Creative Kimpire: Motherhood: Month 6.5 Part 2

It’s been a rough day. Actually, it’s been a rough like 4 days with a breather thrown in on Friday. Quinn has been super cranky, maybe he’s teething and he might be constipated but it’s totally out of character for him. I appreciate his pleasant demeanor so much more now that I have experienced what a full time cranky baby would be like. Whatever it is, teeth, poop, or something else, I hope it rights itself soon. Mama can’t take much more 😫.

We had his 6 month check-up a little late because his doctor was out of town. He’s growing consistently and took his vaccinations like a champ! He didn’t even cry. They stuck him in his legs while I sang to him and he scrunched up his face like he was going to scream and then just relaxed 🤷🏻‍♀️. He has to go back in 4 weeks for a booster for his flu shot and I hope it goes as smoothly as this appointment did! Taking an infant to the doctor (or anywhere, really) is an introvert’s nightmare. While I’m capable of making small talk, I strongly dislike it and as I’ve said before, babies are like magnets! People want to talk to him (and touch him 🤬🤬🤬) and ask me all kinds of questions and then typically want to tell me about their grandkids, or their sister’s grandkids, or their own adult children as kids. The worst part is you’re trapped in a waiting room, at the mercy of the nurse to call your name and save you from Small Talk Hell. Okay, that may be slightly dramatic but believe me when I say it’s truly wearying to me 😩😭.

Anyway, aside from shots (which may or may not have caused the constipation 😕) and fussiness, the last two weeks have brought new skills, too. Quinn’s doing well with eating and had his first fruits lately, prunes to help with the poop situation, and apples. He’s turned into Mr. Independent and wants to “help” feed himself. This resulted in a huge mess but a very funny picture the first day he ate prunes. He is beginning to grasp cause and effect through the super fun game called, I Throw Stuff On The Floor And Mommy/Daddy Will Pick It Up. Yay. He likes to smack things when he gets excited: his high chair tray, his toy against the floor, your face….that’s fun, too 🤦🏻‍♀️🙄. My favorite new ability of his is hair pulling. Yep, definitely. That’s sarcasm for anyone who doesn’t know me well. He likes to reach for anything that’s out of his reach. It is kind of funny when he grabs one of us by the ears and pulls us down for a kiss. Or to eat your nose. Or your whole face. 🤣 He slimed me so much earlier I had to blow my nose. I’ll take that though because when he was covering my face in saliva he was happy, and that didn’t happen much today. The poor kid. I feel really bad for him. For as bad of a day that I had due to him fussing the entire day, I know his was worse. To get him to settle down this evening I stood and held him, because if I sat he would cry, and sang to him for at least twenty minutes. It’s a great workout if anyone is interested in taking a shift 😉💪🏻. He won’t calm down to just any music either, you have to sing. He loves the 5 Little Monkeys song and Row, Row, Row Your Boat but we like to mess up the second verse and say, “Row, row, row your boat, underneath the stream. Ha ha, fooled you, I’m a submarine.” So even though my arms were about to fall off and my lower back is gonna hurt for days, when he finally fell asleep I didn’t want to put him down. Sleepy baby cuddles are the best and after the last couple of days we’ve had, I needed some nice cuddles.

Prunes. Are. So. Sticky. 🤦🏻‍♀️ He’s so proud of himself 😂

I put the flip over changing seat over him while he was sleeping to block some of the light. He woke up and reached for the tag 🤦🏻‍♀️.

Attacking his cousin Kate 😂

He even reaches for stuff in his sleep 😂

He had his first snow day. He looked so cute but he wasn’t at all impressed 🤣.

Having a baby has really changed us. Like our house for one, there is baby shit everywhere. Not literally baby shit. All his stuff. We bought him a fence for the kitchen so he can play without the dogs bothering him. It’s big. His bouncer seat is big. His high chair is big. His carseat sits at the kitchen table and takes up one of the chairs. I like to buy his clothes ahead of time when they go on sale and I greatly overestimated his need for jackets at 6 month old 🤦🏻‍♀️. He has toys that make music and talk. They get on my nerves sometimes. I realize this is only the beginning of that plight. I find myself singing kid songs long after the baby has gone to bed. I’m sometimes less tolerant of Sophie’s rowdiness and limit pushing because Quinn has been fussy and I don’t have any patience left to give. However, I’ve never seen Philip be as silly as he is when he interacts with Quinn and it melts my heart. I’ve never loved a smile as much as I love Quinn’s. We all have so much fun together and that makes having all his stuff taking over the house worth it. I wouldn’t trade either of them for the world. Even though Quinn has been most difficult these last few days, refusing to take his bink and forcefully shoving it out of his mouth anytime I try to give it to him, (and I’m pretty sure he would cuss me if he could talk), I know that this is only temporary and I hope my sweet baby will be back soon. Possibly with a new tooth or two 🤷🏻‍♀️🦷. In the meantime, Mama will just have to practice some self care to keep from going insane. I teach yoga 3 days a week so that helps. Yesterday I threw our meal plan out the window and drove to Moundsville by myself to get pizza from our favorite place. It’s all about balance.

His HUGE fence. 😉

Since he doesn’t know what day it is, I decided to give him his Valentine’s Day gift early today. Really I was ready to give him anything that kept him quiet for a few minutes that didn’t pose a choking hazard but that’s neither here nor there 🤪.

He got the outfit that says Loved from Mimi 🥰. We recently got a gift in the mail from Nana that was Squid Socks. They’re great and I highly recommend for anyone who has the sock losing problem that we do. They have little grippies on the inside of the heel that help keep the socks on!

Sophie is always pushing her limits. Always. But today she surprised me. I was playing with Quinn on his floor and she kept encroaching on his space so I told her to go get a toy. She went into the living room and came back with a toy she had been working on ripping the stuffing out of since the day before. She brought it over to Quinn and gave it to him. It was super sweet until she tried to play tug-o-war with him and I had to break it up 😂.

Speaking of sharing toys, I bought the girls a pack of tennis balls the other day. They just happen to come in packs of 3 so each of our kids got one 😆.