Facebook

I would have never believed what therapy facebook would provide. Sometimes you just need a minute... and since that minute is likely to be a noisy one facebook easily provides 60 seconds of catching up, playing with a zoo, and if you are really at your end you can rob museums and fight mobsters. All in good fun. Facebook is a friend too moms!

Green Mom

I've always tried my best to take in and use things that were good for me.  This means special soaps, etc.  Although are they really special, perhaps instead they are just what nature meant them to be before we started fooling with everything.  I am accused of being preachy.  People fear giving my child gifts.  My passion comes not from snobbery but from love.  I want my child, my husband, my family and my friends to live good and long lives.  I am not a gorilla recycler - attention everyone - I throw away my yougurt containers at work!  I just do the best possible within my means.  That means I don't want my son to have plastic toys.  That means I feed him formula that the doctor gave us for free but it breaks my heart a little bit because it is not organic.  I know organic things are expensive but when I think of some of the other junk I buy it makes sense to me (plus there are many veggies/fruits that you don't need to buy organic - example avocados.) As my son crawls I worry about the dirt I find on his hands of our just vaccumed floor.  I want to do all I can, yes, I can not control the outcome of life but I can know that I did my best.  There are times, many times, that the opinions of others get to me, that I want to throw in the towel.  Then I start to think I must be crazy.  Thankful this week when I was just about to throw in that towel, I found the right book for me.  I skimmed it in two hours and felt renewed passion.  I am assured again the purchasing that special sunscreen is worth it!  What ever you do, what ever you can do, do it.  I think moms love judging each other.  Just do it your way and be okay with that.  And if you hear me share about how anti-bacterial soaps have a pesticide in them know that I am not saying, I told you so.  I am sharing my knowledge because I want to protect you.  Anyways if you were wondering what book that was - Healthy Child Healthy World by Gavigan.  Thanks for listening.

Baby's Don't Like Cold Water

Yes, when you buy that cute summer pool and those little swimmer diapers... and run in the house and blow up the pool and change the diaper.  WAIT.  Put the pool in the sun after you fill it up, let the water warm up a bit.  Lesson learned.

Making new mom friends is like dating – actually speed dating- all over again.

I haven’t posted in a while because I’ve been on a mission to make new mom friends and have been forcing myself to get out of the house and hunt them down. It is really important to have other moms to share this experience with but unfortunately they don't send you home from the hospital with all of the contact information for other new moms in your area. Although it has been slow going, I’ve learned a few things in the past few moths.

1) Pick up lines are a lot easier to come up with when you’re a mom. Who can resist a conversation that begins with “Would you look at that? My child just ____ to your child. You can fill in this blank with limitless options since babies are always doing bizarre things such as: licking each other, pulling off each others shoes, stealing each others bottles and binkies, and sticking their fingers in others orifices. This will also help you weed out the other moms who don’t have a sense of humor about your child, their child, or their child’s orifices.

2) Scheduled play groups, mom’s club outings, support groups, meetup.com, storytimes, and classes are the best way I’ve found to meet other new moms. I have a friend who met her husband in line at a coffee shop. I’m not that quick with any of my relationships. If you are though, you could probably have a lot of luck at your local park or open play area.

3) You do not have hours to talk to other moms. If your lucky you’ve only got a few minutes before you are interrupted by a baby spitting up, pooping, getting hungry or sleepy, or crawling or toddling off so you have to jam pack all your wit and charm and general likableness into just a few sentences. It might be easier if you start when your baby is really young and still sleeps most of the day.

4) Just like the dating books say when talking to a boy, if another mom is reluctant to open up it always helps to compliment them. Tell her something nice about her baby. All babies have something going for them so this should not be hard to do.

5) MOST IMPORTANTLY: Do not seem too desperate or try to push the relationship too fast. I have to admit I’ve made this mistake. Don’t let your new mom friend know that you are penciling her in as your new super best friend on your first play date or push for your husbands to meet so you can start planning your annual double family camping trips. As with dating, if you are prone to fantasies about the future of your relationship, it’s best to keep those fantasies to yourself for now. You can laugh about them later.

6) Lastly: If you are invited somewhere by other moms go! It's the only way you will build the friendship.

Good luck moms and happy friend hunting.

Solids in and solids out

As a new parent you get all excited when you can final feed some solids. It is very cute to see that messy face. I have to say I wasn't ready for the change in poop. My son probably eats about 6 oz of jar food a day and his poop looks like smashed brownies! Where was the warning on this one moms. I have started giving him a little bit of water everyday just so that I can eat beloved brownies again in my life time.

Dressing Routine

Mornings are very routine now. Dad takes a shower, mom feeds boy, dad dresses boy, mom gets bottles ready..... Routines aren't fun and when dad is running late I have to dress our son. Earlier this week I put his romper on backwards (he actually left the house this way!) I can't say I enjoy dressing in general, as my son flails when I put his shirt on. I think he thinks I am trying to smother him. BUT my favorite part, that stops me in my tracks to smile on the most routine of days, is when I stand him up and pull up his little pants over the diapered baby butt. So precious!

Joining the poop club

Have you ever noticed how much parents talk about their kids' poop? When I was pregnant, all the parents I knew seemed to delight in telling me stories about the massive blowouts they had to deal with when their kids were babies. It seemed a little odd to me at the time, but now I sort-of get it. They're just happy to have another member of the club. I mean, you bring your baby home from the hospital and all he does is eat, sleep and poop - you naturally start to obsess over those things. My husband and I give each other regular updates about our son's poop habits. If you listened to us you'd think we were crazy.

The latest in our house is that my son has stopped pooping when he's with my husband - I don't think Eric has changed a poopy diaper in 2 weeks! Eric jokes that they have an arrangement, and what's my comeback supposed to be? Poop equals love? Not exactly a winning argument! I've started singing "Saving all my poop for you" to the tune of "saving all my love for you." It's the best I can come up with.