Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘motherhood’

20130520-082704.jpg

You are 15 months old.

You decided to start walking a few weeks ago, and now you cruise the length of the house like you’ve always done it. You’re slowly giving up your adorable crabby-gorilla crawl which makes us a bit sad — but also happy we captured it for posterity.

You have been through your first ear infection, and your first experience with antibiotics. This was not a happy time, but you remained sweet through all of it.

You throw yourself down flat on your belly or back when we come to pick you up after a nap. You laugh your fool head off when you do this.

You love to gnaw on hunks of apple, though Cheerios are still your favorite food.

You cannot resist the impulse to take things out of the recycling bin.

You prefer the Spanish setting on your musical table. This is why Mama knows the ABC song en Español. Sometimes she sings it to you, and you look at her like, “How do you know that?”

You recently spent a significant amount of time putting a toy into an empty baby biscuit box and taking it out and putting it back in and taking it out… (See photo above) You were very happy while you did this unless the toy got stuck, in which case you made unhappy noises and asked Mama for help.

You have a pair of shoes that you like to have Mama put on and take off over and over. We hope you’ll be okay with leaving them on when you start to walk outside.

You have had three haircuts. For the latest one, Mama let you watch the “Mnah Mnah” video while Grammie did the snipping. You were slack-jawed the first few times, and then you got really excited about it.

You form kisses with great concentration, making a puckery fish mouth first and then popping it open with a loud smack.

You have used the sign for “please” a few times.

You use the sign for “more” to say “help” and “want.” And “more.”

You have begun to make like a wet noodle when you don’t want to be picked up.

You want to touch all the trees, bushes and flowers we pass on our walks. You even want to touch the pine tree in our yard even though you know it’s pokey and you make an “ick” face when it pricks your fingers.

You like to help Mama put your bath toys away.

You enjoy brushing your teeth so much that Mama has to remind you to wait your turn because she needs to go first.

Your current nicknames are Baboo, Boots, Boo, Chickoo, and Little Mister.

You have discovered the joy that is “The Itsy Bitsy Spider.”

You understand that you can put things in pockets.

You can work a zipper.

You laugh uproariously at the “comb and a brush and a bowl full of mush” page in “Goodnight Moon,” but only when Daddy reads it to you.

You are 15 months old and we’re pretty sure you’ll start running someday soon.

Read Full Post »

20130515-084833.jpg

A week ago, we hit the vaunted milestone of Baby’s First Ear Infection, and thus we have had our first experience with antibiotics. Things were going pretty well — he was sleeping better and he was eating less, but still eating — until Tuesday afternoon.

Baboo was struggling to go to sleep for his second nap, so I checked his diaper and found not only a number two but the nastiest diaper rash I’ve seen on him so far. I wouldn’t even call it a rash so much as the baby skin version of slash and burn. He shuddered with pain when I touched it even lightly, and he cried for a while after I was finished cleaning him up. And when I say he cried I mean he wailed like his heart was breaking. Which also means I was crying as I was cleaning him up, and apologizing the whole time.

I brought him downstairs for some distraction and called his doctor’s office to ask what might be done. The nurse, who was very sympathetic and helpful, was not surprised in the slightest. She gave me instructions on how to help him: use only wet washcloths to wipe him; daily baths with baking soda; probiotics; no fruit besides bananas and apples; as much yogurt, white bread and rice as he’ll eat; and my personal favorite, let him run round naked.

Her advice was reassuring, but her level of “of course” got me thinking: Why hadn’t the doctor, or the nurse, or the pharmacist, said anything about the likelihood of this medicine turning my baby’s poo into acid? Sure would have been nice. The only person who had warned me about this was my cousin, so I’d been on the alert and doing quick changes as soon as I detected poo, but the load that burned his bum was only in there for about 20 minutes.

Yes, having been on antibiotics I should perhaps have realized that what happened to me on them would likely happen to him, but I was strung out from a few days and nights of dealing with a very unhappy baby. That is to say, thinking logically was not in my wheelhouse. Getting his prescription filled ASAP and getting him home to bed were my prime directives.

So I suppose my aim here is twofold:

1. Medical professionals, please pass along information like this.

2. Parents, the first time you put your kid on antibiotics, make sure you pick up probiotics (my doc recommended Culturelle) at the pharmacy. And use lots and lots and lots of Desitin. And prepare to entertain your kid on the changing table while you let his nether regions air out. Might be a separate post about that soon…

Read Full Post »

Another rainy day. A kvetchy baby. Bedtime. The one thing he cannot sleep without — a mobile that projects a light show on the ceiling — is malfunctioning.

My mother is helping me wrangle the baby on the changing table. The mobile is going on and off, on and off, randomly. I curse the cheap batteries we put in it and call for a fresh set. I take it down, change the batteries, put it back up.

Problem not solved. On and off, on and off. I start to panic. Handle him, I say, while I take this to The One Who Fixes Things. He reports no problem that he can see.

I start to mentally prepare myself to entertain the kvetchy baby while someone makes a Target run for a new mobile. Preferably the exact same one.

Then the One Who Fixes Things notices that the baby is holding this:

20130506-093841.jpg

It’s the remote for the mobile.

We gave it to the baby to keep him entertained while we changed him.

Hilarity ensued.

And then the baby slept.

Read Full Post »

Baby sign language is useful for those tricky pre-verbal months when the kid knows what he wants but can’t use words to tell you. Baboo has known the sign for “more” for a few months, but I only recently began teaching him “please.”

I assumed food would be the thing that got him to use “please” independently since that’s what got him going on “more.” So I’d sign “more please” before I put more grapes on his tray or broke off another bit of animal cracker for him. But he kept doing “more” without “please,” not even taking a stab at it. I’d move his hand to his chest and say “please,” say, “good baby!” and then put the food in front of him.

Sometimes, he gave me the stink-face when I did the sign for him. I began to harbor a theory that he just wasn’t interested in being polite, much as he has no interest in pasta.

This morning, he did “more please” on his own. For this:

20130427-112548.jpg

Now, he smacked his chest with both hands — a far cry from the actual sign, which is making a circle with one hand in the middle of the chest — but I’ll still mark this as the day my kid first said, “please.”

Read Full Post »

20130423-091622.jpg

You are 14 months old.

You have eight teeth. One of them is a molar, and we did not enjoy nursing you through its eruption, which took for freakin’ ever. Naturally, its mate is now coming up on the other side of your lower jaw.

You are still uninterested in walking, though you often stand like a rock and will take a few steps now and then.

You like to look at books after your morning bottle. Your current favorites are “Runaway Bunny” and “Dear Zoo.” “Goodnight Moon” continues to hold your interest too — you’ve recently begun pointing at the little house and the young mouse.

You don’t know that you can get up from being flat on your back; you’ll just hold your arms out to be helped up and kick your legs, like a beetle that’s been flipped over. This is fine, because we still change your diaper on a changing table that’s four feet off the ground.

You have begun to say “ma,” meaning “more.” “No” still comes out as “nah” or “neh” or “nnnnneeeehhhhhhh.” Your other new words are “uh” and “moo,” a/k/a “up” and “moon.”

You hug other babies, your baby dolls, your Grammie, and your stuffed animals with joyful abandon. You hug us, too, mostly at the end of the day when you’re very tired.

You try to put Cheerios in your nose and eyes when you’re tired. You do this while smiling at us.

You make a kissing noise in imitation of Mama and Daddy, but you don’t try to kiss us yet.

You enjoy bath time thoroughly, though you increasingly try to stand up in the tub despite Mama explaining this is not a good idea and gently sitting your butt back down over and over.

You recently blew your Daddy’s mind when he asked where the red dragon was, and you promptly crossed the room to fetch it.

You can turn light switches on and off, and lunge for them whenever you see one. You cackle every time you flip the switch regardless of whether you can see the lights it controls.

You like to share Mama’s apples with her, and will wipe her face as you pass the apple back and forth.

You go after forbidden things with astonishing focus when you are tired.

You are becoming a much more adept imitator of gesture and speech.

You are now over 30 inches tall, but it’s hard to tell exactly how tall you are because you wiggle so much.

You can locate your eyes, ears, nose, mouth, fingers, toes and diaper. Sometimes you get a little confused when we ask where your mouth is.

You adore playing peek-a-boo with towels, large bowl lids, and whatever else is handy.

You are 14 months old, and you dazzle us every day.

Read Full Post »

20130410-094112.jpg

Every so often one of us will say we need to get this or that cute thing on video, but there are a lot of non-videoable things I want to remember. And no, I don’t care if non-videoable isn’t a word.

Here’s the list so far:

– The baby’s foot working against my leg as he takes his bottle.

– Milk breath.

– The sparky light in his eyes when he hears a new or interesting noise.

– The weight of his body against me when he’s completely relaxed — I don’t know how, but it weighs more than he weighs.

– The dainty ballet of his hand when he carefully picks something up or takes something from me.

– The smell of his neck.

– The thrilled, thrilling energy that pours out of him when he’s really excited.

– The rainbows that shoot out his butt during every diaper change.

Okay, kidding about that last one. But it still amazes me to see how perfect and beautiful his little body is.

Read Full Post »

20130406-094415.jpg
Shortly after the baby took his first steps, I was asked if I’d gotten it on video. I hadn’t.

I still haven’t, partly because he’s not doing a lot of repeat performances, and partly because I don’t want to miss it. Also, he often takes a few steps as he hurls himself towards me. Kind of hard to film that without assistance.

I’ve often heard it said that the act of observing an event changes it. The video corollary is that by recording something, you’re removing yourself from it, even if only by a degree. And right now, I want to be as close as possible to big moments. There’s plenty of time to get his early stumble-steps recorded.

And besides, I’m not sure the video camera is charged.

Read Full Post »

20130402-101906.jpg

Oh, my people. There has been a LOT going on at our house lately. Hence the lack of posting… And hence the list format of this post.

So. Since I last posted, the following things have happened:

– Baboo took a few steps on Good Friday. We happened to be on Skype with my mother-in-law at the time, which made it even cooler. I totally burst into tears. He has not yet repeated this new trick — par for the course when he picks up a new skill.

– The baby learned how to climb onto his toy bin. He also learned how to fall off it.

– I’ve spent some time re-watching the previous season of Mad Men and getting stoked for this Sunday’s premiere. Yes, I’m one of those.

– We gave the baby the small Easter basket you see up there. He loves that talking orange egg. It says things like, “Yoo hoo, I’m hiding!” until you open it to reveal the blue bunny inside. Then it says, “Surprise, it’s me, Jojo!” whereupon he makes a very excited face. He had a good time taking the purple paper grass out of the basket, but seemed perturbed once it was spread around him. Could be he’s taking after his Virgo mama…

– I’m finally below my pre-pregnancy weight. Only by a pound, and only if I weigh myself in the morning, but it still counts, dammit!

– Baboo liked his first taste of chocolate but didn’t want much of it because of the hard shell around said chocolate. So I helped him out with the Cadbury mini eggs he rejected. Such a hardship, this motherhood thing.

– The baby now uses the sign for “more” for abstract things (not just Cheerios). This morning, he used it to say he wanted his Daddy to hold him again. Now I have to teach him more noun signs so he can say what he wants more of — because sometimes, we can’t figure it out.

Read Full Post »

20130326-094853.jpg
In a recent post I mentioned that Baboo had enjoyed playing with a baby doll at a neighbor’s house. A few days ago, I made good on my promise to let him pick out a doll for himself.

Here I will pause to link to a song I hope is no longer revolutionary: William Wants a Doll, from Marlo Thomas’ excellent TV special and children’s album, Free to be You and Me.

As it happens, there weren’t a ton of choices at Target. No boy dolls, for starters, and only a few options that looked like actual babies instead of Disney characters or anime princesses in physical form. There were, however, tons of “companion dolls,” whatever the hell that means, and accessories, because God forbid your dolly go out without her cell phone and matching purse.

Anyway. He seemed to gravitate toward a standard sort of doll, reaching out for her and smiling at her and so on. I stuck her in the front of the cart with him, and he continued to touch her face and babble at her as we finished shopping.

Once we got home, I took her out of her box and handed her to Baboo. He smiled at her, and then gave her to me. Over and over. And gave me her bottle, because true to her newborn form, she is always hungry.

A friend who is wise to the ways of babies and a doula said he’s doing this because he knows I’ll take care of her. Aw. How sweet. But how am I supposed to get anything done? I can get him to wave the bottle near her face occasionally, but he really, really wants me to hold her. Usually when I’m trying to get a round of bottles washed or do some food prep.

I’m hoping he’ll relax about her care needs now that she’s made at least one friend among the toys:

20130326-100112.jpg

Read Full Post »

20130321-091145.jpg
Recently a friend who was helping care for her toddler niece and colicky baby nephew asked me via text how moms have time to brush their hair or get a cup of coffee. I laughed and wrote back that those things happen when nice Aunties come to visit, but it did get me thinking about how my personal time management has changed since the baby.

Probably the most significant difference is how I use baby-free time. Specifically, there have been occasions when the following things were more important to me than showering:

– sleep

– food

– coffee

– writing

– a chat with an old friend

– cleaning (I’m a Virgo, remember?)

– a quick escape, i.e., a visit to my favorite websites

– quality time with my husband

– quality time with a heating pad

And yes, I do occasionally put the kiddo in the pack-n-play for five minutes while I shower. I know he’s safe in there, and I leave the door open so I can hear him and talk to him. But that also means I rush through the process, which takes a lot of the pleasure out of it. And yeah, I know, that sounds weird, but when you haven’t showered for a few days and you know the kid is going to be asleep for at least 45 minutes, there is a whole lot of joy to be found under a stream of hot water.

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »

I'm over 50. I'm raising a fifth grader. Sometimes he posts too.

thepeacefulparsnip

My journey to becoming a dietitian and other cool stuff

Bideshi Biya

Living The Road Less Travelled