Hey hey!
Since we've been all about sleep lately, I thought I'd throw up our favorite bedtime books for babies and toddlers. These are the ones that we've read almost nightly with both kids, and are mostly about bedtime or are on the quieter side.
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Oh hey, Monday.
Will is going through a very funny picky eating stage (it is not funny, I have zero time for it), and we're patiently waiting it out because what else can we do. Commence beatings?
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Beck and I were talking yesterday about how these will be the last cactus blanket pictures, and I was just like WHAT.IS.HAPPENING. He's one. One!
Little Light of Mine just doesn't even begin to describe Will. As I look back on this year I feel a pretty big mix of nostalgia, happiness, regret, and disbelief at the sheer speed of the passage of time. But that's about the year, not about Will. Will is the sweetest little light and has been the most wonderful addition to our family. His curious, vibrant little personality has started to show itself more and more the last several months, and he is just the best tiny person.
...For the last baby, can we keep counting months forever?
Will "turning" 11 months has brought tons of fun growth and development for him, tons of nostalgia for me. It's not sadness, necessarily. I'm very careful to focus on how pleased I am every time one of my kids hits a milestone, and I really am pleased for them. It's just that I like almost all of the stages of babyhood so much, when things turn out to be the last time I feel nostalgic for how quickly things are going.
None of it was intentional and we didn't know in the moment that it was the last time, it just was.
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My HEAVENS, this child is so visually appealing I can't even stand it. 
And, if you know me, you know I'm not a big fan AT ALL of only focusing on how kids look, and we know several people (don't get offended, look inward) who literally cannot talk to a child unless they are commenting on their looks. So I go all opposite with how smart they are.
BUT. This child is seriously adorable, and I credit it to the expressions. He's hilarious, knows it, makes it work for him. Tres expressive.
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Nine months in, nine months out! I haven't counted the days or weeks or however people do those things, so we're calling it close enough.
LOOK AT THIS CHUNK! Sitting all by himself for long stretches of time, getting pissy when no one gathers him up fast enough, fixating wildly on toys, and the most pleasant little demeanor all wrapped up in this tiny person.
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Aka my monthly whine-fest about how quickly this wonderful baby of mine is growing up.
8 months! Almost as long out as he was in, and we are enjoying every minute.
...Oh hey! Back at this again.
To say the last few months have been a blur would be a serious understatement. People definitely hinted that moving from one kid to two was, let's say, challenging, but I, the Maternal Mental Health Professional, am here to tell you that it's been somewhat surprising.
...You buy pouches! Obviously.
We are in the thick of baby feeding! It's so much fun. I realize not everyone gives a hoot about baby food, but I've all of a sudden been inundated with targeted baby food ads for some company that charges OVER FOUR DOLLARS for a jar of baby food.
No, just no. I buy a good amount of baby food to supplement what I make for Will, but I do find that making it myself is cheap and takes hardly any time at all with the tiniest bit of planning. I also don't use recipes because HE'S A BABY but I want him to BE AN ADULT at some point, so I puree regular food with enough water to make it a puree and that is literally the recipe.
You're welcome.
...Sweeter and sweeter every month, pretty much.
The last three or four weeks have been very bigly (gross) for Young William. He all of a sudden feels like a big kid, and the predictability and good moods that come with a nicely solidified sleep schedule are just GOLD.
...I feel like I say this about all baby gear that we like, but this is DEFINITELY my favorite thing. Maybe because it's a product for grownups too! Finally.
When I had Will, I knew I was going to need some kind of new diaper bag situation. Beck has all but gotten to the point where she requires very little out in public (can drink and eat without kid stuff at a restaurant, doesn't often get super dirty, etc), but I knew that having a new baby would bring new things to haul around that I'd completely forgotten about.
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This wonderful baby of mine is six months old. He is just the most joyous little squish, and we are so glad he's ours.
...Reeeeallly rounding third toward having this little friend for a half a year, something that I'm not comfortable with at all.
This wonderful little friend is five months, and with every month of course I can't believe it. I've been thinking a lot about his birth lately and those first few holy days at home when he was so new and squishy, and it's almost like I can't remember that those moments were with him, he's just so different. I know him so much better now, and his little personality is the most wonderful thing to watch explode.
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I. Love. Baby. Gear.
Here's why: There's a LOT to not know about parenting, so finding something that can make the all-the-time tasks a bit easier, cuter, or tidier gives a great sense of "I've got this" to something that we mostly do not got. It's ok, though! Babies are very forgiving, and gear is here to help.
...It is such a great privilege to watch a tiny human grow.
....until it is 4am, at which point it is the WORST THING EVER AND WHY DID I HAVE KIDS.
I imagine this sort of shift in perception is what it must like to be a baby - everything's great, boob, warm, lights, and then tired or huger strikes and WORST THING EVER. So in that, I feel like Will and I understand each other a whole lot.
.......almost four months, but that will include a regression and it'll be terrible and there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
The topic of sleep is always so fraught with...everything...I guess, when it comes to babies. Babies don't sleep like adults do, but they somehow sleep a lot. Babies don't know how to sleep on their own, but it's dangerous for them to sleep with you (according to some). Lack of sleep is used as a literal form of torture, so the parents dealing with this generally don't deal all that well.
...The good news here is that this is the time when babies start to look a little more commercial-ready, a little less "I'm sorry your baby was born deformed." ~actual comment some troll left on my Insta about Will.~
To be clear, Will is not deformed, nor did the image I shared look like he was, people are monsters.
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