It is completely banana sandwich how quickly the first five months as a family of 3 (plus 2 dogs) has flown by. Many hours of sleep have been lost, MANY diapers changed, and more than a couple naps have been interrupted by the canine members of the family. Those interruptions are normally followed quickly by a newly crafted skill that can only be described as whisperyelling, which is to say that I try to get them to stop without raising my voice too much in hopes that they didn't actually wake up the kid. This, unsurprisingly, is not always successful.
In addition to the whisperyell, we've learned a number of other things in the last five months since our life got flipped, turned upside down. And I'd like to take a minute, just sit right there, I'll tell you how I became the prince of a town called Bel-Air.
And now that you're singing that to yourself, how about I just stick to 8 fascinating knowledge nuggets.
1. Something about the fresh air on a baby's butt that comes along with a diaper changeoccasionally often triggers the pee reflex. Sometimes even the quickest diaper change isn't fast enough, and I'm of the persuasion that nothing says love like forming a pee pee tepee shield with your cupped hand to keep your child from going all over himself/you/the wall/the dog.
2. Breaking Bad might be the best show on television. During the early days, when we were nearly zombies and mostly home, we started watching Breaking Bad. This show is awfully intense, and not very fuzzy or happy, but it is excellent nonetheless. And it's streaming on Netflix. It filled plenty of our quiet time when we were cooped up in the house, and you should definitely check it out.
3. Being a parent really cuts down on free time and cranks up the need to be productive and efficient. Certain members of our family are not large fans of plans, and much bigger fans of procrastination. Other members of our family may or may not be addicted to certain television programs (ahem, #2), or mildly obsessed with new hobbies (hello #6). Unfortunately, when you have full time jobs, an infant AND grad school, plans are almost a must. Now I'm not saying you have to map out every minute of every day, but lists are good, and honestly, who doesn't like checking things off a list? Also see #5 below.
4. Family is really something else. We are lucky enough to have both sets of grandparents in town. My parents are keeping Avett 4 days a week right now, which is GREAT. He doesn't have to go to daycare yet and has stayed healthy so far (knock on wood), and Oma and Papa love being able to spend time with the munchkin. Nana and Grandpa keep us honest too, by trying to work out an evening a week where they watch the little man and send us out for some kidless time. I don't know what we would have done without everybody's support in the early days, and they continue to knock it out of the park.
5. Communication is key. I've learned that Team Timmons works much better as a unit, when we're working together. In the day to day hubbub of life, it can be easy to get out of sync. The days where things seem to be off kilter and harder and a whole lot less fun also seem to be the days where we've each gone into our cocoons and are spinning in different circles. There are so few free minutes as new parents (see #3), but when you talk it out, figure out a plan and do it, things get a bit more manageable.
6. Beer is good, making beer is even better. Back in the summer, I got a beer making kit, and that's grown into a full-blown hobby. And while it's a bit time consuming, and while I always tend to underestimate the time and effort it takes to make a batch o'brewski, it's good to have a fun outlet that I can do in the comfort of my own kitchen and still be close to my peeps.
7. It's never too early for a good workout. This goes for me and Avett. For me, my morning P90X workouts have to start quite early these days. Anything before 5:00 is unreasonable, and I'm having to learn to adjust to an ridonkulously early alarm. For Avett, it's physical therapy. His torticollis is fairly mild, but we're going to see a PT every other week to work on straightening out his neck. In between appointments, we're working that kid OUT. And we're starting to see results already. He'll be doing Ab Ripper X in no time, I'm sure.
8. 9:00 bedtime is the HEAT (see #s 3, 5, and 7). For the adults, not for Avett. And while we don't hit that target as often as we'd like, it's such a lovely goal. And heavens to Betsy, when you're actually in bed early, do the math of how much sleep you're about to enjoy, and nod off to dreamland....It can't be beat. Goodness gracious, I'm getting a little happy just thinking about it.
And there you have it, just a few pearls of wisdom from my dome to yours, mostly learned via this little guy.
In addition to the whisperyell, we've learned a number of other things in the last five months since our life got flipped, turned upside down. And I'd like to take a minute, just sit right there, I'll tell you how I became the prince of a town called Bel-Air.
And now that you're singing that to yourself, how about I just stick to 8 fascinating knowledge nuggets.
1. Something about the fresh air on a baby's butt that comes along with a diaper change
2. Breaking Bad might be the best show on television. During the early days, when we were nearly zombies and mostly home, we started watching Breaking Bad. This show is awfully intense, and not very fuzzy or happy, but it is excellent nonetheless. And it's streaming on Netflix. It filled plenty of our quiet time when we were cooped up in the house, and you should definitely check it out.
3. Being a parent really cuts down on free time and cranks up the need to be productive and efficient. Certain members of our family are not large fans of plans, and much bigger fans of procrastination. Other members of our family may or may not be addicted to certain television programs (ahem, #2), or mildly obsessed with new hobbies (hello #6). Unfortunately, when you have full time jobs, an infant AND grad school, plans are almost a must. Now I'm not saying you have to map out every minute of every day, but lists are good, and honestly, who doesn't like checking things off a list? Also see #5 below.
4. Family is really something else. We are lucky enough to have both sets of grandparents in town. My parents are keeping Avett 4 days a week right now, which is GREAT. He doesn't have to go to daycare yet and has stayed healthy so far (knock on wood), and Oma and Papa love being able to spend time with the munchkin. Nana and Grandpa keep us honest too, by trying to work out an evening a week where they watch the little man and send us out for some kidless time. I don't know what we would have done without everybody's support in the early days, and they continue to knock it out of the park.
5. Communication is key. I've learned that Team Timmons works much better as a unit, when we're working together. In the day to day hubbub of life, it can be easy to get out of sync. The days where things seem to be off kilter and harder and a whole lot less fun also seem to be the days where we've each gone into our cocoons and are spinning in different circles. There are so few free minutes as new parents (see #3), but when you talk it out, figure out a plan and do it, things get a bit more manageable.
6. Beer is good, making beer is even better. Back in the summer, I got a beer making kit, and that's grown into a full-blown hobby. And while it's a bit time consuming, and while I always tend to underestimate the time and effort it takes to make a batch o'brewski, it's good to have a fun outlet that I can do in the comfort of my own kitchen and still be close to my peeps.
7. It's never too early for a good workout. This goes for me and Avett. For me, my morning P90X workouts have to start quite early these days. Anything before 5:00 is unreasonable, and I'm having to learn to adjust to an ridonkulously early alarm. For Avett, it's physical therapy. His torticollis is fairly mild, but we're going to see a PT every other week to work on straightening out his neck. In between appointments, we're working that kid OUT. And we're starting to see results already. He'll be doing Ab Ripper X in no time, I'm sure.
8. 9:00 bedtime is the HEAT (see #s 3, 5, and 7). For the adults, not for Avett. And while we don't hit that target as often as we'd like, it's such a lovely goal. And heavens to Betsy, when you're actually in bed early, do the math of how much sleep you're about to enjoy, and nod off to dreamland....It can't be beat. Goodness gracious, I'm getting a little happy just thinking about it.
And there you have it, just a few pearls of wisdom from my dome to yours, mostly learned via this little guy.
Happy 5 Months, Kiddo
