THANKSGIVING + TWO MONTHS WITH TEDDY

Happy Thanksgiving! This is the first holiday we’re hosting in our new house and I can’t believe we are celebrating with a two-month-old in tow. We definitely have an extra lot to be grateful for this year and I am so thankful to each of you for following along as I enter this new phase of our lives. This month marks ten years of Design Darling (!!!) and it’s crazy to think some of you have been reading since my junior year of college. In the time that I’ve been blogging, I studied abroad in France, interned at Jonathan Adler, graduated from Bucknell, lived briefly in San Francisco, moved back home to Darien, worked in PR for a hot minute, got a doglaunched an online store, moved to New York, navigated a break-up, met my now husband, moved to Dallas, got engaged, planned our wedding, moved to Greenwich, closed the online store, got married, launched a print shop with my brother, got pregnant, bought a house in Darien, and had a baby! I’m so excited to see what the next ten years have in store and so grateful to have you along for the ride. From the bottom of my heart, thank you!

play mat

puppy costume

onesie / bedding

It feels like so much has changed since my one month update and I know I’ll be happy to have these monthly posts to look back on as he grows up. We just had his eight week check-up at the end of last week and he now weighs 11 pounds 2 ounces, up from 7 pounds 13 ounces at birth — it’s crazy how much he has changed in so little time! He started smiling around five weeks and has become so much more chatty and playful the past few weeks. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do to get a smile out of him! He continues to love tummy time on his play mat and we make a game out of seeing how many times he can roll from his tummy to his back (thankfully not rolling the other direction yet!). He also loves lying on his back, chatting, and occasionally hitting the jingle bell above his mat. His sweet little coos are my favorite thing in the world and I’ve started taking videos so I can remember them all!

pajamas / pillow

elephant blanket

We continue to use the Moms on Call schedule as a general guideline and most days look something like this:

  • Breastfeed sometime between 5 and 6:30 a.m. (whenever he wakes up)
  • Breastfeed at 9 a.m.
  • Breastfeed at 12 p.m.
  • Breastfeed at 3 p.m.
  • Breastfeed at 6 p.m.
  • Breastfeed at 9 p.m.
  • Pump while Teddy gets a bottle of breast milk sometime between 1:30 and 3 a.m. (whenever he wakes up)
  • Breastfeed between 5 and 6 a.m.

onesie

Breastfeeding takes about 20 minutes each time (so much more efficient than those first few weeks! ??) and we try to play for 30-45 minutes after each daytime feed. He lives for his nightly bath and lights up the second his feet touch the water. We’ve been using this baby shampoo and I can’t stop smelling him afterwards. His baby acne miraculously disappeared right at six weeks after we started using the Tubby Todd ointment so many of you recommended. It could be pure coincidence, but I’m definitely keeping a jar on hand for any future breakouts!

nursery details

We had him sleeping in the Halo bassinet next to my side of the bed for his first week home from the hospital and I was basically waking up every time he took a deep breath, so we moved it into our bathroom and left the door open so we could hear when he started to fuss. My mom was the one who pointed out that his nursery is literally as close to our bed as our bathroom is and so we might as well have him sleep in his crib. I know some people swear by their bassinets and have strong opinions about the baby sleeping in their room for a certain period of time so I’m hesitant to even mention it, but he’s been sleeping in his crib for the past three weeks and it’s worked out well for all three of us. Everyone says all babies are different and this baby definitely prefers his crib to his bathroom bassinet! ? We’re still working on getting him to sleep for longer stretches (see above) but he does the cutest little happy dance when we pick him up out of the crib and it makes the interrupted sleep almost worth it. We started putting him in this bunting bag for walks around the neighborhood in his stroller and he usually falls asleep before we’re out of the driveway (same thing with his car seat). He really is such a happy little guy and we feel incredibly lucky that he’s so easygoing — I’m sure we won’t be so lucky with our second!

pillow

infant bathtub / gingham washcloths

I don’t want to jinx anything but I guess in general I feel a lot more confident than I did when we first brought Teddy home from the hospital. I’m sure the fact that I’m no longer in pain myself has a lot to do with it (and I know new challenges will continue to present themselves every month), but I feel so much more at ease with everything from breastfeeding to diaper changes and I wish I could go back and assure myself that that would be the case! I truly couldn’t imagine getting to this place eight weeks ago at the start of my postpartum recovery and it makes me all the more grateful to feel the way I feel now. A fitting sentiment for our first Thanksgiving with Teddy!

fleece jacket / bunting bag

quilted jacket / bouncer

month cards / onesie

P.S. I’ve been sharing lots of baby stuff in my Friday Q&A posts but I’m happy to answer any other questions you might have in the comments!

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