So much time has passed!

Here I find myself again, it's been months since I've written and clearly blogging regularly just hasn't been my thing.  I wish I would've stayed more on top of at least doing monthly posts, because I'm sure by time we have kid #2 I'm going to wish I had something to reference (and just for everyone's sake...there is no kid #2 in our immediate future!)  Our little man is now 1, hard to believe how incredibly long and fast that first year went.  Gone are the days of multiple wakings during the night and stressing about bottles, breast feeding and all that fun stuff.  We are able to enjoy blissfully filled 11-12 hour nights sleep from Ethan most nights and I've finally gotten to the point that I'm no longer breast feeding and pumping.  I made it to a year and for that I'm very excited and happy about.  I quit pumping a week and a half shy of Ethan's first birthday and we've been dwindling down the freezer supply since.  We've started adding in whole milk here and there, but for the most part Ethan is still benefiting from the freezer supply. Over the next couple weeks we'll really work on switching him over to pure whole milk so when the freezer supply ends it won't be such a shock to the little man.  It's been a good run, but I'm thoroughly enjoying the extra free time of not having to pump.  Kevin and I still sometimes look at each other at night in disbelief that our little guy is sleep at 7:30pm and we've got nothing to do before we head to bed!  Free time!!

So many new things happening in our little Swan family...little man is transitioning from breastmilk to whole milk, we're working on dropping out bottles and switching to sippy cups and we've dropped down to 1 nap most days as well.  Ethan now has 3 bottles a day...1 right when he wakes up, 1 before his nap and 1 before bed.  Little man could still probably do 2 naps a day, but they were getting shorter and I was having a hard time finding any time for us to get out and do things on my day off.  So our schedule now usually just has him doing one.  He's going to bed around 7 or 7:30pm and waking up around 7am.  Then it's breakfast around 8, snacks in the morning with some milk in a sippy cup and lunch around 11:30am.  After lunch it's play time and then bottle and nap around 1pm.  Hard to believe we have such a great schedule at this point after so many months of absolutely no schedule at all! 

I can't even put into words how awesome Ethan is.  I knew I always wanted to be a mom and though the transition was harder than I thought it would be, I wouldn't trade it for the world!  There is nothing better than to hear him walking around saying "mama", or to have his whole face light up with a smile when I walk into the room.  Recently he's been blowing kisses, saying hi and most recently giving me kisses when I ask for them!  It is all these things that makes all those hard months in the beginning so worth it!  I'm so lucky that I get to stay home with him and spend so much time with him during the week, I can't imagine it any other way!  I'm also very thankful to say that Kevin will get to spend more time at home with us soon, because Monday he starts a new job much closer to home and with no overnight travel!  We are looking forward to our dada/husband being home for family dinners and more family activities at night! 

So yes, our lives continue to be as busy as ever and blogging isn't happening as much as I would've hoped, but things are going well in Swan family land.  Ethan is no longer toddling around, it's more of a fast walk/wobbly run at this point.   Nothing in the house is safe anymore...he can and will get into anything if it catches his eye.  He loves to climb, open cupboards, help vacuum, take cushions off chairs, throw balls, give Kona treats, and make everyone who comes in contact with him melt in his hand.  Our little man is truly all boy, and we love him immensely for it!  Until next time, which will hopefully not be in another 3 months!