sappy momma

It seems like I'm frequently saying "My baby is... (fill in blank with newest accomplishment)" in my sad-time-is-flying voice.  LE is starting to understand "games" and puts the blanket over her own head for a round of "Where's Maya?"  She smiles, rather bursting into tears, on the swings now.  And just the other day, for the first time, she crawled away from me at story time to explore and play with the other kids. 

Do we all turn into our mothers?  We have a baby and immediately we become sappy and worry warts.  I knew that something must change for all moms to have the same annoying traits.  I don't want to get crazy, but it's probably not avoidable.  I apologize in advance, LE.  You are just so stinkin' cute and I can't get enough of you.

spring in february

I put on LE's spring outfit (courtesy Auntie Sarah) today and we took an impromptu trip to DC with a neighbor.  Then LE and I spent the afternoon hanging out on a blanket at the park.

No coats and hats, just lots of sunshine. It felt so good to have a taste of Spring. LE crawled around on the ground and ate some dirt, while I laid on the blanket and relaxed (and ignored the..."hey your baby is eating dirt." comments).

Having a snack in the park.  I love these moments.

mommy wars

I was just recently introduced to the concept of "Mommy Wars." I think I felt so encircled with this instant connection with moms all over that it didn't even register to me that moms would do anything other than help each other out.

My understanding is that Mommy Wars began with a battle between stay at home moms versus working moms. I'm a mostly stay at home mom, but some of the best moms I know are working moms, such as my SIL and A Cupcake For Moose (both of whom I ask for advice on a regular basis). I love being a stay at home mom (most days), but I also get to work 3-4 days a month - flexibility that I'm really lucky to have.

via

It hit me that this Mommy Wars thing was really a problem when I was on Pinterst the other day (yes, I've been sucked into one more social networking site...). A friend had posted a pic of the above onesie, and boy oh boy did the stream of NOOOOO, Why would you risk your baby's life, etc started to flow. I had to stop and breathe for a second, so I could keep my comment a simple positive encouragement to the mom-to-be and not a rebutal. And then I remembered how I got flack for choosing to home birth myself...from people I never asked advice from. I still get judgemental comments about it even after the fact.

Anyway, the point being we are all choosing what we deem best and safest for our families and it's going to look different from family to family...from epidurals, to circumcision, to stay at home, to breastfeeding, to cosleeping, to sleep training. Whatever it is that we choose let's respect one another. Isn't motherhood already challenging enough?

welcome to 2007

I finally joined the modern world and got a smartphone. A hand-me-down via my brother and then my mother and now me. It doesn't sound right that I'm taking my mom's old phones. Brother said the new iPhone will be coming out in May and I asked him if I could his old phone. His reply? No, mom gets it and you can have her old one. Apparently, I wouldn't respect all that the iPhone 4S can do like my mother will.

It's time for me to get caught up. LE ingests my post it note reminders laying around and shreds my paper planner anytime it's in her reach. For Christmas my parents got LE ("and family") an iPad for face time and I guess just to keep the kid tech savvy. And at first I thought "What a waste of mulah.", but now I secretely am falling in love with Apple.

I sent the Engineer an email yesterday to let him know I finally took the plunge and added a data plan to my phone. His reply: "Congratulations...you are officially awarded entry into the year 2007."

2007 is way better than I realized!

my valentines

Hanging with daddy.  Best thing ever.  I love watching LE's face light up when she hears the door start to unlock.  No matter where she is she will start to look in the direction of the door. Even if she's in the bathtub, she'll stand up and peer around the corner with a huge cheesy grin, followed by squeals. 

Pure joy.

everyday is something new

Over the weekend, the Engineer found LE like this in the morning.  And, of course, now this is how we find her after every sleep.  She's such a determined little girl. 

We are now getting little waves, claps, and growls.  But standing is her favorite trick, by far.  She's the pokiest crawler...it's about the journey for her.  She takes a few slow-mo crawls and then stops to check out something, you know, like a piece of fuzz.  I thought I'd be chasing her down once she started crawling, but not my journey loving, under momma's feet girl.

Jammies are definitely my favorite thing to have her in.  Don't you just want to give her a big snuggle?

germs probably breed on babies

You spend all this time preparing for the birth and first few days of your child's life, but there are so many other firsts that no one prepares you for.
This week it was explosive poo and vomit. It was a Rent-A-Rug-Doctor kinda week. It was every where. I was alone and after the 7th vomit I finally broke down and begged the Engineer to come home from class early. Up until this point I wasn't really sure what LE's signs for "Mama, I'm going to get sick, act quick" were. Now I know. And I also know to put a towel on myself, keep a bucket near by, and stay in one place. When the Engineer walked into our mini war zone he asked "Did you purposely let her get sick all over the house?"  And it kinda did look like that.

Just to make the weekend extra special, the Engineer and I got LE's cooties. I still haven't figured out how to take care of baby while being sick...except lots of cartoons.  I have a feeling this is only the start of family sickness, especially considering how often the girl gets sick while still being breastfed. I don't even want to think of what is going to happen when she weans.

Feeling better!