the mimic

As we all know, there comes a time in a babies life when she starts to mimic. It starts in a beautiful manner- mama smiles at baby, baby smiles back, mama jumps up and down screaming, She smiled! She smiled! and then proceeds to be a goofy mess as baby continues to mimic her smile.

Baby starts to mimic sounds- ooh! ah!. We play peekaboo together, take turns clapping, making faces together. All harmless, good, old-fashioned baby and mama fun.

But at some point, it takes a sinister turn. You drop a cup and yell, Fuck! Baby jumps up and down yelling Fuc! Fuk! Oops. You slap a fly off your other child and baby turns to slap her too. Oops. And then there is just the annoying- I hand you the spoon and you hand it back to me. Over. And over. And over again.

I'm not sure if this falls into the sinister or the annoying. Whatever it is, it's not something that I want Baby S to continue, but it seems to have lodged itself in her little memory bank for the time being. What happened was this- after nursing, she grabbed my nipple with her sharp little claws. I yelled, Ouch!. Apparently, this made quite the impression on her. She then grabbed my nipple again and yelled, Ow!. And then she did it again.

Perhaps I shouldn't have laughed. That was probably the kicker. As much as it did hurt (those claws are sharp!), it was really pretty funny. What the heck was going on in her head? This is what you say when you grab mama's nipple? I tried grabbing her nipple just to show her that it hurts, but I forgot that she feels no pain. She thought this was hysterical, and responded by grabbing my nipple again. OW!


Here we are, three days later. For the past three days, she periodically grabs my nipple (hard) and yells Ow!. The memory on this kid!

Of course, it might go away if I could stop laughing.

sick babies

Sickness has a way of mowing down families. First one person, then everyone else follows like dominos.

The past seven days have been a textbook example of this. Since I work in an elementary school, I am the number one bring-er home-r of germs. Kindergartners seem to delight in sneezing in my face, throwing up while we are packed into the tight little elevator, rubbing their snotty nose on my belly as they swoop in for hugs. You'd think that I'd have built up a pretty crazy good immune system... and maybe I have, but this last bug was a bulldozer that crashed through the immunity wall.

I blame my co-worker. No kids, she's always stressed out over her job and getting things done. I walk in on Wednesday (late, as usual), and see her practically crying because she felt sick but felt bad about not coming in. I quickly pushed her out the door and assured her that I would be fine, all while trying not to breathe her airspace.

Too bad we work in a small office. 

the breast buffet

As Baby S gets older, her mind is maturing. Gone is the simple mind of the newborn. Her thoughts and actions become more complex with every passing day. You can see her looking at things, working out ideas in her head, making connections. Things that existed on their own now exist in a state of being in connection with other things.

Along with this comes options. For example: I know this (broccoli) is food, and I know your tortilla chip is food, so why eat this broccoli when I know you have tortilla chips in the kitchen, mama?

The same rule applies to my breasts. Being content with just one breast? Please, mama, that is sooooo six months ago! Baby S now wants the breast buffet. I must have both breasts out and readily available as she is eating. She eats for a couple of seconds from one breasts, stops, pulls back to examine her food, and switches to the other breast. Sometimes she doesn't switch- after contemplating both breasts, she decides that she was enjoying the one that she was on and continues to drink there for a couple of seconds. Of course, that doesn't mean I can cover up the one that she is not working on at the moment- that elicits an indignant grunt as she stops to pull up my shirt again.

What is this all about? Options? Choice? The realization that I have two breasts, all for her? Whatever it is, I don't know why I even bother with a shirt when it's feeding time anymore.

review: naturepedic and sk naturals

For over a year now, Baby S has slept in my bed. Cuddled up next to me throughout the night.. although lately, more often than not, I wake up with a foot in my face.

The time has come. Time to talk about moving her to her own bed. Don't get me wrong- I have loved this year of co-sleeping. As I have said many times, breastfeeding + co-sleeping = best friends (check out my tips for co-sleeping with a newborn). Co-sleeping puts you in the perfect position to sleep and feed through the night. This would have been a much more tiring year without it.

But all good things must come to an end. Truth be told, Baby S is still nursing quite a bit throughout the night, so I'm not totally ready to give it up. But Daddy is starting to push it more, so I am opening up to the discussion. We are moving in May, so Toddler B will be moving to a toddler bed in her own room, and crib space will be opening up. Like I said, I am opening myself up to the discussion, but no promises have been made.

peek-a-boob

Baby S has a new game: Peek-a-Boob.

Peek-a-Boob is an exciting off-shoot of the good old standby Peek-a-Boo, played with her good friend Ms. Boob.

How does one play this, you might ask? Easy. Best played while mommy is laying on the bed. Lift up shirt, see boob, yell excitedly and bounce around. Perhaps nip in for a quick drink. Then cover boob with shirt, bounce for a couple of seconds. Maybe roll around and laugh, or play with a toy for a second. Then lift up shirt again, laugh excitedly and repeat. And repeat. And repeat.

Woe to the mommy who thinks that the covering of the boob means that Peek-a-Boob is done. Snapping shut the nursing bra could result in cries and agressive pulling of the bra until the boob is revealed once more. Like, what were you thinking, mama?!? This game should be played for hours! I say when the game is done! We must play Peek-a-Boob all day!

Or at least until something else distracts me.

review: apple n amos toys

Hand Kite in Fly Me Alice

What is your take on toys these days? Me personally, I try to avoid the lights and sounds. As a friend of mine recently said to me about a singing Elmo that she was trying to get rid of (with no luck), "These toys should come with free therapist and hospital trips for how many times they scare the shit out of you when you run into them in a dark room at night."

It's true- an annoying monkey toy that my mother gave us (thanks a lot, grandma!) almost caused me to break a leg after giving me a heart attack one night as I went to the kitchen for a glass of water.

This is why I love finding toys that entertain without batteries. Toys that activate children's imaginations. For Baby S's birthday, we received two of these hand kites from Apple N Amos, an Etsy shop specializing in wood toys rooted in Waldorf and Montessori teachings. A mom and pop shop, their toys inspire imagination and play in a way that singing Elmo never will.

Easter Egg Basket

Baby S and Toddler B love these hand kites. The ribbons are hypnotizing and silly to them. They like to make them wiggle and shake. Of course, the wooden circle is a great teether for Baby S! She is also starting to realize that she can wave the kite to make different movements of the ribbons.

Older kids get this of course- at the birthday party there was a lot of movement inspired by these kites. I also saw imaginative play involving gymnastics, birds, and airplanes- imaginations were running wild!

Check out Apple N Amos's full line of toys on Etsy- party favors, the Baby Apple collection, memory games and more!

I received goods or services in exchange for this review. The opinions are all my own.

breastfeeding inspiration

Togo Mother Breastfeeding- Luca Gargano