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42 Things That Change When You Have a Baby

// May 19th, 2010 // 2 Comments » // Baby

We all know that a lot of things change when you have a baby, but as I was browsing around various baby/parenting websites I ran across this article at babycenter.com. It’s interesting to read through the list and see which ones you can identify with.

This list is from babycenter.com but we elaborated a little with our own answers on the ones we could really identify with.

After reading, leave us a comment on the ones you can relate to. It’s great to hear other perspectives on parenthood!

1. You finally stop to smell the roses, because your baby is in your arms.
(Daddy walks around the yard almost every day with the baby looking at all the nature that is around)

2. Where you once believed you were fearless, you now find yourself afraid. [See a reader's perspective in #22, below.]

4. You respect your body … finally.
(Uhh….I would still like my pre-pregnancy body back thank you very much :p)

5. You respect your parents and love them in a new way.
(Sometimes there would be weeks where Husband wouldn’t talk to his parents. Now he talks to them several times a week about the baby and life in general)

6. You find that your baby’s pain feels much worse than your own.
(It’s true what that says, you wish you could take it all for yourself)

7. You believe once again in the things you believed in as a child.
(Husband has always been a kid at heart so he is looking forward to renewing his belief in Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny and playing pretend)

8. You lose touch with the people in your life whom you should have banished years ago.
(We have definitely lost touch with friends but only because it’s so hard to get out and do things with the friends that don’t have children. It’s like a whole different world.)

9. Your heart breaks much more easily.

11. Every day is a surprise.
(Isn’t that the truth! Plan all you want but it will rarely go as you planned!)

12. Bodily functions are no longer repulsive. In fact, they please you. (Hooray for poop!)
(If you get a little doody on your finger it’s no big deal, you just wipe it off.)

13. You look at your baby in the mirror instead of yourself.
(We have a big mirror in the hallway that we walk past when holding the baby. We just stop and stare at him starring at himself.)

14. You become a morning person.
(I was always a morning person but my husband was NOT even close. He didn’t like to talk for the first couple of hours he was awake. Now, with the baby, we have had full, pleasant conversations as early as five or six in the morning!)

15. Your love becomes limitless, a superhuman power.
(So true. It allows you to do/handle things that you never thought you could)

Responses from readers of babycenter.com

1. You finally stop to smell the roses, because your baby is in your arms.
(Daddy even wants to plant a garden so he and the little one can play in the dirt and watch things grow.)

2. Where you once believed you were fearless, you now find yourself afraid. [See a reader's perspective in #22, below.]

4. You respect your body … finally.
(I would still like my pre-pregnancy body back thank you! :p)

5. You respect your parents and love them in a new way.
(My husband used to go weeks without speaking with his parents but since the baby came he talks to them a couple times a week about the baby and life in general. It really does bring you closer.)

6. “You don’t mind going to bed at 9 p.m. on Friday night.” — Kellye
(In fact I sometimes look forward to it!)

7. “Silence? What’s that?” — Anonymous
(Naps times are the greatest!)

8. “You realize that the 15 pounds you can’t seem to get rid of are totally worth having.” — Brenda
(I hope you’re referring to my 15 lb baby and not the 15 lbs that have taken up residence in my hips and stomach!)

9. “You discover an inner strength you never thought you had.” — Ronin and Brookie’s mom

10. “You no longer rely on a clock — your baby now sets your schedule.” — Thomas’ mom
(But some times you can set your watch to it.)

11. “You give parents with a screaming child an ‘I-know-the-feeling’ look instead of a ‘Can’t-they-shut-him-up?’ one.” — Jaidyn’s mom
(Unless they bring a screaming little one to the movies. There is just no place for that. Wait for your baby to grow up or get a babysitter!)

12. “Your dog — who used to be your ‘baby’ — becomes just a dog.” — Kara

(The cat has definitely noticed he does not get as much attention as he used to.)

13. “You take the time for one more hug and kiss even if it means you’ll be late.” — Tracey
(Especially if he is awake in his bed. You HAVE to see his smile once more before you leave for work!)

14. “You learn that taking a shower is a luxury.” — Jayden’s mom
(It is very relaxing when you can take a real shower and not a 2 minute shower while you THINK he is napping!)

15. “You realize that you can love a complete stranger.” — Dezarae’s mom

(Yes but only your baby. Regular complete strangers I still don’t love.)

16. You find yourself wanting to make this world a better place. — Arizona

(You want to leave it better than you found it for your kids. Good luck in these times!)

17. If you didn’t believe in love at first sight before, now you do!  — Ciara

(Your baby really is the most beautiful thing in the world.)

18. You start to appreciate Sesame Street for its intellectual contribution.  — Anon.

(We haven’t quite gotten that far yet.)

19. You have to quit watching the news because you see every story from a mother’s perspective and it breaks your heart. — Brooke&Boys

(I’ve had to change the channel a few times because I didn’t want to see the outcome.)

20. You just plain love life more – everything comes together and becomes better because of one tiny person and your love for them. — Anon.

(Everything is better with a little one!)

21. You finally find out the real reason you have those breasts. — Anon

22. In response to #2 [above], I’d say that where you were once afraid, you’re now fearless. I was always very timid and shy and let myself get walked all over … but now where my kid’s concerned, I’ll speak my mind and really connect with my inner “b”! — gummismom

23. The support you get from other people surprises you, because the people giving it are not always the ones you’d expect. — japanese_macaque

(Very true. Some people are very excited about your baby and you would have never thought it.)

24. Nothing is just yours any longer. You share EVERYTHING! — DylanLsMom

(And it doesn’t bother you a bit.)

25. No matter what you’ve accomplished in life, you look at your child and think, “I’ve done a GREAT job!” — Anon.

26. You want to take better care of yourself for your child. — Treasor

27. You can have the most wonderful conversation using only vowel sounds like “ahhh” and “oooo.” — littlehulk2008

(If only the conversations I have at work were that interesting!)

Houston, We Have A Fussy Baby!

// May 14th, 2010 // 3 Comments » // Marriage

Today was the final launch of the space shuttle Atlantis and being that I am at home with my three month old son I wanted to watch it with him since there may not be any more shuttle launches to watch in the future.

Unfortunately the shuttle launch came after feeding time and just before nap time which means he fussed and cried through the entire launch and didn’t see any of it. If he was old enough to remember this day he would be kicking himself later down the road. But since he won’t remember anything I will just have to remind him when he is 16 when he is talking about the ancient space shuttles in Science class. Of course by then, we will all have our own personal space shuttles right? That’s what they kept telling us in the 1950’s.

In other news, with my mother visiting us this weekend my wife wanted the house cleaner than ever (as she does with all visitors) so we spent all last night cleaning. The only thing we were missing was air fresheners which she said, “Just take the baby to Wal-Mart tomorrow and get them before your mom gets here.” I like how she picked the one day of the year when we got over 3 inches of rain in just under half a day. I never realized how much effort it takes to get a baby to Wal-Mart in the rain. Trying to carry an umbrella, car seat, diaper bag and lock the car doors is near impossible in the rain.

I also had an item to return but there was no way I could fit anything else into my rain soaked ensemble. So it’s still sitting in the passenger seat for the next trip to Wal-Mart.

I decided today that it’s time the baby starts seeing his bedroom a little more often. You see, the baby sleeps in our room for now in a bassinet and we have been dressing him/changing him downstairs in the playpen for convenience (his bedroom is upstairs). So he rarely ever gets to see his bedroom. So since he sleeps through the night now and we don’t have to get up to change him there is really no need to keep everything downstairs in the living room. This will also help declutter our living room. It’s true what they say, the baby really does take over every part of the house.

I think he likes being in his bedroom. He’s basically looking at all new stuff since he spends so little time in there. Mommy isn’t going to be too happy though. She will see this as a sign he is growing up and we are losing our baby. Yesterday she was talking about how she can’t wait until his Kindergarten graduation but then she gets sad whenever he outgrows an outfit and we have to retire it.

Six Weeks With Daddy – Day 15-18 – He’s Growing Up!

// May 12th, 2010 // No Comments » // Baby

This past weekend we took a long weekend trip to visit Grandma. It was baby’s first big road trip and I must say that he did excellent! On the way up to Grandma’s we fed him right before we left and he slept the entire four hour trip! On the way back we had to stop for dinner so we woke him up to feed him but he went right back to sleep. This boy loves being in the car. The one thing he doesn’t like is red lights. If the light stays red too long he starts to get fussy but as soon as it turns green and we are going again he calms right back down. This sounds promising in a few years when I rent us a big RV and we take a family vacation across country.

Over the weekend the baby had several more of his firsts:

First road trip

First time Grandma babysat him

First time in an arcade

First time he met one of his Grandpas

First time in a Dairy Queen

It’s fun to take note when you are doing something for the first time with your new baby. You always get to say, “This is the first time he’s….” or “This is his first….”. I’ve been mentally tracking these but just the other day Mommy informed me that his baby book has a section for all of his firsts. Now I have to go back and try to remember them all.

He turned three months old over the weekend and with it has had a few new milestones.

He’s very close to laughing now. I can tickle his belly and make funny noises and he smiles from ear to ear and shakes his head. The only thing missing is his laugh but you can tell it’s coming soon.

He has discovered that things other than his fist can go in his mouth. While in his tummy time gym he grabbed a hold of a little butterfly that hangs and plays music and the next thing I knew he had the butterfly’s foot in his mouth. I also gave him a sock to hold while I was changing his diaper and he stuck that in his mouth (it was a clean baby sock). He did not like the flavor of the cloth though as he made a very amusing “This is disgusting!” face.

He’s moved up a size in his clothes. There are several outfits that we have been waiting to put him in but he just didn’t fit into them but now he does. The flip side of that means he is outgrowing some of his old clothes that we have grown accustomed to seeing him in. Like his little green alligator sleeper. He looked so cute in that but if he stretches in it I fear his feet will pop out of the bottom.

It’s exciting to watch your baby grow up but at the same time it’s sad because you know you will never get to see some of the things again. Kind of like my six weeks with him. It’s only half over but I am already thinking about going back to work and dreading it because I realize now how much I am going to be missing during the day.

Pampers Dry Max Diaper Problems

// May 4th, 2010 // No Comments » // Baby

With all the recent complaints on Pampers Dry Max diapers, we switched to Luvs last night. We haven’t had a single problem with Pampers (no rashes or burns) but decided to switch anyway. Last night with the Luvs he slept through the entire night (thats only happened once before) and has barely made a peep today. Just sleeping, eating and smiling.

I’m wondering if there is something in the Pampers Dry Max diapers that was bothering him but just not giving him a rash or anything. He’s a totally different baby today.

Maybe it’s just a fluke. We’ll keep you posted on how he does the rest of the week in the Luvs. Have you had any problems with your Pampers w/ Dry Max?

You can read more about the Pampers Dry Max issues on their Facebook page here or on the Facebook group to bring back the old Cruisers/Swaddlers here.

Six Weeks With Daddy – Day #16 – Worst Spit Up Ever!

// May 4th, 2010 // 1 Comment » // Baby

Does it count as sleeping through the night if your baby goes to bed at 8pm and doesn’t wake up until 5am? I think it does. Those night don’t happen very often. He usually needs to eat at least once in the night.

Now while you may think that him sleeping through the night was a good thing, it happened to coincide with the same night I decided to stay up until midnight. So by him sleeping through the night it caused him to wake up about 2 hours earlier than normal and since he was fully rested, he had no desire to go back to sleep after his 5am bottle. You know the old saying, “If the baby ain’t sleeping, nobody is sleeping.” Except for my wife. Since she fell asleep at 9am and the baby didn’t wake up during the night, she too got a full nights rest.

Which brings us to 9am this morning where I was greeted with the worst spit up to date. Not because of the quantity of spit up but because of the after effects. You see, as I was burping him he had his head buried in my shoulder. At the same time he decided he projectile vomit. My shoulder and the burp cloth absorbed plenty but the majority of it bounced back into his face. He was covered in spit up from his forehead to his chin. It was in his eyes, nose and mouth. I would have taken a picture had I not had to clean him up so quickly. Just imagine your kid dunking his head into a bowl of milk. Now triple it.

Now that he is cleaned up and calmed down he is currently fighting his nap. Has he really reached the age where he doesn’t want to nap? He’s only three months old! He’s been playing this game for the last few days. He eventually will nap but not without a fight. I’m trying to teach him to nap where ever I lay him down without me intervening very much. He’s getting better at it and very few times do I have to go and pick him up.

We aren’t the type of parents that can let their kid “cry it out”. There are ways to console a crying baby without “spoiling” him and without just leaving him by himself to cry himself to sleep. Besides, as fast as they grow up and change, we feel like we are missing out on things if he just cries it out.

Like today for instance, during his little fussy bits I got to sit with him by his swing and bounce the swing up and down. I get to console him and be close but he also has to work things out for himself. But in between his fussy spells he would just stare at me and I would smile at him and he would give me a coy little smile in return. I would have never got to see that if I had left him alone in his room. You can’t get those moments back so why set yourself up to miss them?

During his nap I’m working on cleaning out the laundry room. We are getting our new washer and dryer tomorrow so I’m doing the last load of laundry today so I can take the old washer and dryer out. I never thought I would be this excited about laundry!

Call me Mr. Mom! Except I still suck at cooking. I’m getting pretty decent at laundry and cleaning though.