Favorite sweater of the moment

Let's take a break from the serious stuff and talk fashion, shall we? My current favorite sweater in my rotation is this UNIF Stash sweater that I got from Nasty Gal. I love the shredded detail and oversized fit. I'm wearing it here with my Genetic Shya skinny jeans and H by Hudson Encke boots, which are pretty much the most comfortable boots I've ever owned.

And yes, that's a tub of Aquaphor you see on the ground for B's eczema  ;-)

Frustrated with his toys

Lately, B has gotten really frustrated with a few of his toys. I think he's teething because he's drooling up a storm and shoving every single thing he can get his hands on into his mouth. For the past few days, he'll try and put a toy in his mouth and seems to get frustrated when things aren't going his way. He begins by yelling, then examining the toy, putting it back in his mouth, and yelling again. He repeats this process and it almost always ends in a meltdown cry and baby tears streaming down his face.

Today was no exception. I had him in his Joovy Spoon and laid out a few wooden blocks for him to play with. At first, he happily banged the Joovy tray with his blocks. But then he started chewing on the blocks and it seemed to frustrate him that he couldn't fit the corner completely in his mouth. Or maybe his gums didn't feel good chewing on them? I don't know. He started to have a mini meltdown and before I knew it, he was full on crying. Very upset.

The old me would have froze, and then gotten worried or anxious or annoyed. But a big lesson I have learned is that your energy is so important. Babies pick up on your energy, so when you're anxious they become anxious. When you're upset, they become scared.

Breathe, I told myself. It's all good.

As B was melting down, I looked into his eyes and said, "It's ok darling. I know you're frustrated right now and it's okay to feel frustrated. And you're crying because you're frustrated and that's ok too. Go ahead, I'm here for you." He continued to melt down so I calmly and gently scooped him up from his Joovy and just held him infront of me, looking at his tear-stained face.

"B...what's wrong?" I asked.

More crying.

"Let's go into the kitchen," I said with a smile. I placed him sitting on the kitchen counter and wiped his cheek. Out broke a smile. Our dog walked by and B looked down at him, then started to giggle. And just like that...his little meltdown was gone.

I know this is going to be the first of many. And I know this is probably NOTHING compared to what's in store for me. But it was a good way for me to practice being calm, and radiating positive energy that my son would pick up on.

Something I learned in EFT is that it is so important for us to process our emotions. When you're sad, feel sad! Cry! Yell! It's perfectly ok and healthy to do that. Because when we're not allowed to process our emotions, they pile up and turn into something worse. Unprocessed sadness turns into depression. Unprocessed love turns into obsession.

And since we should process our emotions, our kids should be able to as well. That's why I didn't tell B to stop crying, I didn't shush him, I didn't offer him the pacifier, and I didn't say "It's ok. You're fine." Instead I acknowledged how he was feeling and what he was doing, and encouraged him to do so. Even though B is only six months old, I know he understands me. Trust me, it's not easy to remain calm when your kid is bawling his eyeballs out at the top of his lungs. But you can either snap and get annoyed, or breathe and flow with it. And from my personal experience, it is far more taxing to get worked up and annoyed.

I'm practicing this everyday and trying my best. We can't control everything in life, but we can control our attitude and how we approach situations.