Autumnal Reflections

It's very strange to think about, but we're fast approaching our first Thanksgiving and Christmas with Lauren outside of me. Every day I look at her and I'm amazed at how rapidly time is passing and how fast she's growing. It feels like just a month ago, she was starting on solid foods and smearing rice cereal all over her face. Now she's getting downright picky about what brand of baby food she eats (only Earth's Best Organic, please!) and she refuses to eat anything I make and grind for her (not that I can really blame her).

October is a big month for us - we're progressing to putting Lauren down earlier for bed (she is now ready to go down for the night at 7:00, if not earlier), feeding her chunkier foods and finger foods like fruity puffs, and I'm going to be making my first two big out of town business trips next week and the following week. Granted, going to Mobile is just one night, and traveling to Charleston will just give her a chance to get spoiled by Grandpa and Grandma Huffman, but it's a big development for me as I've been shielded from traveling since coming back to work and I don't know how in the world I'm going to find time to pump while traveling with my boss in Mobile. Talk about awkward!

But, we'll figure it out - we always have.

In September, before the weather turned truly autumnal, Billy, Lauren, my parents and I made the big trip to the beach at Kiawah for a week. The island has changed a lot (more hoity toity at The Sanctuary), but on our end, it still retains some of its original charm and isolation that I love so much. The weather was too cold for much of the trip for Lauren to hop in the pool for the first time or really play in the water and sand, but she did get to dip her toes in the water a bit and feel the sand slide out from beneath her feet and between her toes.

I just can't wait until she's really old enough to get out and do things! That's the one thing that Billy and I need to force ourselves to do - get outside with Lauren and experience lots of different things...even if it creeps into her afternoon nap schedule a little bit! We're had such tight control over her sleeping schedule in extreme deference to Weissbluth that I'm afraid we might be going a bit overboard with it and remaining prisoners at home more than we should.

Anyway, that's a thought for taking care of this weekend - perhaps a short hike around Sawnee Mountain will do the trick. One week the Pumpkin Patch - the next week, the world!