Currently: October

Oh how I love October! The leaves are starting to turn here and it's such a beautiful season! Here's what's currently going on in my world.

Reading: The Fifth Trimester which is about returning to work after having a baby. Admittedly I should have read this before I returned to work, not ~3 months into my return to work. But it has some good nuggets of perspective for me. I'm also reading Reading People by Anne Bogel (of the podcast What Should I Read Next) in the kindle ap. It's a summary of a bunch of different personality frameworks which is something I find super interesting. So far I'm familiar with all of the frameworks I've read about so far but it's still interesting to read about her insights on each framework.




Loving: the cooler weather. It's a little bit colder than I'd like but I still prefer this weather to the heat and humidity we experienced in early September. I liked hot weather a lot more before I had a baby, but since Paul came on the scene, give me cooler weather! He did like the heat or humidity and would whine or cry when we were outside. Now I just need my schedule to slow down so we can take lots of walks before the seriously cold weather hits in November/December.





Frustrated: that the ENT we saw yesterday wants Paul to have one more ear infection before they will put in tubes. I was hoping to get the clear for tubes so we can put an end to the endless ear infections he's been battling. He's basically had an ear infection on and off for two months and he's been on 3 rounds of antibiotics (which wreak havoc on his tummy). He still has fluid in his ears which is causing a slight loss of hearing and the ENT said that the pressure from the fluid is probably the culprit for the frequent nighttime wake ups (he's up as much as every 2 hours - a good night is 3 wake ups!). We see the ENT again in 6 weeks but in the mean time I made an appointment with his pediatrician for next week so she can check for an infection.


Feeling: tired. Interrupted sleep is hard on the body. I'm also learning that the quality of sleep is almost as important as the quantity of sleep. Some nights I barely get any deep or REM sleep according to my FitBit and those are the mornings when I feel the worst. But when you are waking up often, it's hard to get deep or REM sleep.



Anticipating: spending the weekend at my parents' lake home. Phil and I took Friday off so we can drive up that morning (and miss traffic - hooray!). We'll come back Sunday morning when Paul is ready for his first nap of the dady and hopefully miss traffic on the way back, too, and have time to get prepared for the week. My mom is great about taking Paul in the morning so we can get some extra sleep. I'm looking forward to quality time with my parents. Paul is in such a fun stage so they are going to have a blast with him. I'm also looking forward to lots of delicious food as my mom always plans great meals when we are there!


Grateful: that my company has a generous time off policy. I get 6 weeks! I used about 3 weeks to extend my maternity leave and I'm using the rest of the time off to get extra time with Paul as we are not taking any vacations until Paul is a little older and sleeping better at night/napping less. As I've said before, I'm really struggling with the return to work and how little time we see Paul during the week so I'm taking a couple of Fridays off each month for the rest of the year to get extra time with my little buddy.



Working: on some organizational projects around the house. We tackled our office in September (which tends to be a place that gets cluttered). Next up I am going to work on my closet as I need to be more realistic about what clothes currently fit.


Listening: to lots of podcasts, as usual!!


Wishing: for better sleep for all of us in the near future!


Bonus Paul Pics:

Waiting to see the ENT. He loves chewing on this feet of this "cow duck" (baby toys are so weird, by the way! This toy has the head of a cow and the body/legs of a duck)

He's getting better at sitting up on his own!



Checking out one of the Halloween books my friend Heidi sent (he's wearing a hand-me-down sleeper that says "Little Brother" - I guess he is technically Oscar's little brother)

He doesn't look like such a baby anymore - he's starting to look like a little boy!

Waiting in the car for a torrential downpour to let up before looking at a listing



Smiling at daddy - his favorite person

What are you anticipating and grateful for?