May 02, 2009
DIY Baby Mobile
My original plan was to knit several striped fish or other small, easy-to-knit animals and make them into a mobile for Remi. Since knitting while nursing really isn't feasible (though I've tried), I only made it through two somewhat-basic knit fish before fizzling out.
They sat on the bookshelf for a while before I realized I had to get a mobile of some sort up before Remi grew out of the mobile stage. It took me another couple of weeks (in my disorganized Mom-state) to get an embroidery hoop, but once I did I threw this together pretty quickly with ribbon, a glue-gun, and a mug hook for the ceiling (close-up photo here).
I think it's quite cute and I plan to change it up with more fish or something else to keep Remi interested. I love it when he looks at it and smiles. I'm not sure that non-DIY friends think it's terribly exciting (no noise or battery-operated movement = bad parenting), but Remi's got to get used to hand-crafted Mom craziness at some point.
I can also move it out of his reach as he gets older, which can't be said for the store-bought variety. I admit that I'll pick up this, too, since he went bonkers for it at a friends house today, but I may just use the pieces to augment the DIY version. (I imagine much of my life in the coming years will involve caving to peer pressure and getting store-bought items to make a certain someone smile.)
May 01, 2009
Remikins
I wonder if this photo gives us a glimpse of what Remi will look like when he's older:
April 19, 2009
The Adventures of GoodMommy and BadMommy
A mom friend was calling herself "Bad Mommy", as some of us do, in the park yesterday and now I have this thing playing in my head at 7 in the morning so I'm writing it down.
We new moms have trouble with basic things sometimes. The baby is crying, we can't think clearly, and we try fixing the five things that are not wrong before fixing the one that is. Or we leave the house without one of the following: keys, a hat, a diaper, a blanket, the cell phone, etc. It's clear that during these times we are not ourselves. We have been attacked by BadMommy. Can't you see this playing out comic-book style?
Example: GoodMommy and baby are sleeping. Baby starts fidgeting. GoodMommy wakes up, gets baby, and starts feeding him. He's somewhat interested and calms down, but is still fidgety. GoodMommy realizes she, too is hungry.
A shadow falls across her face. A blank expression ensues. Fatigue-induced poor judgement turns her into ... (next panel, with some sort of Hulk-like transformation graphics and "KABLAM!" exclamations) ... BADMOMMY!
BadMommy is braindead and leaves babies to suffer! She doesn't change poopy diapers! She makes sure that all clothing is always uncomfortable and the baby is always too hot or too cold! She bathes the baby in freezing water and puts the baby to sleep in a sauna! She bangs baby's head on doorjambs! She takes him out in the sun and subjects him to the germs in the park! She sometimes lets baby SLEEP ON HIS TUMMY.
GoodMommy is perfect, always knows what's wrong, and never appears in public.
BadMommy thinks only of herself and is hungry! BadMommy convinces herself that fidgety baby will go to sleep if she puts him in his cosleeper! She watches him fidget and then leaves the room, heading for the kitchen.
She forgets to turn on the baby monitor!
She leisurely takes a yogurt out of the fridge and adds granola, never realizing that the baby is fidgeting because she forgot to BURP the baby!!!
She forgot to burp the baby two hours ago, and again just now!
The baby is struggling against a gigantic burp! (Cue illustration of baby with tortured expression. Vibrating squiggle lines indicate discomfort of gigantic pulsating burp.)
But GoodMommy lies somewhere in the back of BadMommy's mind. The yogurt slowly brings her back to life. Guilt enters BadMommy's brain.
She remembers the monitor and hears the baby crying. Oh @#$@#!, says BadMommy. GoodMommy still isn't entirely back, though, because she brings her yogurt to the bedroom. She gets the baby and he quiets down as she sits in the rocker, eying her yogurt. She reaches for it, contorting baby. BABY BURPS!! BadMommy had no idea that's what was going on!
BadMommy and baby will go to sleep now, and hopefully when they wake up, GoodMommy will be back. But BadMommy is always lurking in GoodMommy's brain ... lack of sleep and a crying baby may bring her back at any moment. Stay tuned for next week's adventures with GoodMommy and baby's nemesis, BadMommy.
(It occurs to me that this may not be funny or seem interesting to anyone but a new mom... er, sorry about that.)
April 08, 2009
Oops. Blame Twitter.
Sorry. I have a blog. I forgot. Actually, I think I've defected to chronicling the babyness Twitter, which is much more feasible given my schedule and hand- and brain-availability these days.
Update! I forgot the gratuitous baby pic:
