Articles

I've recently seen a couple articles that made me laugh and I could truly relate to.  I thought some readers might get a kick out of them too.

Article #1: The first one and the next one.

This post talks about the difference between your first child and your second with regards to celebrating, documentation, nursing, cleanliness, etc.  I had a good laugh at a few, and they are shockingly quite true.  I'm not afraid to admit I dangle Brody away from my body if he's got a ton of drool dripping from his chin, I figure we clean up anyways.

Most true:

13. Benefits

The first child: Had the benefit of all my attention. Good thing because I had no idea what I was doing.

The next one: Has the benefit of my experience. Good thing because I am busy explaining to her sister why she doesn’t get all of the attention anymore.

Article #2: How to be a perfect parent in 4 easy steps...or probably never.

This article hilariously (and honestly) talks about how there is no such thing as a perfect parent and sometimes you just have to resign yourself to that fact.  Because no matter what you do, someone will tell you that you are doing it wrong or your child is going to turn out a freak because of it.  I'm so against all the judging that happens in between moms.  I do my fair share of doling out advice, but my advice is almost always along the lines of "You know your baby best.  Trust your mom intuition.  And don't let what your friends kids are doing get you down."  Sometimes I need to take my own advice.  Because Brody has been SUPER sick for the past week plus and he was finally turning the sleeping corner, and now we are back to the beginning.  Kayla has also decided she wants to scream again at bedtime and naptime.  I'm tired.  I'm doing the very best I can to focus on the important stuff and role with the punches, but the punches are about to knock me out.  We need to move into our new house and hopefully after a tough transition period things will settle down.

Check out this hilarious chart. :)

Because I can't do a post without pictures, we started Brody on solid foods around 4.5-5 months.  (Don't judge me.)  He was ALL about it.  Then the past 2 weeks, he's been sick and feverish and refuses to eat foods.  Even today, he's only eating about 25% of what he was 2 weeks ago.  Hopefully he'll get back to it now that he's starting to feel better.  I'm also considering baby led weaning with him since I feel that it might work better than it did with Kayla, but we'll see.

Despite the faces, he really enjoyed his first foods.  (Initially I had made my own brown rice cereal, but since the first week or two, we've only given him fruits and veggies.) 

Feeding a toddler...

I'm tired so this post is going to be short and sweet.  I'm getting an average of 4 hours of sleep a night now...fun.

To do list while feeding your toddler:
1. Take off all their clothes.
2. Place some sort of easily washable mat on the floor below them.
3. You may want to think about a baby shower cap.
4. Whatever you want them to eat, plan on eating yourself (because even if you are eating the exact same thing, they will reach for your food.)
5. When giving toast or sandwiches, expect said toddler to eat the "good stuff" in between or on top of the bread, but not the actual bread itself, or get strips of toast stuck on his/her arms.
6. If you have an active toddler, expect to be kicked if you are too close to them while eating. (or is this just my child?)
7. If the toddler is like my child, give the kid pickles if all else fails.

Unedited photos taken by daddy one night while mommy was at work.  We call the series, "Spaghetti"

She likes to wave...all. the. time.

Getting pretty good with the fork and spoon...usually upside down though.

Blurry, but I guess she dropped some :)

Let's Talk Feeding

Let's talk about feeding babies.  Being a cloth diapering mom, I tend to speak with other cloth diapering moms during my internet browsing.  This is honestly very nice.  It's helpful when you are having stinky issues with your diapers, if you want some advice or if you want a recommendation.  But there are times when I'm not a big fan.

Cloth diapering moms, tend to have more "natural parenting" tendencies.  "Natural parenting" is probably in and of itself a horrible stereotype, but these are the mommies (and daddies) who cloth diaper & baby-wear, co-sleep & use elimination communication, breastfeed until babies are young children (sorry, this is an exaggeration, but I'm trying to paint a picture) & refuse to feed their babies anything that isn't purely organic.  These are also the "cover your home in Saran wrap, buy inflatable tub and have a home birth" parents.  (Again, please realize I'm exaggerating and pointing to the extreme of natural parenting.)  

Well, I consider myself somewhat of a "natural parent."  I cloth diaper.  I breastfeed.  I co-slept with Kayla for about 4 months.  I tried to make my own baby food.  Actually, when it comes to feeding, there is a technique of introducing solid foods to babies called Baby Led Weaning.  I tried this.  Basically, you skip purees and give baby "finger shaped" foods that you would eat (veggies, fruits, chicken, etc.)  And natural parents rave about BLW (baby led weaning).  I was all excited about it.  Bought the book (couldn't finish it because it was so boring and redundant.)  We started Kayla on solids before we "should have."  We fed (and still feed) her purees (the organic kinds in those suckable pouches.  She stinkin' loves those things.)  She literally would not even touch the foods when we tried baby led weaning.  Supposedly, these babies have larger palates, are less picky, etc.  (I guess probably depending on who you talk to.)  Kayla has some picky days, where all she will eat is bananas.  But overall, I think she's a pretty good eater.  

And like her mother, she clearly loves macaroni and cheese (cue MANY hilarious photos of Kayla and Mac'N'Cheese.)

But before the amazing photos, (you can skip this paragraph if you wish), sometimes I have a real problem with these so called "crunchy" parents.  (I mean, just look at the title of this blog...) These people always seem to think that the way they are doing things is the best way and no one should ever have to do anything any other way.  This drives me completely batty.  I may not be doing everything right, but if I've learned one thing, it's that there is no "right" way to get babies to sleep through the night, to eat their veggies, to take good naps, to get a schedule, to pee/poop when you want them to, etc.  I could go on and on.  I think so many natural parenting ideas are awesome.  And if those things worked for you and your baby that is SO great.  But please stop pushing it on everyone else around you.

The ultimate thing that drives me crazy is this.  As a breastfeeding mom, I can honestly say, I want to punch mom's in the gut who rave about "breast is best" & "there is no better milk than mommy's milk." There are so many woman who have a hugely difficult time breastfeeding, or even physically can't.  I mean, you may remember that I bled so much that Kayla spit up blood all over herself and me TWICE. I'm lucky I've made it this far.  All I have to say is that being a mom is hard enough, we don't have to add extra guilt into it for not doing what is "best," when in actuality, we are.  OK, I'm off my high horse.  And as I side note, I pretty much support all mommies, no matter how they diaper, what they feed, or where their kids sleep.

Look at this little piggy!

So stinkin' excited.

Mom I seriously LOVE macaroni!

And please (please, please!) don't even get me started on vaccinations.  Please.