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Kids/Parenting

Best things about babies

In the beginning, nearly everything about babies is wonderful. A few months in, of course, and the novelty has worn off. Give it another year, and suddenly you miss nearly everything about the baby stage.

So before I forget too many of them, here are some of my favorite things about babies.

  • The sweet smell of baby! (And no, I don’t mean diapers!)
  • Fuzzy, downy hair, especially right after it’s been washed and dried.
  • Wide eyes taking in everything.
  • Tiny fingers, toes, ears, nose, mouth—and clothes.
  • Sweet, peaceful sleep (right up until I get a neck cramp)
  • Unfettered, unabashed smiles, happy squeals and cheerful posturing—especially the sheer joy at just seeing Mommy or Daddy.
  • The quiet moments.
  • Baby babbling.
  • The delight of discovering hands, then feet.

What are your favorite things about the baby stage?

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Kids/Parenting

My sweet little turtle

Rebecca, unfortunately, seems to be pathologically incapable of sleeping on her back. No matter how many times I read the SIDS studies to her, it just doesn’t seem to sink in. So, to keep the family peace, we let her sleep on her tummy.

However, sometimes she’s not quite content to just peacefully slip into dreamland. Instead, she squirms into a bit of a frenzy—especially when, as has happened a lot more frequently lately, her squirming rolls her onto her side or, heaven forbid, onto her back.

This is her cue to scream bloody murder.

Finally I realized what the problem is. My sweet little girl rolls onto her back and gets upset because she can’t get back to her comfortable sleep position.

She is, in fact, a turtle.

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Kids/Parenting

Yes, please!

Sleeping is slowly getting better. Of course, it can only get better after one night in particular last week (let’s not get into details, but leave it at the fact that Ryan, Rebecca and I weren’t asleep until after 5) (yes, in the morning). Thankfully, my in-laws were here to take care of Hayden while Ryan and I tried to sleep it off.

This morning, Rebecca woke me up with her customary grunting and snuffling (and a fist or two in the back). I rolled over to look at her and asked, “Are you hungry?”

Her eyes still closed, she broke into the biggest smile she’s ever given—and nodded.

More guest posts coming this week—and I’m still taking new ones!

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Kids/Parenting

The hunt for the perfect name

When we were expecting Hayden, Ryan wanted to wait until Hayden was born before we fully decided on a name to make sure it fit him. But since we didn’t have any other boy names we’d chosen (we’re saving Benjamin for our next son), nothing else seemed more appropriate than Hayden.

We also have girls’ names picked out: Rebecca and Rachel. Ryan has apparently recovered from his earlier reservation, since he’s already okay with calling this baby Rebecca. Meanwhile, I’m still getting used to calling her ‘her.’

But with Hayden we had a pretty obvious middle name choice. With Rebecca, we’re a little stuck on her middle name. Any thoughts?

Categories
Kids/Parenting

The biggest MamaBlogga announcement EVER

(I’m such a geek that I had a hard time not putting ‘EVAR’ in the title. And if you don’t get that joke, you’re a lucky, lucky person.)

I know this is probably going to come as a surprise to . . . well, just about all of you, but today we have the biggest announcement in MamaBlogga history.

It’s a girl!
Baby Girl in profile
Due 31 July 2008

This idea has taken some getting used to. Not the idea of having another child, but the idea of having a daughter. (You’d think I’d waited decades for a girl, LOL.) When I first found out we were having a baby, I thought it might be a girl, but until today I’d kind of changed my opinion.

It’s just that when I think of my child, I think of my son. A boy. So when I imagined my children a few years down the road, it was my sons—playing together, sharing bunk beds, going camping with Daddy. I was actually becoming attached to the image of little Benjamin, though I didn’t have any idea what he might look like. (Yes, we had a name picked out for a boy. We have one picked out for a girl, too.)

So it’s strange not to think of this baby as a boy. Strange to think of my child as my daughter. Strange to think of having a daughter instead of just being one. Strange to make myself call the baby (who is pretty darn active) “her” instead of “it” or, as I’ve defaulted to from time to time, “he.”

Of course we’re excited. I’ve always wanted a girl. Ryan and I actually felt pretty strongly both ways this time—we really wanted a boy, and we really wanted a girl. (But we weren’t hoping for twins.) Let’s hope I can remember all that I thought I knew about having a girl now!

And lest I forget, a couple other friends shared their own happy news lately: An Ordinary Mom is having a boy; Mommy Zabs is having a girl. I was waiting to comment on both until we found out what we were having (didn’t trust myself to keep the “secret” if I commented!). Congratulations, ladies!

This post is now part of the Mothers and Daughters Blog Carnival. Woot.