SAHM with young kids vs SAHM vs Homeschool Mom vs. Working Mom

These are all entirely different versions of motherhood. I've done 3 of 4.

Let me explain.

SAHM with young kids <--- 2018-2020, 2022-2023

These are the baby and toddler years. Whether you have one (like I did at home for 2 years) or some in school and one or more at home,  you are tethered to a small child or baby 24/7. They are always with you and you are also tethered to nap time. I'm not using tethered in a derogatory way; that's just what it is. I was home exclusively with Wells for 2+ years. Just me and him. Then, after some transitions, he went to preschool at 4 for half a day and I was still with baby Sutton all day long. She didn't leave my side for a year and a half, basically. 

This is the version of motherhood that is the most time-intensive and where you have to be the easiest on yourself. Sleep every chance you get (just my advice). It's not the time for "getting up before the kids". 

SAHM 

A stay-at-home-mom sends her kids to school. She then has the day to do whatever she needs to do. Generally, she's busy, if she's naturally industrious. Cleaning, appointments, errands, running the house and managing the family. This is the traditional view of motherhood. If she works part-time, that's this category because she makes her own hours (your MLM is not full-time work). She's not held to a time-clock or schedule, working full-time from home. Working full-time from home is still working full-time. 

Getting up before your kids is a good idea if you want them to get to school on time. 

Homeschool mom <--- in this exact stage of life, I am here. 

This is not a SAHM. This is an entirely different thing. I was not aware of the difference until I tried it. This is a mom who is doing everything all at once all day long. The kids don't leave, so it's like taking the SAHM with young kids and just making the kids independent. They're still around. Your house will be a disaster at times because the kids are there; baseboards aren't dirty from neglect, they're full of crumbs because kids are eating snacks all day long. There's no dust, only crumbs (everywhere). There is generally no quiet, no peace, lots of cajoling and explaining and bargaining because You Are Trying To Teach Them Something. Like the SAHM w/ YK, you have kids with you when you go places, but they can walk in stores by themselves and can also buckle themselves into their own seatbelts. 

This is the version of motherhood where it makes sense to get up before your kids. You're not as exhausted and you can create the day's schedule. 

Working mom <---- 2020-2022, 2023-2025

This is usually survival mode. It takes a lot of forethought and planning to thrive, but I also found it pretty rewarding. I don't know about you, but I grew up with a working mom and never thought I'd do it differently. This is for the planners and the do-ers and the overachievers. It's also necessary in most households. In this category, the kids go to daycare or school and the mom goes to work. Your baseboards are dirty from neglect, not crumbs. 

The single worst part about this version of motherhood is getting phone calls that your kid is sick and making arrangements for staying home from work. 

It makes 100% sense to get up before your kids if you are a working mom. I think you have to in order to accomplish anything. 

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The two points I'll make to round this out:

1. I don't actually think it matters what you do. I think it's up to you and your family. I'm no feminist but this is a case of "you do you". I literally change up our life every year or two, depending on the best fit for us. I do think you should try to stay home if you have a baby. I don't think any child under age 1 has any business being in daycare but that's my preference. I don't recover, mentally, from childbirth easily so I needed like a full 8 months to feel like a person again after Wells was born (maybe the two moves in 6 months had something to do with it) and it was probably 3 months after Sutton was born until I felt normal again. I could not have imagined going straight back to work and adding daycare into the mix. 

2. From the time we got engaged, Scott has told me, in the nicest way possible, that he doesn't care what I do. His only real opinion on it, at this point, is that it's good to stay home if you have babies or toddlers, if you don't have to work. I don't think I appreciated that point of view enough at the time because, when we were dating, I was ironically the one with steady work. He was finishing school when we met. 

So when I reflect back, the working, the staying home, the years off, it was all pretty much my choice (again, I'm no feminist). Now, it's more complicated so I have to think about what's best for the kids, year by year. That's how I landed on homeschooling for this year. While where's like seven possible scenarios for what the army can tell us to do next, I can definitely say that I literally have no idea what next year will hold, so that keeps things interesting I guess. 

The best $20 I've ever spent.

When Wells was born, we didn't buy a highchair because I'd heard you didn't need one til they were like 6 months old and then we were going to move when he was about 5 months old and so I figured I'd worry about that later. We just used the bumbo when he started solid food at 4 months. 

I ordered this antilop high chair from Ikea in February 2019 when we moved to Pittsburgh. I had gotten used to ordering online, having lived in Colorado and Wyoming, so it never occurred to me that I could've driven 30 minutes to Ikea and picked it up. 

Wells' first birthday

Fun surprise for me: when it arrived, it didn't have the legs with it. I couldn't figure out what I was missing or if I was going crazy, but then I ended up packing up 7 month old Wells, half a highchair, and driving to Ikea anyway. This was my second time ever in an Ikea so I had to negotiate how to find the returns/exchanges location. If you're wondering, I 100% went on a weekday morning. 

When I told them it was missing legs, they said that happens all the time and grabbed me four legs from a backroom. 

Chair. 

I *love* that they say you can take it apart to take along to restaurants. It's not THAT convenient. They didn't have this tray 5 years ago. I'd get that today if I were buying it again, along with a foot rest. I know the foot rest is important for traction while chewing and all. However, it would also give them more traction to climb out. Sutton has become an expert at trying to climb out of this high chair. 

We used this highchair all during our time in Pittsburgh and then we packed it into storage and moved it to Kansas. It does have a really wide footprint so it took up a lot of space in our tiny Pittsburgh kitchen. Wells was 23 months at that point and he just started sitting at the counter in Kanas and we never used the highchair. It came with us to Missouri and lived in the barn for a bit. When Sutton was probably 6 months old, I dug it out and cleaned it up and it's been in our kitchen ever since. 

Since she is over two now, I would like to pack it away again. I mean, you can only look at a piece of Ikea plastic for so long if it's not super useful and she prefers the counter. She, most days, actually refuses to sit in it.  But once in awhile, she wants in it.  As soon as I tried to take the legs off this weekend, she started trying to climb in. She also can't climb up a bar stool yet on her own.

It's my personal opinion that you don't need a fancy highchair and when I see moms buying the $$$ ones, I cringe. This looks *just* as nice as a Stokke or Tripp Trapp, you know? It's also a million times easier to clean and you won't be (as) sad to pack it away because it wasn't a huge investment. Packing up baby gear you feel you didn't get your money's worth from is a terrible feeling. 

However, I'll warn you: you will be watching Youtube videos on how to remove the tray, probably more than once. (also, white plastic stains easily: I've used bleach spray and then soaked in clean water to rinse and it always looks brand new)

Sutton's first birthday.

(I don't exactly endorse not using the straps, but we often didn't use the straps if we were right there. But you don't come to this blog for professional advice :)

ONE YEAR of Sutton.

Let's just put the baby posts together this week so I don't have to drag out the ..."content". We celebrated Sutton over the weekend but here's the official 12 month post. 

Sutton is smiley and happy and knows exactly what she wants and how to get it. She says "ahh" when she wants a drink and when she starts frantically searching around, she's looking for her llama pacifier. She smacks her highchair tray when she's still hungry and tries to crawl out of it when she's done. If you give her something she's not after, she bats it away. 

She loves to clap and dance to her Fisher Price playhouse...we listen to that music all day long. 

She is cruising along all of the furniture and will walk if you hold onto her hands. 

Sutton is still a pretty good sleeper. She's was kind of sick with some sort of stomach bug for over the weekend, so I've been very easy on her and the night wakings. Also, she's been in the pack and play since my parents are sleeping in her room while they visit. Sutton's favorite thing to do is wake up at 9pm and watch TV with me and Scott. 

When I put her down at night, I tell her to say good night and she smiles and waves good-bye to everyone. Same thing at naptime. Waving bye has definitely become her cue that it's time to go to sleep. Though, she still really loves her pacifier and it's just this one pacifier that she's attached to...I tried to take it away and it didn't work out great. While I almost don't *care*, I know she can't have it forever. 

We went to a new pediatrician the other day for her 12 month appointment. She got half her vaxxes, because they do the other half at 15 months. I like that approach. I feel like Wells got a full 5 shots at 12 months? She did also get a blood draw and that was not great; I think I had a little bit of PTSD watching them try to get the needle in :/ 

Anyway, she weighs 20 pounds and is 27 inches. For reference, Wells was 22 pounds and 29 inches at this age. She's not scrawny at all, but she definitely feels small for a one year old. 

We started transitioning to whole milk and it didn't go great. The pediatrician said since she probably has some kind of virus just to stay on formula until she's better and then try again. Maybe this weekend. While I am so over mixing formula, it was nice to know she was having her nutritional needs met! Feeding a toddler is stressful. I'm trying to keep her on the same schedule as Wells for food and snacks. 

Sutton has a couple of words..."dada", "mamamamama" when she wants something, and "Jett" (of course). 

Favorite foods include: strawberries, toast, club crackers, teething crackers (Happy Baby brand in purple and orange, only), and applesauce.

Sutton is the happiest baby. She's incredibly attached to me, which is fine and a testament to the whole did-you-bond? argument.  Babies are bonded to their mothers, no matter the birth and feeding  circumstances. She has been less fussy than Wells ever was. This is a true case study, since I had the "perfect" birth with Wells; Sutton has been the easier baby! I've truly learned not to take any of those statistics seriously and anyone who insists a "natural" birth is better for the baby is probably full of something they know nothing about :)  There was no skin to skin. There was no delayed cord cutting. There was no nursing, ever. I think I held her for the first time 12-18 hours after she was born. Aside from the occasional cold, she's also remarkably healthy for having a brother in preschool.

Also, remarkably healthy for sharing everything with two dogs. Maybe that's where our kids get their good immune systems.

 

11 months of Sutton.

Good things about her getting bigger:

Super duper looking forward to no more bottles! I think I slowly started cutting Wells off at 12 months and he was done by 14 months? Maybe 15 months. With Sutton, I'm following some Formula Mom tips and I got these cups for milk and I'm still going to do her bottle as a sign for bed. Here's the thing: I held onto bottles longer with Wells because it was the spill-proof way of him drinking by himself in the car. Sutton is not a car-bottle drinker. She's never even figured out the method for it. She lays on the floor to drink her bottles, usually. 
Actually, I'm super duper looking forward to not have to mix formula. It's a constant in the back of my head: do we have formula mixed in the fridge? While I think the pitcher is an absolute game changer, I'm ready for her to move on from this. We do have a few canisters of toddler formula I'm going the start using this week. I bought it during the panic of not being able to find formula last May, in case things got really bad. So I'll use that up and then move her onto whole milk. Wells drinks 2%, Scott and I usually have Lactaid skim in the fridge because we like the flavor, so we'll be in the Land of 3 Milks for the next year. I think I switched Wells to 2% at age 2. 

What about pacifiers? What's the plan for getting rid of them? Wells didn't use a pacifier so I'm clueless. She loves her little llama pacifier. It's like her friend at this point. 

Her favorite foods are when Scott makes her breakfast. Every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday, he gets up with Wells and Sutton first and makes eggs and toast. Otherwise, she like club crackers, grapes, strawberries, pouches of fruits and veggies, and basically whatever we're eating. She's not a picky one. She's never been an oatmeal fan but she did try her first green smoothie this past month and she loved that. We do keep some baby puffs around for her and some teething crackers but she doesn't like the "baby" snacks the way Wells did. Sometimes I feel like she's had everything under the sun already including pho, Indian food, etc. We've always just kind of given her what we're eating. Then I remember that Wells had ice cream around 10 months and she hasn't had any yet and I feel okay about food choices for her.

She's not walking but is pulling up on all the furniture and enjoying the independence of getting from point a to point b. I'm good with this. She's fast too, when it comes to crawling. Usually she can be found near the dog water if I can't see her. 

She is truly the happiest baby I could've imagined. I think I said it before but she'll often wake up around 9pm and I'll get her from her crib and play with her while we watch tv at night (most recently, The Last of Us, The Bachelor, and The Menu which are not things we can watch while Wells is awake :)

We seriously enjoy that one on one time with her for 30 minutes or so most nights. 

I seriously enjoy taking her everywhere with me because no one doesn't like Sutton. She's the sweetest, smiliest girl and so good in the shopping cart or the stroller. 

When it comes to personality, she is the opposite of Wells. He's always been more emotional than her though, even as a baby. Sutton is much more even but when she wants something, she yells. She is determined. I watched her curse out her toys in baby yells because one was stuck in the basket and she wanted it. 

All I can think about here is that my introduction to Sutton was during my c-section when they pulled her out and she was actually yelling. No cry. Just angry confusion. Which makes sense. 

Time to start prepping the 1st birthday party supplies this week. We won't be going as big as we did for Wells, but I have some plans. 

Sutton's nickname is Squishy and Wells and Scott call her the Squishiest of the Isnhiest, which just reminds of Love, Actually and how the Prime Minister's secretary is called Plumpy lol. 

Weekending + some photos

It works much better for me to share any weekend activities on a Tuesday. 

To start, Wells and Sutton got some pictures taken last week and this photographer had them back to me in less than 24 hours :) 

While I was not going to have *my* picture taken (Scott couldn't be there) and I had just hiked half a mile through the woods carrying a baby and all our stuff, an image or two of me comforting a hangry baby snuck in. 

(seriously, hiked half a mile through the woods, guys)

I had tossed around the idea of taking the dogs but I'm really glad I didn't because it was super muddy and flooded after all the rain this month. 

I am very proud of my ingenuity when it comes to Wells' school valentine box. I had this paper leftover from his birthday and I gave him a bunch of heart stickers. 

Sutton did her first hike on Sunday. She has probably been in the Ergo ten times in her life. She never hated it, but it wasn't fitting to our lifestyle the way it had been when Wells was a teeny baby so we didn't use it. This is Scott's first experience with the Ergo. 

Wells walked over 3 miles through the woods.

And Scott rearranged some TVs, finally mounting one in the living room and one in the kitchen area. 

We rented two different houses from 2019-2021 and there was no way he was sticking something permanent on a wall. Now that we know what we want these rooms to look like (more indoor renovations coming soon...), we could do this.

Suggestions for new floor lamps? Where do you get them? I think this one was from Walmart back in 2019?

Scott also took the time to show me how a flat screen tv could be flush against the wall or it could be pulled out. The irony of this demonstration was completely and totally wasted on him because he doesn't watch The Office. 

Baby Favorites 0-6 months

Believe it or not, I meant to write a round-up of goodies we were getting for Sutton back before she was born. I never, surprise surprise, quite got around to it. 

However, I wanted to share the items we/I/she absolutely loved over the last 6 months. 

This Merlin Sleep Sack. It's double-layered, so it's as close as you're going to get to a weighted sack without using a weighted sack. 

Our old baby monitor had bit the dust years ago but I kept thinking we didn't really need one. I'm glad Scott forced me to order a new one. This is an amazing bargain for a high-quality monitor! It's probably the lower-end of monitors but it's V-Tech and works really well. We've been using it for a month and now I'm addicted to having the monitor around again. 

This stroller that I've mentioned before. It's perfect for a newborn. Sutton has graduated to the baby jogger at this age, but I would've been lost without the bassinet feature of the Infans stroller. So incredibly convenient. It's a regular stroller too, so we still use it but I prefer the City Mini for our daily walks because it's what I was used to with Wells. 

The Hatch Mini. Hear me out: setting up your baby with a nightlight is a bad idea. Wells won't sleep without his light on now and I can pretty much guarantee it has caused a lot of disturbed sleep over the years for him. Start with just sound and a room that's pitch black. It's worked so well this time for Sutton. 

Formula mixing pitcher. I have no idea why I didn't know this existed 4 years ago. It's indispensable and makes life so much easier. 

Dr. Brown Bottle Warmer. I don't think this requires Dr. Brown bottles, but it's the one we got because we have that brand of bottles. 

4 Months of Sutton

Last month I wrote about how I still don't like the hospital here, and how I feel like Sutton's birth is something I'm still, honestly, mad about. This month, some new thoughts occurred to me.

Since Wells turned 4 on July 10th, I started feeling those memories of the week he was born. I have such good memories of Wells being born. It got a little stressful when we realized they were pushing Only Breastfeeding disguised as "fed is best", but it was a truly good experience overall. My doctor was wonderful. The labor nurse was helpful. The anesthesiologist (a 60 year old man dressed in jeans and a polo shirt) was so nice. I have no bad memories of his birth. So when I reflect back on what the first half of July 2018 looked like to me, I remember making cupcakes for the 4th of July while Scott went fishing with a friend. I remember watching lots of Gossip Girl to pass the time. I remember going to get a pedicure. I remember stopping at the library and getting Golden Oreo-Os from Walmart because *that* cereal was the only thing that sounded good to me. I remember hiking on July 8th in the nearby national forest, and then my water broke on its own around midnight on July 10th. Wells was born, in an "easy and fun" way according to the OB, at 10:49am on Tuesday, July 10th. 

By that Friday, we were going out on our first family dog walk. One week later, we were doing Costco and sushi in Ft. Collins. Within two weeks, I had Wells in the Ergo, out on the local trail doing a dog walk by myself. 

It. was. so. simple. 

Those are my July memories now. 

Now, I worry that my March memories will be hard. I worry that I won't feel the same nostalgia at all surrounding Sutton's birth; that it will just be a dreaded time. While I can, and will, celebrate her, I will not feel the same way as I did/do feel about Wells when birthdays roll around each year. When this first occurred to me in June (thinking about Wells' upcoming birthday), I thought it was a really odd and out of place concern. Then, per the algorithm, IG started showing me birth trauma accounts. I realized this is completely normal. I can be glad Sutton is here and healthy and celebrate her and still be sad about the circumstances of the experience. It's not about disappointment in her birth; it's about the emergency and trauma of the situation. It's not about the c-section; it's about the fear and the emergency that led to the c-section. 

I've been putting it off but my goal for the next few weeks is to get my medical records and find a new doctor.

Onto 4 months...

I cannot believe she's been here for over 4 months already. I usually think she's older than she is because she's such a good baby. She just strikes me as being more mature for her age because she's sleeping and eating so well and on such a schedule.

This month Scott watched me carrying her around and said "I'm glad you have something you love so much"...I tried to detect some sarcasm there but nope. He was serious. 

Sutton is incredibly smiley and calm. She's an absolute joy. I told Scott that we should just change her middle name to Joy. I know she'll cycle through phases, but I had no idea a baby could be this easy. It has really clicked for me lately that babies like her are the reason why people decide to have so many babies.

Right now, she's drinking lots of formula...usually 5-6 oz at a time, probably about 32 oz a day. 

I remember starting some homemade purees and rice cereal with Wells around 4 months or 4 1/2 months but I'll probably wait til at least 5 months because I don't think she's quite there yet. I'll take the baby-led weaning approach but I really like doing homemade purees. (oh my gosh, i just re-read this post. maybe i will just go with full-on BLW at 6 months. yikes that seems like a lot of work.) 

The current AAP recommendation is not to start solids until 6 months when it was 4-6 months a few years ago. And the paperwork from the pediatrician very clearly states not to use a TV for background noise for a baby. However, they also recommend that two year olds should wear masks, so I believe nothing they have to say anyway. (Sutton does like her Cocomelon.)

She rolled over around the 15 week mark. She actually did it around 5 weeks a few times and then didn't do it again until just recently. 

Anywho, she sleeps through the night from 7pm to 7am and she's been doing that since 2 1/2 months old and I told Scott this is the best sleep I've gotten in years so...she's secured a special spot in my heart for that. When she *does* wake up in the morning on her own (half the time I have to wake her up in the morning), she doesn't cry, she just talks louder and louder until I wake up. 

(Last night, I was up from 3:30-4:30am with a dog who was afraid of the thunder and lightening. If it's not a dog that keeping me up, it's Wells. It's very, very rarely the actual baby.)

The poor thing doesn't have a baby book but that's what the internet is for I guess. She had kind of a big month with an army picnic, a visit from nanny and pap, and her first swimming pool experience. She went to church yesterday.  

She weighs 13 pounds and is in the 27th percentile for weight. 23 1/4 inches is the 9th percentile for height. She was the 6th and the 4th, respectively at birth, so I'll take it. 

What I've loved for Baby #2

This is a bit overdue, but I always find these types of recommendation posts super interesting. Here is a bit of a round-up of everything we ended up getting for a second baby. Well, maybe not everything...just the highlights. 

First, we reused everything of Wells' that we could. 

Crib- it's just from Target but we've moved it to 4 houses and, at this rate, it'll end up in at least 5. It's served us well. This is similar. 

Changing table- SAME. From Wayfair. 

Rocker- SAME. Also from Wayfair.

Carseat The Keyfit is still well within its expiration timeframe, so we're using it again as an infant seat until she ages out. 

Bottle warmer This is something that was a must-have with Wells and it was the one thing that Scott reminded me we had to have ready again. 

Dr. Brown's bottles I bought exactly one style of bottle for Wells, and we used them for a year. I pulled them out again for Sutton. 

And then the new things for Sutton...

Hatch Rest Mini  I really like the Hatch Rest but didn't want the nightlight feature this time. Wells is addicted to his nightlight. I didn't want to go through that again so we went with just the sound. 

Fisher Price Bassinet I picked this out based on what I wish I had known last time. It has music and vibration so it's perfect for babies who are fussy/need stimulation. Sutton slept really well in it for about 2 months and then I moved her to her crib. 

Diaper bag It's a leather-look bag (I don't really care for actual leather anyway) that you can wear three ways. I like it. 

Bouncer I wanted something without bells and whistles this time. I'd sold our old Fisher Price one a few years ago. While she didn't really start to use it until about 2 1/2 months, it's great now. For all parents who say they can't shower with a baby around, get. yourself. a. bouncer. (I've never understood the showering dilemma. It's literally the perfect use for a bouncer.)

2-in-1 Stroller.  This is the stroller I ended up getting because I liked the pram aspect. That was my only reason for getting it, really. Just so I could have somewhere to put her while we were outside, while we went to playgrounds, to appointments, etc. It's been great for it, to be honest. It also is a regular stroller that I'll transition her to after 6 months. I love, right now, that I can lay her in it and she's not strapped down and can move around.

Stroller frame This is the snap-and-go stroller frame I *wanted* because it goes with the Chicco Keyfit carseat. I just wanted something I could plop the carseat in and go. It was marked as 'unavailable' for months (because of supply chain issues, I'm assuming), so I never ended up getting one. 

Boon Tub This was a replacement tub because I'd sold our old SkipHop tub when Wells outgrew it. I really like the Boon Tub. I just use it on the floor of the bathroom. It's easy and streamlined. I used to have a folding tub for Wells too, and I never, ever, used it because I didn't like it. I'm a fan of the traditional baby bathtubs. 

Fisher-Price Sit-Me-Up Floor Seat Since we didn't have one for Wells, I added this to our registry and my brother sent it. I thought it'd be fun as a change of scenery for her. She's not great at sitting up yet, but we're getting there. 

Formula Mixing Pitcher Oh my gosh. This is a game-changer. I don't know why I didn't have one of these 4 years ago! I make a pitcher of formula each night and it lasts the whole 24 hours. It's so much more efficient than mixing and storing individual bottles in the fridge. 

Since I'm about four years out of the loop on baby gear, is there anything I need for the after-3 month range? 

3 Months of Sutton

Literally just published the two month post, right?

I think this is just how it's going to go with a second baby! 

Here's month 1, month 2, and her birth story, if you missed anything. 

I kinda think she didn't sort herself out until month two just because she had four different caregivers in month one. That's really weird to think about, but she spent so much time being taken care of by Scott, then by grandmothers, and eventually I took over. So, I mean, no wonder it took us a bit to get a routine. I also couldn't wrap my head around her arrival when she was born. I was okay with Scott taking care of her right then. 

I was talking to Scott the other night and he said he wishes I would look at him the way I look at Sutton (LOL). To which I had to admit that, for the first few weeks, I was pretty indifferent toward her. I hate saying that, but it's true. It's a result of the traumatic birth, no doubt. I think I was still in shock. My birth with Wells was so SIMPLE and EASY. To think that it came down to the wire to get Sutton out safely while I kept nearly passing out during a c-section still boggles my mind. 

I have to say, I'm still mad at the hospital. I literally have dreams about it. I hate that. I hate that I had a midwife instead of an OB. I hate that I was treated like a unique case throughout my whole pregnancy because I was 35-36 years old and then they forced me to induce. Then instead of doing a last ultrasound (which I was told they would do) to see what position she was in, they just judged by my stomach. Like, maybe they would've caught a problem earlier and we could've avoided the trauma aspect of the whole thing. 

I hate that they basically forced me to be re-admitted to the hospital for blood pressure that wasn't even that high, and then gave me toxic doses of magnesium that made me sicker than I'd ever been. They just shrugged their shoulders and said yeah, we know that.  I really hate that Scott had to advocate for me because they wouldn't listen. I hate that I don't trust the doctors and nurses in this hospital at all; I'd never heard a bad thing about OB/maternity here before. 

My sister-in-law very recently had a birth experience that also falls into the 'traumatic' category. All I could tell her was that I feel differently from day to day about it. 

It was entirely worth it to get this baby that I stare at so adoringly, but it was all so unnecessarily difficult. 

This is her outfit. She's in the 6-9 month size, so I'd definitely say it runs a bit small. 

We're only three months in, but she is an absolute joy. I never understood what parents meant by that. Like, of course Wells is a joy... now. But he was not a predictable baby. I never knew what he wanted.

 Honestly, this could just be because he was the first and I figured a bit out since then. But, she has made it really easy. I don't have to troubleshoot all day or all night long. Like, we definitely had a few rough nights the first week or so after Sutton was born, but that went on for much longer with Wells. I remember Scott and I fighting over setting up the bouncer at midnight when he was about three weeks old because we just could not get him to stop crying. "Troubleshooting" was what a lot of Wells' first year felt like to me. 

So, really, Sutton has just been incredibly predictable from about one month onward.

Now. I won't call her chill in the sense that she has a particular yell that means hungry. Also, one for "pick me up" and "change my diaper". But man, she's easy. She just wants to eat and kick and snuggle and sleep. 

Wells was our little traveler so he and I went through a lot together; I cannot imagine wanting to relive that with another baby (driving across the country at 5 months, staying in hotels, at relatives' houses, moving...). So hopefully I don't have to put just how easy of a baby she is to the test any time soon. I will keep our simple little routine going for as long as possible. 

She loves to eat and she's doing 5-6 oz at a time, instead of 4 oz, at this point. I'm really focusing on full feedings and not letting her become a snacker because that leads to being awake all night as I have experienced in the past.  

She still does take a pacifier but it's not a must-have. She prefers her thumb, to be honest. She usually spits the pacifier out and moves to the thumb. 

I really take any and all sleep expert advice with a grain of salt right now because they still recommend swaddles for as long as possible and she had had it with the swaddle by 3 weeks old. She's been in a regular sleep sack for at least two months now. We've got two of these exact ones.  My mom also sent a super lightweight one but it doesn't have a brand on it. I don't remember if we moved Wells to a sack that early but man, I love them. 

Sutton has fallen into a pattern of bath around 6:30pm, bed around 7pm, dreamfeed around 10pm, and up around 6:00am. I'll then feed her and put her back down (sorry, survival mode over here) and we'll be up for the day around 8 or 9am. (Wells still gets up at 6am and stays up, so he gets the iPad to watch Netflix while I sleep. I'm not even going to apologize for this one. He wants to be in bed with me, so the TV isn't an option. I set his breakfast on the counter for whenever he wants it, feed the dogs, let them out, make coffee, let the dogs in, and then go back to bed.)

She's so perfect and we really do adore her. 

I tried.