May 2014 – Page 4

Don’t feed the baby

Published on May 7, 2014May 8, 2014 by a.simple.mama1 Comment

Maybe it’s just me. Or maybe it’s all Mama’s. There’s something about being a Mama that makes you a little crazy. Crazy about a lot of things really, but today I’m talking food. What is it about other people feeding your child that makes a little crazy bomb go off in your head? They aren’t feeding them rat poison, it’s not like what they are being fed is dog food. It’s human food, made for consumption, and as long as it’s semi-age appropriate, what’s the big deal, right?

Um crazy mama says WRONG! It didn’t start to bug me until J was old enough to eat just about anything…so just in the last month or two. Which may be why I feel like I took a crazy pill in the last 2 months too…10 months is a big developmental step and there’s lots of things semi-out of my control now. Now that he’s under his own propulsion (seriously it’s like he’s got rocket on his feet), it’s much harder to keep track of where he’s at 100% of the time. That being said, it may be that my inner crazy mama has heightened her awareness greatly due to the fact that I can’t watch him 100% of the time….and over the past month he’s eaten goose poop, paper, and who knows what out of the trash and off the floor without my knowledge. Oy. Building his immune system…right?!

I really don’t consider myself to be a neurotic mama who has all J’s meals planned out and incorporates each food group into each meal every day. Far from it actually. Usually I’m throwing together whatever I can dig out of the fridge or pantry to feed him or he’s eating the same thing that I eat. He gets far too many graham crackers and yogi melts for lack of me being better prepared. So why then does my crazy go off when someone else (that I trust) gives him a cheerio or a piece of granola bar? Not sure I can actually explain that one outside of the crazy mama theory…I think it’s just hard wired into us as mamas.

Most of me (the sane, rational part) really actually appreciates that there are others around me that are helping to watch over and take care of my little one. If he’s hungry and giving them the puppy dog eyes, then I would certainly give him a little bite too…ahhh irony.

Any other mama’s out there have these crazy mama moments?

Mama Envy

Published on May 6, 2014 by a.simple.mamaLeave a comment

One day you’ll be out with a friend, or hanging with your Hubby, or visiting Gramma and Grampa and it’ll hit you. You’ll be playing with your little one, or trying to feed them, or trying to comfort them. You’ll try everything to get them to smile, to laugh, to play, to sleep. Everything you do is to no avail. Or maybe they are responding, but they almost seem bored with you. Then it’ll hit you. All of a sudden someone else (friend, Gramma, Daddy) strolls in and suddenly Mama no longer exists. Mama is not the funny one anymore. Mama can’t find the right trick to get you to eat, or sleep, or laugh. But this Not-Mama person can. It hits you. Mama Envy.

I don’t know what it is that makes us Mama’s think that we should be the only ones that know how to comfort our babies, or play just the way they like, or act silly enough to make them laugh at you every time. It’s almost comical how I think that I should be the only one sometimes. And true, sometimes I am the right ingredient for making J happy…usually it has something to do with boobies. And as much as you love how close your baby is to all the other important people in your life, it’ll still hit you right between the eyes. Mama’s want to be the best for their little ones.

Each time Mama Envy hits me I have to force myself to not run up to J and tear him away from whomever is holding him so that I can be the one making him smile. Hold me back! Mama Envy is coming through! *breath* OK, let’s just relax now huh?

I do love that J has so many people that love him and care for him and that he is so open to the comforts and play from other people as well. I have tried really hard as a new Mama to make sure that J isn’t afraid of new people, that he interacts with as many people as possible. So it’s ironic that letting someone else comfort him hits a bit of a nerve.

Now there are a few different types of Mama Envy, but in my experience most of it has to do with your (temporary) lack of ability to comfort or provide for your own child. This can be the simplest thing like your kid throwing a tantrum in the store while little miss Perfect Mama walks by you with her two perfectly well behaved children. Or it can be the Mama in the grocery store who’s cart is full of FRESH fruit and veggies…while you look into your own cart and see canned goods and ice cream and potato chips galore…Or maybe you’re just having one of those moments where you don’t have enough time that day to just sit and snuggle your little one, and so they graciously accept some snuggles from someone else.

Mama Envy. I have to hope that these pangs of envy only push us to be better Mama’s to our little ones ❤

Baby Shower fun

Published on May 4, 2014May 4, 2014 by a.simple.mama2 Comments

Yesterday my Mom and I threw my brother and sister-in-law a Couples Baby Shower for their coming bundle of joy.

A couples shower is something I’ve heard of but hadn’t even been to, but I loved it. More like a party than a regular shower and was very fun to watch the men participate in the games and activities. Plus it was fun to see my Bro participate in opening the gifts as well. For my baby shower the Hubs had to go through all the gifts with me afterwards and I’m not sure he really got to enjoy all the stuff we got for J.

The weather turned out great (a crap shoot for May in CO) and they had a really good turn-out too. They had an alligator theme.

For one of the games we did the Egg game. Everyone takes an egg when they arrive and whoever ends up with the “winner” inside gets the prize! The catch is that you are allowed to steal eggs and trade eggs. There’s only one winner, so whoever has the most eggs has the best chance of winning!

Then there was the baby bottle game. These 5 guys bravely volunteered to chug beer out of a baby bottle. Harder than it looks! After 3 minutes, the winner only chugged 2 ounces!

Then the Baby Food Game. Blindfold one partner while they try and feed an entire jar of baby food to the other partner while his hands are behind his back. Sounds simple enough, right? Wrong! Try and get a spoon in the mouth of your partner while they are laughing and you can’t see their mouth! Way fun.

The clothes-line game! Hold your phone on your ear while holding a broom under your other arm and then try and hang as many clothes on the line as you can. Not too bad until the “tornado” comes along!

The lovely couple made out pretty well!

Even J found something to keep himself perfectly entertained for a good 20 minutes 🙂 Was really funny watching him splash around in this perfectly sized water table! Thanks Auntie Tay for having this “just for him” haha.

*Stay tuned for further instructions on the diaper wreath and other Shower how-to’s.*

10 Things more fun than “toys”

Published on May 2, 2014May 2, 2014 by a.simple.mamaLeave a comment

I can’t count the number of times people have told me “don’t buy toys, baby’s will play with anything…” Well, here’s proof…even after I refused to believe them and still buy too many toys for J

10 things a 10 month old thinks are more fun than toys:

1. Grass in your toes (or your mouth)

2. playing with the vacuum or “helping” vacuum

3. eating mama’s hoodie pull strings (delicious)

4. Playing with my socks

5. pulling everything out of the cabinets

6. Cardboard boxes

7. climbing into the shelves

8. Drumming on pots

9. Playing with kitty

10. Trying to break mama’s good dishes

I have about 5 more that J’s come up with in the last month but they are all videos and I can’t load them here…boo cuz they are hillarious.

What do I do with all this time?

Published on May 2, 2014 by a.simple.mamaLeave a comment

J slept for and hour and a half for his morning nap. 1.5 hours. That’s 3 times what he normally sleeps for. I seriously did not know what to do with myself. As we were going about our morning routine or dressing, eating, playing I had millions of To-Do’s for today running through my head – laundry, dishes, clean kitchen, blog, clean bathrooms etc. But as soon as he passed the 30 minute mark on his nap I found myself having only done the laundry and sitting aimlessly at the computer staring at very unproductive things. When the 1 hour mark passed, I thought to myself “hmm I know there’s something else I should be doing right now…but what was it?”

Of course when I finally got myself out of the chair and into the bathroom to do said cleaning, I heard J waking. That was the fastest toilet cleaning thus far!

And now it is 1pm and J is down for his second nap of the day. What will I do with my time? I’m sure there’s still more laundry to fold or wash, and the dishes need to be put away, and the house needs additional cleaning…

Or I could just nap. Mama’s need some downtime too people!

BTW – there’s some pretty awesome Baby Shower posts coming very soon, so stay tuned 🙂