I try to be a good reader, but I'm just not. It's very difficult for me to find a book that takes me less than six months to finish. I realize this probably makes me sound dumb, but I just get bored easily. All this to say that I recently read a book that I finished in about 5 days. Now, I realize that it's not a very intellectually stimulating book, but it is a hilarious book that was emotionally stimulating for me, and sometimes that's more important!
"Baby Laughs" is written by Jenny McCarthy and is a follow-up to "Belly Laughs", which I didn't read, but now I want to. For anyone who has ever experienced the first year of motherhood, you will probably enjoy this read. I found myself crying from laughing so hard a lot of the time. Some of my favorite chapters include, "Nursing Nazi (bottle or boob)", "Rock Star Lullabies (noisy influences)", "Ouch My Udders Hurt (breastfeeding)", "Oh No, I Ran Out of Cottage Cheese. Wait I Can Just Scrape Some Off My Thighs (still fat)", "The WWE Baby Champion of the World (daddy playtime)". And these are just a few. There are actually 42 chapters, but they are all about 3-6 pages long. So it's an extremely fast read, plus it's just hard to put it down because it's so dang funny!
So, I highly recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a fast, easy and just fun read. I will give you fair warning though. Jenny is very crass throughout the entire book. Some of my favorite chapters I didn't list because of their titles. It's just her personality and one of the things she's famous for. And, I honestly wouldn't recommend this to anyone who hasn't had a baby because it will either gross you out, scare you, or it just won't be funny to you. But I think she says a lot of things that most new moms are thinking but don't want to admit. Plus I just love her sense of humor.
So take this for what it's worth. I just wanted to share with anyone who might be interested!
Saturday, June 11, 2005
Friday, June 10, 2005
Parent Proofing
Now that Elijah is crawling and trying to do some walking, it's time to start baby proofing the house. According to all the baby books and articles, I'm about four months too late on doing this. Apparently, I was supposed to take care of this by the time he was sitting up on his own. I think this is a little silly, personally. Elijah has been crawling for several weeks now but still hasn't attempted to open any drawers or cabinets where all the danger lives. And even if he did, there's not a whole lot of strength in those little 8 inch arms. Besides that, maybe I'm naive, but I don't usually just leave him in a room all alone to entertain himself. So, there's not a whole lot he can get into before I can stop him. I know many of you are saying, "just wait until he does get a little bigger and stronger, and can walk. It's better to go ahead and baby proof everything now." And, "just wait until you have more than one child. It's not as easy to keep an eye on two of them."
While these statements are true, I have decided to do the baby proofing as needed, as we go and as Elijah grows. Why? Because not only do these safety devices keep babies out of things, they also keep their parents out of things. So far, I have only put the little plastic covers on all of the outlets. And I haven't even put them on all of our outlets because they are so dang difficult to take off! I have only put them on the outlets in the rooms that Elijah is in the most. Since putting them on, I have had to vacuum twice and iron once. Both chores I really detest in the first place. Now I have to add an extra 10-15 minutes each onto the time it takes me to iron and vacuum because of these stupid outlet covers. And frankly, that extra 10-15 minutes can make a big difference in my day. It's almost enough to consider not doing them at all anymore. But somehow, that's not really an option.
I've heard that all of the drawer and cabinet "locks" are just as annoying and troublesome. So, until I feel that it's absolutely necessary, they're not being installed in my house. I know some of you are probably all worried now that Elijah is going to get into all sorts of stuff and get hurt or sick because of my sefishness. Not to worry. I am extremely careful and watchful of my little guy and nothing is more important to me than that. So, if it means I have to follow him around the house all day, carry him on my hip (both of which will help me burn more calories!) or stick him in his playpen for a little while, then that's okay with me. As long as it buys me a little more time to be able to cook without having to figure out how to get to my own dishes!
While these statements are true, I have decided to do the baby proofing as needed, as we go and as Elijah grows. Why? Because not only do these safety devices keep babies out of things, they also keep their parents out of things. So far, I have only put the little plastic covers on all of the outlets. And I haven't even put them on all of our outlets because they are so dang difficult to take off! I have only put them on the outlets in the rooms that Elijah is in the most. Since putting them on, I have had to vacuum twice and iron once. Both chores I really detest in the first place. Now I have to add an extra 10-15 minutes each onto the time it takes me to iron and vacuum because of these stupid outlet covers. And frankly, that extra 10-15 minutes can make a big difference in my day. It's almost enough to consider not doing them at all anymore. But somehow, that's not really an option.
I've heard that all of the drawer and cabinet "locks" are just as annoying and troublesome. So, until I feel that it's absolutely necessary, they're not being installed in my house. I know some of you are probably all worried now that Elijah is going to get into all sorts of stuff and get hurt or sick because of my sefishness. Not to worry. I am extremely careful and watchful of my little guy and nothing is more important to me than that. So, if it means I have to follow him around the house all day, carry him on my hip (both of which will help me burn more calories!) or stick him in his playpen for a little while, then that's okay with me. As long as it buys me a little more time to be able to cook without having to figure out how to get to my own dishes!
Wednesday, June 08, 2005
Already?!
As Elijah is nearing the one-year mark, I am hit with the inevitable question: "When will you have the next one?" Hmmm. This one makes me stop and pause a bit.
I love Elijah more than I ever could have imagined and I love being a mom, but I am not one of these moms that wants to just have one right after the other. There's nothing wrong with doing that, but honestly, that thought just overwhelms me. I need a good two and a half to three years between my little ones. And to me, it's still kind of crazy to even think of myself as a mom in the first place, much less a mom of two! It's kind of like the first couple of years that I was married. The thought of being "married" was so weird to me for the longest time. Now, it's hard to imagine my life without Gavin. So, I guess I'm still in the "honeymoon" part of parenthood. I'm enjoying this little guy to the fullest and I'll only be able to enjoy this "alone" time with him for such a short while before the next one comes along.
But, there are aspects of baby number two that are exciting to me. For instance, if we have a girl, it would be just a completely new experience for us (plus they're more fun to shop for!), and if we have another boy then we'd have a fun house full of boys! I know Elijah is going to be so fun to watch as a big brother to whoever comes along next, and a second one will just fill up our house with that much more fun and love.
So, if any of you are wondering when the next little Pate will come along, it will be at the right time for us as a family, and the right time for me as the one carrying and breastfeeding him/her! Right now we are thoroughly enjoying beautiful little Elijah.
I love Elijah more than I ever could have imagined and I love being a mom, but I am not one of these moms that wants to just have one right after the other. There's nothing wrong with doing that, but honestly, that thought just overwhelms me. I need a good two and a half to three years between my little ones. And to me, it's still kind of crazy to even think of myself as a mom in the first place, much less a mom of two! It's kind of like the first couple of years that I was married. The thought of being "married" was so weird to me for the longest time. Now, it's hard to imagine my life without Gavin. So, I guess I'm still in the "honeymoon" part of parenthood. I'm enjoying this little guy to the fullest and I'll only be able to enjoy this "alone" time with him for such a short while before the next one comes along.
But, there are aspects of baby number two that are exciting to me. For instance, if we have a girl, it would be just a completely new experience for us (plus they're more fun to shop for!), and if we have another boy then we'd have a fun house full of boys! I know Elijah is going to be so fun to watch as a big brother to whoever comes along next, and a second one will just fill up our house with that much more fun and love.
So, if any of you are wondering when the next little Pate will come along, it will be at the right time for us as a family, and the right time for me as the one carrying and breastfeeding him/her! Right now we are thoroughly enjoying beautiful little Elijah.
Thursday, June 02, 2005
Where Did My Baby Go?
Well, Elijah just had his 9 month check-up last week, and I realized two things while I was there. One, watching him get shots hasn't gotten any easier for either of us; and two, he's not the little baby I once knew.
There's something about sitting in the exam room waiting for the doctor to come in that makes me nostalgic. It's probably just the fact that you have to sit in a closed up room with not much to do while you and your baby just stare at eachother. He's trying to figure out where we are and why the walls are bright orange and you're trying to figure out just exactly why it takes so long for the doctor to come in. Either way, I find myself just watching Elijah and remembering what he was like the last time we were in this office. Last time I didn't have to make sure he didn't crawl off the examining table, last time I was still happily breastfeeding and was proud to tell the nurse that when she asked what kind of formula I used, and last time he wasn't at all interested in the weird circa 1975 wooden toys on the floor.
No, this visit was very different than the last ones. For the last nine months I had just been told to basically keep doing what I was doing. I mean, we added solid foods at around 5 months and had to start him on formula at around 6 months, but now I was being told something all-together different: that basically he is growing up. He has two new teeth that he was somehow keeping hidden from me until the doctor pointed them out, he has mastered crawling and is now trying to master standing and walking, and the real sign that he's growing up: I have to start weaning him off of the bottle. I never thought I would even care about that, but when the doctor told me that, it was like I saw the rest of Elijah's life flash before me; I all of a sudden realized how fast this was all going. No more bottle? Next thing I know he'll be going off to college! It sounds so melodramatic, but it's true.
While everyone else sees a cute little baby, I see a cute young boy who is already growing up too fast. So, on the advice of a couple of aunts who have recently graduating babies, I'm taking every opportunity that Elijah will allow me to sit and cuddle, hug and kiss him and smell his little head of hair.
There's something about sitting in the exam room waiting for the doctor to come in that makes me nostalgic. It's probably just the fact that you have to sit in a closed up room with not much to do while you and your baby just stare at eachother. He's trying to figure out where we are and why the walls are bright orange and you're trying to figure out just exactly why it takes so long for the doctor to come in. Either way, I find myself just watching Elijah and remembering what he was like the last time we were in this office. Last time I didn't have to make sure he didn't crawl off the examining table, last time I was still happily breastfeeding and was proud to tell the nurse that when she asked what kind of formula I used, and last time he wasn't at all interested in the weird circa 1975 wooden toys on the floor.
No, this visit was very different than the last ones. For the last nine months I had just been told to basically keep doing what I was doing. I mean, we added solid foods at around 5 months and had to start him on formula at around 6 months, but now I was being told something all-together different: that basically he is growing up. He has two new teeth that he was somehow keeping hidden from me until the doctor pointed them out, he has mastered crawling and is now trying to master standing and walking, and the real sign that he's growing up: I have to start weaning him off of the bottle. I never thought I would even care about that, but when the doctor told me that, it was like I saw the rest of Elijah's life flash before me; I all of a sudden realized how fast this was all going. No more bottle? Next thing I know he'll be going off to college! It sounds so melodramatic, but it's true.
While everyone else sees a cute little baby, I see a cute young boy who is already growing up too fast. So, on the advice of a couple of aunts who have recently graduating babies, I'm taking every opportunity that Elijah will allow me to sit and cuddle, hug and kiss him and smell his little head of hair.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)