Resolutions for the Next Baby

No, this is not a pregnancy announcement. I'm just writing down a few things I'd like to change or continue the second time around. Of course, these resolutions might not even work out with the next baby, but at least I have goals, right?

1. Learn how to nurse laying down. I tried this a few times with man-cub D but never could find a good position. However, I've heard that it's amazing for night-time feedings if the baby is co-sleeping, so maybe next time around...
2. Speaking of nursing, I also want to have the next baby used to nursing in public. Man-cub D got used to nursing in his quiet, isolated bedroom, and now it is impossible to nurse him anywhere else. And that doesn't really work out well when we want to go out for more than 4 hours at a time. 
3. Familiarize baby with the bottle. Man-cub D took a bottle until about 4 months when we temporarily stopped bottle feeding and then when we tried to re-introduce it, he refused. So for next baby, I don't want that happening.
4. Start sleep training earlier. We were still letting man-cub D dictate bedtime and night wakings up through 9 months. We should have set a bedtime long before that, but now I've learned. 
5. Not cloth diaper. Although we still have all of the supplies, so we'll see...

Things I'd like to continue the second time around:

1. Having baby sleep in our room for the first few months. It was so nice not to have to get out of bed every 2 hours during the newborn stage.
2. Slowly introducing foods. Man-cub D is allergic to oats, and I'm glad we introduced things slowly so we could identify his allergy quickly.
3. Play-dates! These are soooo needed, especially when babies start to become mobile and drive mamas crazy. Man-cub D is naturally social already, and I'd like to encourage that in the next baby.
4. Baby wearing. Man-cub D loves his carrier, and it was a lot easier to get things done when I was wearing him. Plus, less bulk to pack!
5. Swaddling and white noise really helped man-cub D sleep, so I'm hoping that will help with the next baby as well. But who knows? Maybe the next baby will love pacifiers and stuffed animals instead. 

Who Needs Toys When You Have...

Who needs fancy toys when you have these household items?

1. Canned clams (still in the can, of course)
2. Cloth breast pads
3. Milk caps
4. Sunlight
5. Cardboard boxes
6. Hair ties
7. Diaper rash cream tubes (so squishy!)
8. Tissues
9. Water bottles 
10. Ribbons
11. Spoons
12. Hangers
13. Shoes (bonus if there is dirt on the bottom!)

What Takes Away the Pain of Parenting

It had been a long week. We had just moved across the country and to top that off, man-cub J was teething again. He has four teeth coming in at the same time. When he is teething, he screams. Not just screams, but shrieks on the top of his lungs. Constantly. It's not so bad for an hour, but when it's for a week straight it starts to wear on you.

Our apartment was only half-way unpacked and I knew that I had a long day of unpacking and organizing in front of me. I was overwhelmed and frustrated. The day didn't go well and I snapped at my husband and child multiple times. I was not proud of myself at the end of the day.

I started going through the motions of putting man-cub J to bed. As I sat in the rocking chair feeding him his bottle, he looked into my eyes with unconditional love. It was a quiet, sweet moment. I suddenly felt very grateful for the life I was living. I was grateful to be a mama to my little boy and a wife to my loving husband. The pain of the day didn't feel so big anymore. I knew that the next day would go better if I kept this gratitude in my heart. And it did.

Getting A Man-Cub to Bed in 25 Simple Steps

1. Dim the lights to help baby realize it is nighttime.
2. Wrestle baby into pajamas. 
3. Realize you forgot to change baby's diaper.
4. Take pajamas off.
5. Wrestle baby out of old diaper.
6. Chase naked baby.
7. Distract baby with toy.
8. Put clean diaper on distracted baby.
9. Put pajamas back on baby.
10. Brush baby's teeth.
11. Use the brush to distract baby while sneaking in vitamins.
12. Take the toothbrush away from baby.
13. Console baby.
14. Coax baby into nursery with books.
15. Read every board book you own.
16. Re-read every board book you own.
17. Begin singing.
18. Baby realizes that this means bedtime.
19. Baby cries.
20. Pray that baby will sleep well tonight.
21. Rock baby.
22. Once baby is calm, put him gently in his crib.
23. Walk out as baby screams.
24. Wait several minutes.
25. Send spouse in to calm baby.

*Note: I've opted to skip a bath at bedtime because I already have enough steps to go through, and my man-cub gets way too excited when he bathes.

10 Reasons Why Little Boys are Actually Puppies

Ok, I know that little boys aren't ACTUALLY puppies and that they are about 100 times more difficult to take care of than a puppy, but sometimes the similarities are just uncanny.
For example:

1. They drool.
They drool so much. All. the. time. My little man-cub is currently working on a top tooth so the drool has reached faucet river-like proportions.

2. They beg for food at your feet.
Has this ever happened to you where you feed a dog food ONE TIME from the table and from then on they think they are entitled to your food forever after that? Well, it's the same with little boys. Man-cub J has been exploring new solid foods and so sometimes I'll feed him a little bit of what I'm eating. Last week I fed him pizza and he actually cried when I wouldn't give him any more. He's a pizza lover just like his father.

3. They love squeaky chew toys.
Sophie the Giraffe anyone? We all know they're just glorified, expensive chew toys. Babies love those things! Man-cub J doesn't have a giraffe, but he does have a little squeaky monkey. When you squeak it he gets the biggest smile on his face and then sticks it right in his drool-covered mouth.

4. They're not potty trained.
This one is pretty self-explanatory. I just hope potty training little J is easier than potty training our 12 year old dog...who still isn't really potty trained...

5. They cry in the middle of the night.
When my parents first got our dog, she had to sleep the night in a small dog kennel. She HATED it. She would cry and cry and it was the saddest little puppy cry you ever heard. Little boys are pretty much the same, except sometimes the crying isn't so cute anymore.

6. They are always happy to see you.
Do you know the feeling when your little one wakes up from a nap and you go in to get them and they see you and start smiling like you have an ice-cream cone in your hand? Well, it's the best. It definitely makes any "nap-time woes" worth it.

7. They ruin your furniture.
The more teeth babies grow, the more destructive they get. Luckily, man-cub J only has two teeth, but I know more are coming and that books, cords, and boxes will suffer from it.

8. They follow you around.
Man-cub J learned how to crawl just over a month ago. People told me that I would love my freedom once he learned how to crawl, but really, I feel like I've gained more freedom. I can walk into another room and call his name and have him follow me instead of having to pick him up and carry him room to room. My back thanks me. Or, I guess, him.

9. They're cute as ever.
I really believe that puppies and babies are the cutest creatures in the whole world. I honestly don't know which are cuter. They both just reek of cuteness.

10. They love you unconditionally.
I am not a perfect mother. Not even close. But even though I screw up every day, my baby still loves me. He still smiles when he sees me. He still follows me around from room to room. He still gives me hugs and slobbery kisses. It gives me hope that I'm doing something right. It makes me grateful that I get to be his mama.

The Nighttime Rule

It was a stupid argument, really. He was mad that I was repeating things. I was mad that he wasn't responding. It was 2am and we had both gotten two hours of sleep. Our little man-cub was to blame. He had decided that he wouldn't sleep from 7pm- midnight and then he would wake up every two hours after that.

My husband and I had both gotten to the point where we were snapping at each other every time we heard our man-cub cry. And it was all due to lack of sleep. I was too tired to realize I would repeat things, and he was too tired to bother responding. We would have the same type of argument every night. So one morning (after we had both gotten enough sleep to be coherent) we set The Nighttime Rule: anything we said at night, we wouldn't take offense from and we didn't have to apologize for in the morning.

And it worked. We still snapped at each other at night, but we each knew that the other person didn't really mean it--it was the sleep deprivation talking. So instead of having a round of apologies in the morning for saying things we didn't remember saying, instead we just focused on the fact that we survived the night, and we still loved each other.