It's Friday Already!

This week has flown by.  Just us?  Or did it feel quick to you too?

Here's a few thoughts as we wrap up the week!

Car Seats

• Owen is growing like a weed.  He's off the charts in height for his age (28 3/4" at 6 months) and I swear he's 29" now (he'll be 7 months on Monday).  His infant car seat is safe up to a 30" height and it's clear that he's almost outgrown it.   It's hard to believe he used to be this little in it:

Now his head reaches near the top of the seat, which makes me nervous.  Even though he technically has another inch to go, I think it's time to get a new seat - sooner than later.  But what kind??  I'm at a total loss of where to go from here.  Fortunately, Lucie's List just sent out an email about starting solids (more on that in a minute) and I was like, I bet she has some sort of guide!  And she does.  So I'm starting there with her guide to the Top 5 Best Convertible Car Seats.  Any suggestions from you moms-in-the-know??  Would love to hear them!!

Solids

• We started solids a few weeks ago and so far Owen is taking to them well!  We're sticking with vegetables for now.  He started with green beans and has now tried carrots, squash and peas.  He loves the carrots.  I had grandiose plans of making his food for him but...those fell apart.  I don't have the right equipment (like a food processor or a Magic Bullet) and when I tried to use the blender on some carrots it was a bit of a wah-wah moment.  Let's just say, he gagged on the food I made him.  So I went over to Whole Foods, got some jars of Earth's Best and while I feel twinges of guilt for not pureeing his food myself, he LOVES the store bought stuff.  And it's so easy.  And organic.  And better than anything I can make.

Holidays

• Halloween!  I'm about to order Owen's costume and I'm kind of obsessed with the holiday outfits that are out right now.  I already ordered some themed PJs with a skeleton and Superman on them and I think I might go bankrupt just by looking at all the cute Thanksgiving and Christmas onesies and outfits that are out.  It's his first holiday season so I'm allowed to get a little excited, right?  This doesn't get any less exciting though, does it? (shakes fist at sky)

Reading

• Super excited to be reading as a BookPAL tomorrow at our local library!  I hear it's usually mostly toddlers that attend so if you're in the area and have a little one, there will be two of us volunteers reading from 11-12 at the Weho Library.  Come play!

Hope you all have a great weekend!!

Friday Reflections: Weekly Round-Up

I feel like I need to keep a notebook on my person at all times. The problem is, when I have the urge to write, I'm usually walking...which isn't necessarily conducive to jotting things down. (Also, yes, notebook.  I'm an old-school-pencil-to-paper kind of gal.)

***

Owen and I have been going on daily morning walks.  They give him a change of scenery and they give me a chance to meander in my thoughts.  I write posts in my head on these walks. And then an entire week goes by and I haven't posted. Even though I've been writing in my head. And my "back-to-school" mentality of being more dedicated to this blog has already hit a snag. Wah-wah.

My view on our walks.

This week was a little busier than normal.  It started on Sunday when I got to participate in a read-through of an original play written by my friend Lynn.  She's been working on it, off and on, for three years now and I've been with her from the beginning - doing read-throughs, giving feedback, and loving being a part of her process.  And it's finally ready to go into production!  She's looking to put it up in November and I'll definitely keep you posted as it gets on it's feet.  It's a beautiful, emotional, uplifting piece about celebrating our todays.  Here's a behind the scenes look at Sunday's read-through:

Photo credit: Lynn Downey Braswell

Then Monday came and I had a commercial audition.  Tuesday morning came and Dan left for a business trip. Tuesday afternoon came and we went to mommy and me yoga and then had lunch with an old friend.

Baby on the loose.

Tuesday night came and I had a casting workshop to attend with the casting director of one of my favorite sitcoms (shout out to my friend John who babysat Owen while I went to that). Wednesday came and I had a callback from the audition I had on Monday (shout out to my friend Reid for watching Owen while I did that.  I have some pretty great friends). Speaking of, then I had lunch plans with Lynn for her birthday.

Birthday girl/Playwright

Thursday came and it was baby yoga time again, this time with a few other mommy friends, then my sister came over to hang out, then Dan's flight got delayed SIX HOURS and he didn't get back until the middle of the night and now it's Friday morning. And I most definitely won't finish writing this post until the afternoon and hopefully will get to publish it before the evening*.

And that was the week!  With Dan out of town, I thought I would use the evenings by myself to write and maybe even do a little painting...but instead I was exhausted.  The days were full, Owen is a handful crawling around and pulling up on everything without having any concept of falling, so I'm constantly spotting him, and when he went to bed I'd finally get to shower and then just...SIT.  That is all I wanted to do.  Sit and veg out and go to bed early. 

Forget writing.  Forget being creative. Resting is all I wanted to do.  That's the balance I'm struggling to find these days.  Taking time to refuel is something I'd like to do but hasn't been my priority.  And I think that's probably a mistake.  But I'll get there...right?  I guess that's the perpetual struggle we face, whether we are moms or not.  Finding that balance between the to-dos and the want-tos.

(*And now it's evening.  And the house is quiet.  And I still need to shower.  But I'm posting this first.  So take that, to-dos.  Personal hygiene can wait just a minute!)