it's incredible to me how many of my friendships have been altered by having a baby, both positively and negatively. i knew dynamics would change, but the way the have has surprised me. as always, i'm saddened by the friends i'm drifting away from - i hate losing people. but it's putting things in perspective in a great way that i have never experienced before. really knowing who our good friends are and recognizing that there are people we are unintentionally letting go.
i've finally gotten a bit antsy about staying home, feeling a little bored and stuck in the house as temperatures remain low. i knew it would happen eventually, being indoors in our tiny little home day in and day out. henry and i try plan activities outside of the house at least a few times a week, visiting friends, running errands. we have playdates with his friend owen, 3 months his senior. we visit with sophie, 4 months his junior. but i'm looking forward to all of the fun things we'll do when the weather turns over and we can leave the house without bundling up quite so tight. when we can take the stroller out. when henry can stay awake long enough to enjoy the zoo and the nature museum and the lake shore.
but in the meantime i'm missing something. we read books and we sing songs and play with toys and henry sits in the highchair while momma cooks. we clean the house together, fold diapers, take lots of photos and videos and take a photobooth photo to email to poppa every day. and henry still takes 4 short naps a day. i guess now that we have a pretty good routine i have the luxury of getting bored with it. and since we converted our office/craft room to baby henry's room, my crafts are off limits while he's sleeping, which isn't working so well. i always think of something to create or to fiddle around with while he's sleeping, rather than planning and pulling out the necessary supplies before he goes down for his nap. i have made a few small things for him since he joined us, a pennant banner for his wall and...wait...i think that's it. i miss being creative, having the space and time to play with my crafts, fabrics, paints. my creative energy is itching to get out, i just haven't figured out how to make that happen yet.
at henry's last pediatrician visit, his doctor told us to start on solids at his 4 month adjusted age (from his due date rather than his birth date), and i'm reading up on baby led weaning. i am excited to introduce henry to real foods, and am even excited to start pureeing things, but letting him lead the way and experiment with textures right from the get go seems so natural to me. i don't know anyone who has done it this way, but i think i might like to give it a try. or at least do some combination of introducing foods, if possible.
in the meantime i'm trying to start experimenting in the kitchen more, trying new recipes, actually reading my cookbooks and cooking magazines that have been gathering dust for the last year. i've become so comfortable with my staple recipes that i've neglected searching for new options. but every time i make something new that we like, it ends up in our rotation, and the rotation is getting too big to allow for nights of experimentation. i'm going to have to retire a few things.
i remember a few staple foods from my childhood - taco night, meatloaf, grilled chicken and pork tenderloin, frozen succotash. i wonder what henry will remember - if i'll make the same dishes consistently enough for him to have his favorites that he'll ask for when he's home from college. i sort of hope not. i hope he just misses his momma's cooking in general.
