Pumpkin Spice And All That's Nice

It's a dark, dreary, rainy morning and I'm drinking pumpkin spice creamer in my coffee. I'm actually enjoying the morning...for once. The rainy weather makes me feel cozy in the house and the pumpkin spice creamer, which is one of my favorites, is only available during the fall so it really makes me feel like autumn has arrived. Another reason I'm enjoying the dark, rainy morning is that Ava's room is especially dark so hopefully she'll nap longer and I'll have some quiet time to myself. And yet furthermore, I'm enjoying the morning because I'm a little more rested than usual and I don't feel like death warmed over this time.

I'm excited about autumn. Ever since I moved to North Carolina, I've really enjoyed the fall here with the crisp mornings and bright autumn leaves. But that's not the only reason I'm excited - it is also Ava's first autumn. I know she won't remember a thing about it but there's something pleasurable about seeing the world through Ava's eyes. For instance, we had a few days of cooler weather last week and I took the exersaucer outside and put Ava in it so we could enjoy the outdoors for a little while. I noticed that when a breeze would blow, Ava would pause from playing, stare off a little into the distance, and her hair would flutter. She was absorbing tons of new sensory information and her little brain was processing the sensation of a cool breeze. It made me also pause and enjoy the nice, cool breeze . So, I'm excited about Ava discovering all the simple delights that we are accustomed to and don't notice anymore. I guess one of the benefits of having a child is that you can experience the world again vicariously.

Ava has been sleeping pretty well since she started solids. At first, she was still waking up frequently at night and then she improved with longer night sleep becoming more frequent and it is now a general pattern. She'll sleep from 7 pm to about 4-5 am then she'll feed and go back down for another hour or two. She generally wakes up for the day between 6 and 7. Most mornings, I drag myself out of bed but this morning, I bounced out because I'd bought pumpkin spice creamer last night and was anticipating having it in my coffee.

I've already finished my first cup and it was SO delicious that I'm having to restrain myself from having a second. About 1% of the caffeine a mother drinks is passed through the milk and a single cup of coffee a day doesn't seem to bother Ava. I'm afraid to find a second cup will bother her and I'll have a jittery baby on my hands.

Well... maybe I'll have a HALF a cup.