Of course some pregnancies are shorter, some are longer.

Eat before you go into the hospital!  I was scheduled for an induction and that day they kept pushing up the time.  Originally, I was to go into the hospital around 10:30 pm, after a few calls, they wanted me in at 6 pm.  I forgot to eat and didn't know dinner would not be served.  I wasn't able to eat for over 36 hours but it felt like a week!  After having a Cesarean, you are not allowed to eat until you fart.   

After you have your baby, you will be bleeding for days even weeks.  You will be changing the baby’s diaper as well as your own.  You cannot use tampons during this period and I found long, thin, super absorbency pads to work the best as you have to change them frequently.

During pregnancy, I did not know I would be leaving snail trails in my underwear.  Yeah, no one tells you that shit.

There is a bloody show which is different from your water breaking.  Your body has made a mucus plug (which has been streaking those panties) which may or may not fall out before your water breaks.  Turns out, fewer than 15% of women will have their water break naturally.  It isn’t like the movies with a big splash and a mad dash to the hospital. 

I am sure I will come up with a few other things.  Every time I publish a post I think of a few things that I forgot or should have mentioned.  I will try to remember to mention them as they come up.  I do hope the above things help and do not scare you off of pregnancy!  Having Orion is defiantly the best thing I have ever done!  I wonder what we ever did without him.

Orion Turns 1!

I started thinking about Orion’s 1st birthday party about 5 month before his actual birthday. Seeing what some people do to celebrate the 1st birthday is a bit overwhelming. I wanted to celebrate but I did not want to go overboard. When I was in college living in South Philadelphia, I was napping on the couch and was woken up by Backstreet Boys blasting. Someone was having a 1st birthday block party. I know some people have huge lavish parties with gift bags and bouncy castles but that is not our style. I wanted something low key and I am just not that crafty. Please know I am not dissing how anyone wants to celebrate a first birthday. Growing up our birthday party was fun and simple. We always had a piñata, family, friends, food, and my mom made a pound cake with chocolate frosting. I don’t remember there being themes but I did ask for a boy/girl dance party when I was turning 9. When did it become mandatory for children’s birthday parties to have a theme? Isn’t birthday a theme? I saw some great theme suggestions online but then started to get so overwhelmed I had to walk away.

In the end, decided on a Muppet theme because I love the Muppets and this might be my only chance to pick a theme. I am sure he will have opinions of his own come his 2nd birthday. I am very lucky that my husband had off from work for 2 weeks before Orion’s birthday because he was switching jobs. I doubt we would have been able to get everything done without my husband home cooking and cleaning. There were still things we forgot to do and forgot to put out for our guests. I am sorry they missed out on the Strawberry open face pie but it did not go to waste!

Since The Muppets new movie, I was hoping for a slew of new merchandise but had a hard time finding anything. It would have been easier to go with a Sesame Street them but I was sticking to my guns. I had picked up some Muppet fabric a few months ago to use for something else which came in handy as tablecloths. I went online and ordered some Muppet plates, which was a big splurge at about $0.60 a plate. Then I got plates, cups, forks, and napkins at a party store and at the dollar store. I did not want everything to be too matchy matchy so I bought some green and blue cups and different napkins. I didn’t even use 75% of what I bought so I am already for the next party.

What is a birthday without cake?  I had spent some time going around to local bakeries to see if anyone could make my cake dreams come true without much luck. Then I realized that I could make cupcakes and have control over what they looked like for a fraction of the cost of professional cupcakes. I ordered some cupcake toppers from Etsy to add a professional touch to my homemade treats. This was a wonderful investment because fondant ain’t cheap and making them would have been too time consuming. They were really well done and the customer service was great. I personally do not like the taste of fondant but I saw these as purely decorative but guests could eat them if they felt so inclined. I really want to preserve them in a frame to gaze upon for eternity!

I found a great website with wonderful Muppet party tips and printable downloads. I love printable downloads and I am thankful that I have such a great photo printer! I printed out a bunch of things to use as decoration and spent a lot of time with scissors in the claws I once called hands. I made the Kermit eyes using 4 pairs of cardboard 3-D glasses from the party store. These were so much fun and I got pictures of all my guests (except one) wearing these glasses. I love the idea of a photo booth and using props.

We are very food focused in my house so it was very important that we had great food to offer. Since most of our guests were driving hours to celebrate with us, I wanted to make sure I had something delicious to offer them that wasn’t available at their local supermarket. Patrick made wonderful meatballs (“Swedish Chef Meatballs”) and a fabulous pâte. He spent most of a day elbow deep in meat! But all our guests were impressed with the results and my Aunts were clamoring for more. We also had a nice cheese plate, fresh cut fruit (arranged into a rainbow), pigs in a blanket (“Pigs in Space Blankets” not fancy and from the freezer section), and a chick pea salad (“Gar-Gonzo” salad which was quick and easy to whip together). I also made Strawberry Rhubarb Lemonade and Peach syrup which could be added to iced tea or cocktails.

I invited 40 of our closest friends and family and was relieved that only 12 could make it. A few blogs I had read suggested keeping the guest list short and intimate which is good advice. Even though there were only 12 guests, I did not get a chance to really talk to anyone. I was too busy hosting a party, taking care of my baby, snapping photos, and then I was putting food into my gob as I had not eaten since 5 am. Having a short guest list also allowed everyone time to interact with the birthday boy without overwhelming him. Another item I read was to keep the party short and stay within that time frame. Our party was scheduled to run from 2-5. As some of our guests were making the 3 hour drive from Philly, they were allowed to come whenever they wanted and most of them got here an hour early. I spent the hour before party time nursing Orion and letting him nap on me. I wanted to make sure he was happy and fully rested for the party. It was killing me to hear my Aunts voices and not be able to run out and greet them and my 90 year old grandfather. My efforts paid off as Orion was such a good boy during the party and had tons of fun without ever shedding a single tear.

We were surprised when everyone (except 2 of our guest who had made the 2 hour drive up and were allowed to stay as long as they wanted) left at exactly the same time. By 5, Orion was ready for a nap but not before crawling out of his room to said good bye to his Great Grandfather, too cute! I was able to put Orion down in his crib for a nap and actually catch up with these dear friends who we hadn’t seen in a while. It felt so good to just sit and chat after running around since 4:30am.

The whole party flew by way too fast! I really wanted more time to chat with my guests. It kinda reminded me of my wedding. You get to say “Hi” and “Bye” but not much else. Orion had a great time and even though he won’t remember it, we got great pictures which he can enjoy when he grows up. I am already working on his scrapbook. His 1st year scrapbook is about 6 inches thick! I came from a family of photographers and what separates me from them is that I actually put them into albums. When my parents passed away we found drawers and boxes overflowing with pictures. I think it is easier to upload, print, and put in books as you go along. I cannot stress the value of photos as most of my childhood memories are linked to photos.

The day before the party, we got portraits taken at JC Penny. We went to JC Penny because they always have a great deal. We got 7 portrait sheets for only 25$! Since my in-laws were already in town, we had them in a few of the pictures with Orion. The pictures came out great! I am really glad that we got some nice shots of him with his grandparent. I plan to get portraits done twice a year, his birthday and Christmas. Once he is in school, the school picture will replace his birthday portrait.

Orion had a very happy birthday and I am so glad we could share the day with our closest friends and family. It was a lot of work but totally worth it! It was not perfect or worthy of Pinterest but it was our very special day. I missed my parents like crazy but having my mother’s sisters and father there made it a very special day.  Happy Birthday Orion!!