Monday, June 25, 2012

Consumerist Mama

Ever since I signed up for the Amazon Mom program, and found myself heavily pregnant and with no free time or energy, I have been using the hell out of Amazon. I used it for free shipping on Christmas presents, my baby registry, my wedding registry, and all sorts of last minute and staple items for the home and for baby. I know that there are some workplace conflicts at differing Amazon warehouses, and I support the workers, but damn if this website isn't handy. Also, as a new mom sometimes I am just laying around with baby at naptime and BOOM! ZAP! WOW! I get an idea. An idea of a product that will change everything. Make my life so complete, easier, more efficient. As if. Here's a quick listing of these spontaneous products that did or did not improve my life.

World Map Art Decal - This was actually a really good find and easier than wallpapering a map onto the wall. For baby nursery.

Pledge Fabric Sweeper - I keep thinking that the next pet hair sweeper contraption that I get is actually going to work. You know what I think might work? Duct tape. But I also know it will leave a lovely adhesive film over everything. Sigh.

Vitamin D Drops for Baby - every time I go to the doctor, I swear its something new I have to get at Walgreen's. This I refused to pay full retail for and found a good price online. Walgreen's got me on the Milk of Magnesia, the infant Tylenol, the water bottle, the Lotrimin, etc etc etc.

Mother's Milk Tea - another reco from the pediatrician. This stuff doesn't taste bad, but 5-6 cups a day? Who has time for this with a needy newborn? Oh I think I'll just sit down and have my 4th cup of tea today. Yeah right. I ended up brewing big potfuls of it and putting it in a pitcher in the fridge. But now I'm over the taste and can't tell if its really helping. Have 5 more boxes to go.

Gripe Water for Colic - have no idea if this works, but in her 4-6 week stage when she was really fussy at night (and probably hungry as this was before we started supplementing regularly) I would put a little in her last bottle of the night. It doesn't come out too often anymore since we brought the swaddle back.

Nursing Bra - these actually go on really tight at first but I like them a lot. So I bought one and then quickly turned around and got two more. Don't get white though, too easily stained.

Key Hooks - don't wait around all day for your ADD husband to go get the key hooks. We have a baby, a dog and two cats who like to bat shit around the house. Put some freaking key hooks up in your joint.

Baby Bath Towel - how can I wash my baby without her own towel? Don't bother. This towel is not softer than the towels you already have. She loves bath time but hates being dried and has no idea there is a cute frog on the towel. I should just use my TJ Maxx towels on her.

Infant Car Seat Insert - this is going to solve all our problems! The reason why she hates the car and the stroller is because she's swimming in them. This will make her feel snuggly and secure! While that might be true, it didn't make her like the car or the stroller any better. What she needed to do was get a bit older to the point where she can see out the window or out the stroller.

Chore Magnets - I will stop feeling like an overworked housewife if I can just get M to visually SEE what I need for him to do around the house. I know I'm here all day but it doesn't mean I have time to do it. And since they are the same chores (recycling, litter box, vacuum) I just made an E list and an M list and move the chores around. "Be nice" and "help mom" also included. Missing: the word "mop."

Weekly Wipe Erase Board - instead of using the ipad app for babies (it was too hard to get it open and closed) I thought I'd get a handle on her schedule and food intake by keeping notes. After a week and a half of careful note taking I felt I had a handle. On how much she ate at least. She has a 'schedule' until about 1pm and then its anything goes. So I stopped using this for now but I can see it being handy again when she's in school or even sooner if we join playgroups or something. And yes, it looked totally OCD there for a while "7p-BF FAIL 5 OZ Form" / "9-9.15 nap" / "9.45 Mom bkdwn." Jokes!

Pilates Ball - One of M's workmates told me she spent many months bouncing her baby girl in the carrier while sitting on a workout ball. After two months of dancing in the Bjorn I thought I would give it a go. And I'm sitting on it this very moment with a sleeping baby in the carrier. Some of the reviews warned that the measuring tape that comes with it was the wrong size, and indeed mine was. So I just kinda eyeballed it and blew it up until firm enough. Other reviews warn that it blew apart after one use so I'm ready for that at any moment, but its been a few weeks and so far so good. Bonus: other kids visiting the house love it too.

Bottle Brush - My friend C, who has a niece in D.C., insisted that we needed a bottle brush. So I hurried up and ordered this well reviewed bottle brush. Which I never use as our bottles are wide mouthed. It did inspire M to wash bottles though so that was a benefit. Also C bought us the grass dry rack thing at Target, where we line up all our precious baby bottles and caps and nipples. A good combo to get dad inspired to clean.

Ergo Baby Carrier - the Pièce de résistance! Since I am a baby wearer, the proud mam of a baby who loves (has) to be carried about half of her waking life, I was advised that this carrier would be great for my back. After babies get to be about 12-14 lbs the old design Baby Bjorns will be horrid for your back and neck. I was so excited to get it, read almost all 300+ reviews on amazon while I waited nearly an entire week for it to arrive. And....she doesn't really like it. I can get her in there and she cries pretty loudly and then promptly falls asleep. But I think she's just too small and I don't want to get the infant insert because at 12 lbs she's close. I'll keep trying but am comforted by the fact that they can use this right up to and through toddlerhood as it converts to a back carrier too.

And...taking us right up to today:

Snugabunny Bouncer Seat - my friend P has this for her little boy and swears by it. I tried out baby A in it last night and she was so comfy she sat in silence for 1/2 hr stretches at a time, and even crapped her pants in it, requiring P to wash the padding! Am desperate for her to have a little more independence at some point during the day, so for the cost of a meal out at our neighborhood grille, I'm going to try this and put the swing away, which she now associates with me just putting her somewhere safe so I can make a bottle. Which is what I do with it.

Wish me luck with the last one because I TOTALLY NEED IT TO CHANGE MY LIFE.

E

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Single Mom For The Weekend

When I first met M, he was pretty anti-kids. The thought of being burdened with them made him viscerally react, shiver, and make strange faces. This was until I told him I couldn't really be with someone long term who completely shunned the idea. So he stopped making faces at least. But he still felt that it should be illegal for them to fly on airplanes. Unless they were ours. Then it would be ok. Because it was the dictatorship of M. This is a typical thought process for him.

So when we talked about finally having kids, I assured him that he would still be able to do the things he loved - namely racing vintage motorcycles. Timing was bad but we made it work. He had been roped into volunteering for a program that helped teach high school kids how to build a vintage racing bike, and this project started at the end of my pregnancy and finished up when the baby was about a month and a half old. So there were quite a few nights there toward the end when I was home alone with the baby, being very understanding about deadlines and parts missing and vendors who didn't come through etc etc.

There were two local races that he decided to hit, in order to be qualified for the best venue which is in October in Alabama. I agree that this racetrack is the most beautiful, well attended and a good time, cos I was there two years ago. The only problem was that these two local races were back to back weekends. I had thought, in my crazy pregnancy stage, that the baby and I would join him for the first one in Elkhart Lake, a beautiful little town in Wisconsin. And for the second weekend I would just jump on a plane and go to Maine to visit a friend. And then reality hit. I have a TWO MONTH OLD. Who hates the car. Who randomly has crying fits. She is tiny. And we can't do any of this right now.

So despite the fact that I was looking at two weekends home alone, he didn't change any plans, nor did I directly ask him to. I called in my troops - my bestie came from Ohio with her two adorable daughters and we all camped out in the house the first weekend and had a blast. The second weekend was a bit trickier - I had my girlfriends come around but I was really alone for some of those sunset crying jags that she has. Three days at 24 hours a day is a really long shift. You wake up in the morning, hopefully armed with a bit of good night's sleep (she was kind to me in this respect at least) and you just brace for the day and hope for the best. Mornings are usually good as its the only time where I've really worked out any sort of schedule. After her first nap it's anything goes. You might get another nap, a long one or a short one, or you might not. She might get fussy, not want the carrier, or the stroller. It might be too hot to do anything outside anyway so you have to play in the house. There's no relief coming at 5.30 or 6. You just have to keep on going. And she tends to fuss from 6-10pm, usually not really going to sleep until midnight, so that's another really long shift. I'm dancing her in the baby bjorn in front of the stereo thinking about how I will tell her about this some day, and hopefully remember the songs that got her to sleep the quickest. And then I watch a movie on the edge of the couch because she doesn't like it when you lean back. But she's asleep, and quiet, and so sweet that I'll take it.

Single moms get my R.E.S.P.E.C.T.  Sing it sista Aretha. But I would totally move grandma in if it were me. Doing it alone was a big mistake, and way too much work. I did ok, but it wasn't worth all the frustration (and cursing at my MIA husband). Next time I won't be as brave.

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Little Help From My Friends

Never has this song title made more sense. With M starting his race season, and cashing in on our wedding vows to "support each other in adventures" I find myself needing to call in the troops. Between him finishing the race bike with the "delinquents" as I call them (his volunteer project) and then working on it overtime in his own shop because, let's face it, they're just teenagers not race bike mechanics, and then actually loading up and going to the races, I've found...I've needed a little help around the house.

Biggest shout out goes to my local girls C & S so are so in love with the baby it doesn't take much for me to get them scheduled in. They've spent many a countless weeknight or Saturday afternoon here at home with me and baby A cooing, walking, and cuddling her as she gets through her newborn grumps. S has been trying out new recipe ideas on us, to M's delight when he gets home late from the shop.

My best friend R actually packed up her giant SUV from Ohio with her two girls, favorite blankets and pillows, tons of toys and DVDs and lots of good natured excitement and headed to Chicago last weekend to keep us company. They're 6 and 4 - just the right age to have a sense of adventure, but not care that the digs were not fancy. They both happily slept on the floor of the nursery while their mom took the tiny daybed. We had a blast, and it just felt like Christmas to have them here in my own house.

My writing group partner Z often emails to see if I need to get out for a walk, so I bjorn Little A up and we head out to a local park with her 4 year old so I can pick her brain about traveling with babies, babysitters and other matters. My old roommate B will stop by and we will marvel at how much our lives have changed in less than a year. P with her own boy down the street supplied me with stew and fresh bread and salad in the early days, and sends me notes and lunch and dinner invitations, which we are going to start working on this week.

And my own mom is so enamored with baby A she is coming back for another week long visit at the end of the month. She hasn't visited me in YEARS prior to little angel showing up. Ahh the things babies do to grandparents! I think its helped our relationship a lot, for her to see how good I am at mothering, and how good my relationship with M is (and how natural he is with the baby). I daresay she's a bit impressed, and thankfully, comfortable here. I'll take it. 

I'm so glad I got over my aversion to asking people for help. But with a baby this cute, it doesn't seem too much of a stretch.