Chi Dogs

You know that blissful feeling when your baby falls asleep right before you get to your lunch destination, so you get to enjoy a bit more of a date (sans tiny hands in your food), but not before documenting with your new selfie stick?

Yeah, us either. 

I'm kind of embarrassed to admit this, but after almost 3 months of living here we FINALLY experienced real Chicago hot dogs.  It was kind of intimidating to look at, but when I chose not to look and just eat it was a really enjoyable experience. :) I wasn't able to recognize half of the toppings, haha.

We had heard that The Wieners Circle could be kind of a scene at night (think Ed Debevics, only not as kid friendly) but our experience today was really pleasant and normal. :) Plus it was a beautiful day.  I think Chicago may be starting to feel fall around the corner? I cannot wait to experience all of the seasons here... I know winter may be a bear, but come on, Christmas lights in the city?? Be still my heart.

Anyways, Atticus is getting to more of an exploratory age so I can tell when he's getting antsy in the stroller.  He used to be cool with an all day excursion buckled into his seat, and while he still is for the most part, we try to hold him once in a while to give him a change of scenery.

This kid has the sweetest soul.  The fact that he's able to better express his affection for his Papa and I constantly has my heart going crazy.  Just look at that arm over Michael's shoulder, and his bashful nuzzles.  While I miss the newborn days, his recent growth in this area has both of us really excited to get to know him as a growing boy, to know more of who he is and what makes him tick. Right now it seems to be cuddles, toys, and milk. ;)

We then walked around the area a bit more.  It was nice to have time today to just wander around.  Michael has been having some crazy weekends working lately so it was nice to just all be together.

One of Atticus's favorite things is when I wave his clothes in his face while changing his diaper (as you can see in this video here.)  One small negative about city bathrooms is they hardly ever have baby changing stations in them (and I mean, Starbucks!? Come on...). Not a big deal, but it means he often gets changed in his stroller.  

We ended up heading home in the middle of a Cubs rush... ahhhhh. The nice thing about cubs fans is they're all just out to have fun, so they don't mind that you have a stroller taking up the standing room of two adults... thank you, commuters from the suburbs, for your kindness. :)

Everything is a Season

Our little trooper is overall a great sleeper. 3 naps a day, 11-12 hours of nighttime sleep.  We really are lucky.  But those 11-12 hours of sleep were only interrupted by 1 feeding when he was 4 months old, but this 5th month brings us enough wakings to feel like a newborn. I think that this is due to a few factors (a season of low milk supply being my main suspicion) but the point that I am continually learning is that nothing is forever.  Everything is a season.

This hit me hard in the first few weeks of parenthood.  We brought Atticus home and it seemed like he slept all the time.  I was all like “Whew! We have a good sleeper!”  Then 2 days later he was awake a lot and needing a lot more attention. THEN my outlook became “Ah! We have a terrible sleeper! What do we do!?”  And it seemed like this was the case with every area of his life.  Nothing was guaranteed to stay the way that it currently was! Good or bad.  

This ended up being a very freeing fact when dealing with certain challenges of caring for him.  And when other parents would talk about how that stage would pass like it did for their children, I began to actually believe them!

I think (or hope) that this has helped in my continual learning to not base my satisfaction on outside circumstances.  It’s not worth it to be content because xyz is going well because it will ultimately disappoint.  It’s also not worth it to be deeply discontent because xyz is going poorly, because it’s not the end.  

I am just trying to always be aware that God is ultimately in control of it all, and He is the only thing that will never change or fail.