Spoonful Test Blog

Friday, September 27, 2013

Insane in the brain

Before I got pregnant, I didn't believe in pregnancy brain.  It was like something women made up to excuse their mistakes.  Santa Claus is believable.  Pregnancy brain?  Nope.

And then, BAM.  Baby in my uterus.

And suddenly, I couldn't remember things...which is strange, because I have a creepy good memory.  I remember peoples' names after meeting them once, and I usually remember what they were wearing when I met them.  It's weird, I know.  But when I was pregnant, my superpower left me.  It was a very sad time.

So...I became a believer, obviously.  Pregnancy brain is real.

People started to tell me how much worse it would become after the baby came.  Oh good!  I'm going to be like this forever!

I'm happy to report that my brain is pretty much back to normal, at least on the creepy name memory front.  I am sad to report that I have definitely become more absentminded since Gibson was born.

I put Gibson down for a nap this morning...hugged him, kissed him, turned on his white noise and music, and left.  He was crying, but usually he stops in a minute or two and falls asleep.  At some point, he did get quiet.  Success!  He's asleep!  And then I heard what sounded like someone banging on the walls.  Then came the screaming.

So I went into his room...and it turns out that I had left his light on.  It was super bright, and he was SUPER sad about it.  He fell asleep within five minutes after the light was turned off.  

Mommy brain strikes again.  Darn it.

Thursday, September 19, 2013

Talks with babies

Gibson is starting to "talk" more, so we have lots of conversations during the day.  My goal, of course, is for him to say "mama" before he says anything else.  But so far, my efforts have not been fruitful.  That could be because he hates me.  Or because he's only six months old.  One of the two.

Here are some examples of actual conversations that Gibson and I have had:

Mom: Gibson, can you say "mama?"
Gibson: *giggle*
M: "Maaaaaama."
G: Buh...bleh...*dinosaur noise*
M: Gibson!  "Mama!"  Can you say it?  "Mamamamamamama."
G: *high-pitched squeal that sounds like two pieces of styrofoam rubbing together*
M: Ok, then.  Can you say "dada?"
G: Blehhhhh.
M: "Dada!"  It will make daddy happy!
G: Booooffffffffff.
M: You're obviously a genius.

M: Hi, Gibson!
M: What are you doing?
G: Ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff.
M: Can you say "mama?"
G: Boooofffff. *spit bubbles*
M: Can you say "Ellie?"
M: Alright then.

G: Bloof, boof, bleh.
M: Oh yeah?  Tell me more!
G: *silence*
M: You're done talking?  I want to hear your story!
G: *silence*
M: Fine, I didn't want to talk to you anyway.
G: *giggle*

So there you go.  A peek into our day.  Needless to say, I'm pretty excited for Gibson to start actually talking someday.

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

I wish I remembered

When my son was born, I was under the influence of many, many drugs.  ...the kind they give you when you have a c section, of course.  Not the other kind that you buy on the street.

I don't remember much about meeting Gibson, but I do remember Danny saying, "It looks like a boy to me!" and seeing Gibson's chin.  There was no denying that he had my husband's chin.

And then the doctors asked what his name would be and I said, "I think Gibson Cole."  I'm glad he wasn't a girl, because we had four names chosen for a girl...and in my drugged-up state, I probably would have chosen a name without consulting with Danny.

I vaguely remember being rolled by the nursery window, where Danny held Gibson up for me to see.  I remember getting really excited that he looked just like Danny, but the nurses didn't care.  I tried to tell them how happy I was that Danny had a mini-me, but they only cared about rolling me into recovery.

Recovery is a complete blur.  My nurse asked for oxytocin to put in my IV, and I freaked out.  I remembered what Pitocin had done to me in labor, and there was no way I could go through that again...I didn't realize that it wouldn't induce contractions.  But I still freaked out.

At some point (almost two hours after he was born), Danny brought Gibson into my room.  I don't really remember this.  I remember sweating more than I have ever sweat in my life.  I remember being numb from the shoulders down.  I remember breastfeeding for the first time; I couldn't feel it because I was numb.  I remember our doula being there...and I guess she took pictures, because there are some.  And I'm really sweaty in them.

Like, really really sweaty.  No one will ever see those pictures, I'm pretty sure.

Our entire hospital stay is a vague memory.  I don't remember much of it at all, and that makes me sad.  I wish that I could remember meeting my sweet baby.  I wish that the memory of our first moment together wasn't obscured by a haze of drugs.

I'm so glad for cameras.  I'm happy that I have photographic evidence that I did, in fact, meet my son for the first time.  I look happy (albeit very high) in the photos, and so does Danny.  I just wish that I remembered.

Luckily, I have a lifetime to make memories with my boy.  He's healthy, and he's not still hanging out in my uterus.  What more could I ask for?

Inside my uterus. 

Outside my uterus!  Much cuter.

Monday, September 16, 2013

Baby Wars

The internet is a fantastic resource.  It has helped me to learn, keep in touch with friends, and even make new friends.  It holds a world of knowledge (hello, Wikipedia!) and can be a really great thing.

The internet has also made it easier to compare.  We compare our lives with those of our Facebook friends, we compare our jobs with people on discussion boards, we compare our mommy skills with those of other moms in mommy forums.  It's never ending, and it isn't healthy.

Between mommy forums, Facebook, Pinterest, and blogs, there are an awful lot of babies that come across my computer screen everyday.  It has become way too easy to compare Gibson to these babies.  I mean, I know my kid is the cutest one in the world, so there's no comparison there.  But developmentally, it is hard not to compare babies.

Let's use Gibson's newest skill as an example.  He has started to do Beyonce's "Single Ladies" dance within the last few days.

*Sidenote: this is seriously something he has started to do.  He waves his hand back and forth all sassy-like.  Like this:

Anyway.  Back to my example.  So, let's say that Babycenter says that doing the "Single Ladies" dance is a developmental milestone that most babies reach when they're 8 months old.  This is common knowledge; it's even in the What to Expect books!  Every new mom knows that their baby should start doing this around 8 months.

But Gibson is only 6 months old!  He's obviously very smart, and basically a super baby.

So I post on the Babycenter forums about my genius child and his dancing skillz.  All of the other moms with six-month-old babies start doubting their babies' intelligence and physical prowess.  Suddenly, half of the posts on Babycenter are moms freaking out, saying, "Is my baby the only one who isn't doing the 'Single Ladies' dance yet?  Is my baby behind?  Do I need to ask my pediatrician about this???  HE'LL NEVER GET INTO CORNELL IF HE CAN'T EVEN DO THE SINGLE LADIES DANCE!"

Before Facebook and discussion forums and blogs, I wouldn't have been able to broadcast the fact that my baby is a super genius to such a large group of people.  I might have told our families and some close friends about his amazing dance skills, but that's it.  Other moms wouldn't have been able to compare their baby's developmental milestones to Gibson, because they never would have known.

What would it be like if we couldn't compare our babies to their peers on the internet?  Would we relax a little about them meeting their developmental milestones?  Would they be able to develop at their own pace without mom pushing them to do it sooner?

Yes.  I think so.

I am definitely guilty of comparing Gibson to other babies.  It's hard not to!  When I see that other babies his age are crawling, starting to talk, rolling over consistently, ballroom dancing...it's really hard not to wonder whether he is "okay."

But shouldn't I celebrate every little thing he does?  I mean, he was born half a year ago...that's not a long time.  And when he was born he could poop, cry, sleep, and eat.  That's it.  Now he can sit up, laugh, smile, roll over...isn't that amazing?  He has accomplished more in six months than I'll accomplish in the next two years.  And he will continue to grow and learn over the next six months...so why do I wish that he would just do it faster?

But he already is!  He has learned so much in his short life.  Every baby is super baby, even if they don't meet developmental milestones early, or even on time.  Babies start out being able to do very little...we should celebrate every tiny thing they accomplish, no matter when they do it.  I have found myself thinking, "Well, Gibson can sit up, but he can't crawl yet."  So what?  Should I downplay Gibson's accomplishments just because other babies have accomplished "more?"

I understand that there is a time to be concerned about your baby's development...but that concern shouldn't be affected by what other babies are doing.  Every baby develops at a different pace.  When Gibson is in kindergarten will it matter that he did the "Single Ladies" dance before the developmental timeline said he should?  Not at all.  So why should it matter now?

We moms also have to remember that, because every baby is different, every mom has a different idea of what is "normal."  For me, it seems like every baby should start dancing like Beyonce at around 6 months, because that's what my baby did.  It can be hard not to project my own ideas of what babies "should" be doing onto other kids, but we really need to try not to.  I shouldn't expect another child to develop on the same timeline that Gibson does, just like I shouldn't expect Gibson to develop just like another baby.

So here's what we should all do: celebrate our babies' milestones, and congratulate other babies on theirs.  Without comparing.  Without thinking, "That baby is just now doing the "Single Ladies" dance?  Gibson did that months ago!  He's obviously a genius" or "Wow, I can't believe that baby is ballroom dancing already!  Gibson must be really behind...we'll have to work on that."  Babies grow up too fast; why push them to grow up faster?

If your baby is six months old and isn't dancing as well as Gibson quite yet, don't worry!  It'll be okay, I promise.  He'll dance in due time.  In the meantime, he's probably working on meeting more useful milestones that Gibson hasn't yet...like cleaning his room.  And massaging your feet.

Wouldn't that be nice?

Friday, September 13, 2013

Mr. Grumpybutt


You're right, Anne Hathaway.  It's totally unfair.







It's not really awkward.  It's a lovely song, really.

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Who let the dogs out?

I was taking pictures of Gibson today (what else is new?), and after I finished, Ellie laid down next to him.  So I had to continue taking pictures...darn!


I'm so glad that we have Ellie.  Gibson loves her so much, and we do, too!  We were told multiple times that once the baby came, we wouldn't love Ellie anymore.  Pardon my language, but that's poppycock.  Ellie's role in our family has definitely changed since Gibson came along, but we don't love her any less.

Ellie definitely seems more annoying now...she refuses to leave Gibson alone, and is always in the way.  I fully expect Gibson's first words to be, "Ellie, NO!"  But we love her.  She's part of our family, and I will never treat her as any less.  If anything, we love her more now; I mean, if she wasn't here, we would actually have to wipe Gibson's spit up off the floor.  Blech.

Monday, September 9, 2013

It's a cheese-filled life for me!


This is my life now.

-Kiss a drool-covered mouth
-Get spit up in my mouth




Sunday, September 8, 2013

Six months old!

Guess who will be 6 months old tomorrow?




Gibson loves:
-Ellie.  She's his favorite thing in the entire world
-Any toy that makes noise
-Biting me with his teeth.  Tiny vampire?  Probably.
-Music...thank goodness!
-Sitting up.  He's a pro now!
-Waking up from naps
-Trying to drink from our glasses
-Pulling my glasses off my face
-Looking at the baby in the mirror
-Taking showers

Gibson hates:
-Being on his tummy.
-Being tired or hungry
-Tipping over when he's sitting up



And now for some six month pictures!


Friday, September 6, 2013

Curiouser and curiouser...

Babies are very special little creatures.  They have huge heads (SUPER huge, in my son's case), weirdly short arms, and they have a power over adults that just can't be explained.  And once they grow out of the lump-on-the-floor stage, they start developing a personality...and sometimes it's just weird.

Gibson is a strange little baby.  He has some quirks that have started recently that make me smh!

smh=shake my head in txt spk, lol rofl

He has, in the past day or two, started to chew on my big toe.  If he sees it next to him, he lunges for it and takes a big bite.  It really tickles, until it hurts.  And he doesn't seem to care whether I'm hurt...he just wants to chew on my toe.  Weird.

Gibson is enthralled by my glasses.  He will lovingly gaze into my eyes and remove my glasses...and then stick them down his throat and gag.  It's lovely.  But not as lovely as when he rips them from my face in a fit of rage; that's super fun!

When we feed him a bottle, Gibson doesn't eat nicely.  He has to punch his bottle over and over with his left hand until it goes flying from his mouth, and then he screams.  When the bottle goes back in his mouth, he repeats the process.  It's exhausting.

Gibson is fascinated by drinks.  If I'm drinking something from a glass, he tries to grab it out of my hands.  And if he gets it, he sucks on the rim...unless there's a straw.  In that case, he bites on the straw for a bit and then shoves it down his throat and gags.  When I remove a glass of water from the living room, he screams.  The only thing that motivates him to try and crawl is a glass.  I have actually started hiding it when I need to get a drink...I go to the kitchen, drink really quickly, and come back to the living room and pretend like nothing happened.  It's getting a little ridiculous!

At bedtime, we put Gibson in a nighttime diaper, put on his sleeper, feed a bottle, and then snuggle a little before putting him in the crib.  Once he's in the crib, we hand him his blankie...which he promptly puts over his face.  One of these days he's going to give me a heart attack, I swear.  We sneak back into his room once he's asleep to remove the blanket from his face, don't worry!  And there are holes in the blanket, which makes me feel a tiny bit better.  But that's the only way he'll sleep.  *sigh*

When he's tired, Gibson closes his eyes and thrashes his head from side to side.  At some point he'll just stop abruptly and be asleep.  It's so strange.

Gibson likes to blow bubbles in his spit up.  Nasty.

My favorite quirk these days is when Gibson plays with my hair.  Sometimes he yanks it when I'm tickling him, but a lot of the time he'll lay in my lap, gaze at my hair, and run his fingers through it.  He doesn't pull or anything...just plays with it.  It's super sweet, and I hope he never stops!

...he plays with Ellie's whiskers in the same way.  He also grabs fistfuls of her skin and pulls, and yanks on her collar, and pulls on her ears.  I'm glad she's a sweet doggy who won't bite my baby.

So there you go!  Some of Gibson's quirks!  To those of you reading this (there might not be any!), what kind of quirks do your babies have?  Or pets, if you don't have babies.  Or neighbors, if you don't have pets?

Also, the word "curious."  It's strange, right?  Just look at it.  And say it over and over.  Weird.

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Let's get back on schedule!

I, like most humans, am a creature of habit.  I thrive when I have a schedule.  I like to know what's happening.

Having a newborn was, to say the least, hard for me.

Newborns don't have schedules.  They don't follow a prescribed timeline of when to eat, sleep, cry, poop...they just do whatever they want.  They're unpredictable.  And I didn't like it.

The first two or three weeks of Gibson's life are a blur.  They were, without a doubt, the hardest weeks of my life so far.  Gibson didn't sleep at night; he liked screaming instead.  I felt completely out of control and unorganized...I would forget to eat, sleep until 11:00 in the morning, and I had no idea what I was doing.

But what new mom does?

Once Gibson's sleep got sorted out a little, the colic started.  He did sleep more at night, but he also screamed all day long.  All freaking day.  I cried a lot, too.  I tried feeding him more, using different formula, bouncing on the exercise ball.  He just screamed.  He screamed himself to sleep, only to wake up 45 minutes later screaming again.  It was exhausting.  There was no semblance of order in our days...they consisted solely of me rocking, bouncing, feeding, and shushing.  And crying.  Lots of crying.

I learned about the EASY routine when Gibson was around three months old.  EASY stands for "Eat, Activity, Sleep, You time."  Gibson did better sleeping right after a bottle, so we changed it to AESY.  He would wake up, play, eat, and sleep.  And then repeat.  This helped so much, because I knew what was coming next.  I may not have known what time things were happening, but I at least had an idea of what he wanted.  Because I could meet his needs better, Gibson cried less.  And that's all I wanted.

At some point, Gibson's routine became EAESY, because he could stay awake longer.  We have always let Gibson determine his routine; if he wanted to sleep before a second bottle, he went to sleep.  If he wanted to eat earlier, he ate.  Gibson is the boss around here, people.

Now, we have a pretty solid schedule.  I still let Gibson take the lead, but if it were up to him, he would never sleep...so I have to step in sometimes.  I keep track of what he does during the day because I'm a control freak.

Gibson now eats every three hours or so, and is usually not awake for more than two hours at a time.  If I catch him yawning or rubbing his eyes, he goes in his crib.  If he isn't asleep within twenty minutes or so, I'll get him back up until he acts tired again.  Gibson is so much easier to deal with when he isn't overtired, so I make sure he doesn't get that way!

On the weekends, it's much harder to keep our schedule.  Gibson refuses to nap when he's away from home unless he's ridiculously tired, so he gets really cranky.  And then I get cranky, and Danny gets cranky.  And then we're a family of cranks.  And no one likes that.  Not at all.

I am so glad that Gibson is out of the colicky newborn stage.  And I'm glad to have a schedule now...it makes for a much happier mommy.  But sometimes I miss the snuggles from my brand new baby.

I mean really.  So snuggly.

And now the boss is awake from a very short nap.  Duty calls!

...duty.  tee hee.

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Baby shower

I hope you all had a fun Labor Day!  We celebrated by staying in our pajamas and not showering.  And watching a lot of television while Gibson was napping.

I've always been intrigued by how everyone has different standards of personal hygiene.  My husband showers every day without fail (except yesterday, of course).  He is of the opinion that a shower will make you feel better if you're sick...so when I don't feel well, his advice is to just take a shower.  Men.

I am not someone who takes a shower every day.  To me, it feels like a waste of time...not only do I have to spend time in the shower, but then I have to dry off, get dressed, put on moisturizer, and then my hair is wet for the rest of the day.  Blech.  And I have to re-apply makeup.

...yeah, I'm one of those people.  I wear the same makeup for more than one day.  Sue me.

Anyway, I'm not a shower fiend like my husband.  I'm not going to tell you how often I shower, because that's personal information.  And also, you might be grossed out.

One night last week, Gibson needed a bath, and I really needed to shower.  And we had very little time.  So I just took him in the shower with me.  I was expecting there to be lots of screaming, because he LOVES bath time, and the shower is different.  And he doesn't always like different things.

To my surprise, he loved it!  We had so much fun looking at the shower head and getting water in our eyes...it was basically the best day ever.  If you haven't looked directly at your shower head lately, you should.  It's amazing.  The most amazing thing in the world, according to Gibson.  I'm pretty sure he could stare at that thing all day.

Taking a shower with Gibson is one of my favorite things now.  Seeing the wonder in his eyes as water rains down onto his tummy is the best.  He also tries to grab the streams of water, which is really hilarious, because it's water, you dumb kid!  You can't grab it!  Hahaha.  He doesn't even know.

In conclusion, showering with Gibson is great.  It saves time and water, and you should all try it.  But with your own kid.  If you're anything like me, it might encourage you to shower more often.

Also, I should mention that I'm not a gross person, I promise.  I always smell good...just not as good as my husband.

Monday, September 2, 2013

If I could turn back time...

Yesterday I made a list of the baby things I would totally buy again.  Today's list is the complete opposite: things I wish I hadn't bought.  And a few things that I'm glad I didn't  buy.  If you read this list and then choose to buy something from it for your child, I will not judge you for it.  Except in my head.  :)

Let's begin:

1.  Newborn clothing

Gibson was a big ole baby.  Newborn clothes never fit him...and I can't imagine that any of our future children will be small enough to fit in them.

2.  Moby wrap

See how happy ^that baby is to be in the Moby wrap?  Yeah, Gibson was never that happy about it.  When he was super tiny he would sleep in it, but I was constantly nervous about him slipping out of it because it never felt secure enough.  Also, it was a pain to put on because it is, essentially, a mile-long piece of fabric.  Mine definitely never looked as nice as the pictures on the box...it looked more like a crumpled up toga with a baby shoved inside.  No wonder I got a lot of strange looks at Walmart...

3.  Expensive bottles

Before Gibson was born, my plan was to breastfeed.  And in order to breastfeed, I would need great bottles so that he wouldn't be confused switching back and forth between my boobs and the bottle.  So I bought several different kinds of very expensive bottles.  And then I wasn't able to breastfeed...and Gibson hated the expensive bottles.  So I was stuck with a bunch of fancy bottles, and when I sold them, I didn't get as much money for them as I had paid.  And I was sad.  The end.

4.  Bouncer

We bought this bouncer thinking that it would be a nice place to put Gibson down so we could get things done.  HA!  We spent an awful lot of time putting Gibson in the bouncer, taking him out, putting him back in, taking him back out.  Not productive.  Gibson is the kind of child who lets us know what he wants...and he didn't want this bouncer.  Not at all.

5.  Crib bedding

This is something that we're glad we didn't buy!  I just don't think crib bedding is necessary.  It's super adorable, yes, but you can't use any of it!  Bumpers are unsafe for babies, comforters are unsafe for babies...so you're left with a fitted crib sheet.  A very expensive fitted crib sheet.  So we, being the frugal-minded people we are, bought a few cheap fitted crib sheets...and that's it.  So far, the only time I have missed having an adorable bedding set is when I see pictures of Pinterest nurseries...and then I remember that I don't have the time or money to create something so beautiful, so I get over it.

6.  Baby shoes

Baby shoes are another thing that we're glad we didn't invest in.  Gibson doesn't walk yet...why does he need shoes?  Socks are fine, bare feet are even better!  Baby shoes are way too expensive, and he won't fit in them very long.  Also, I would prefer that his feet didn't stink quite yet.  I'm sure I'll get enough of that when he's a teenager.  Blech.

...in the interest of full disclosure, I should mention that we did order a pair of soft-soled baby shoes this morning.  They were on super sale, and I bought them too big so that he can wear them outside when he starts walking.  Boom.

Sunday, September 1, 2013

I'd do it again


Things that I would totally buy again if I had to:

1.  Ergo carrier


2.  Evenflo Exersaucer Jump and Learn Jumper


3.  My Little Legs legwarmers


4.  Cloth diapers!


5.  Formula dispenser
Parent's Choice Powdered Formula Dispenser

6.  VTech Baby Monitor


7.  Convertible Mini Crib




