Yikes! I do not have a six month old anymore. How did this update get so behind?  I’m beginning to think that if I close my eyes, I’ll open them up and Dash will be asking to borrow the keys to my car. As much as I feel like these past six (er, seven) months have flown by, I can hardly remember what it was like not to have Dash around. This has been the greatest adventure that RP and I have been on and I am pretty proud of our little family.

Being a Working Mom

I had six weeks maternity leave that went by so quickly. Just when I thought that Dash and I were figuring each other out, I felt like I had to start all over again as we tried to get out of the door each morning and get through the day on limited sleep. I think I mentioned in a previous post that my first day of work was terrible. I cried the whole drive to and from daycare and every time someone walked into my office. The next day was better and by the next week, it felt like I had never left. It really helped that I kept up with emails while on maternity leave so I wasn’t overwhelmed with six weeks of work waiting for me upon my return. My transition from working girl to working mom hasn’t been without its hiccups, but I feel like I’m back in the game. Sure, the bags under my eyes are darker, my hair is always pulled up and I might have spit-up or food on my cardigan, but I’m getting the job done and hustling out the door to retrieve my kid from daycare.

Breastfeeding

This deserves more than just a paragraph, so I promise to do a post devoted to EBF as a working mom. I have an office at work, but not a door, so I have to use our keypad entry server room to pump. I feel like every time I place my “do not disturb” sign on the door, it’s as if a red light starts flashing that alerts everyone that I’m not working. Never mind that I rarely take a lunch and only pump three times a day for about ten minutes. Like I said, returning to work has had its hiccups. Pumping is not the greatest, but I’ve been doing it enough to keep Dash fed the whole time he’s at daycare. It hasn’t been easy, but I’m proud of myself for making it work.

Milestones

The changes between three and six months have been amazing. At three months, Dash was still pretty squishy. As of six months, he was rolling all over the place and sitting on his own. Tummy time went from being torture to being a ton of fun. Smiles were more commonplace and deep belly baby laughs fill our home. We’ve gone from the bucket car seat to a convertible car seat. We said goodbye to my Saturn and hello to a black sparkly Jeep. We’ve celebrated his first Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s.

Sibling Love

Dash LOVES his animals. His face lights up whenever Manny or one of the cats walk by. I wish I could say that the animals felt the same way about him. They try to avoid the little hands that grab fistfuls of hair. Once Dash learns to be gentle, I’m sure he’ll have three very best friends. For now, they stay just out of reach, unless Dash has help from mom or dad.

Getting Out of the House

RP and I are still pushing our luck and taking Dash with us everywhere. Now that Dash is in a convertible car seat, things aren’t quite as easy. We are missing the days of lugging a sleepy baby in a bucket car seat and letting him peacefully sleep while we ate at a restaurant. Now, we’re dodging grabby little hands and trying to keep him entertained (and upright) in a high chair. Thankfully he’s pretty easy going. I’m still figuring out how to do both drop-off and pick-up from daycare and our evening routine and squeeze in time to go to the gym. I feel good about myself if I walk the dog and get the mail. Little victories.

All in all, these past six months have been the best adventure of my life. I’m amazed at all of the things that Dash and I are learning together. I love watching him experience things for the first time. I love contorting my face and making silly noises to get a sweet, gummy grin. I love holding him, rocking him and snuggling him. The love that I feel for him really surprised me, in the best possible way. I can’t wait for our next six months of adventure but, I do wish time would slow down a little.

I’m just a few days away from this little guy going mobile. I know it would be unfair to just knock him over every time he got up on all fours, so the crawling thing is really going to happen. I hope the animals are ready, I know that I’m not. Pray for us!