Ironies, Talents, and Rewards

I thought I'd post some of the "new Mommy" thoughts I've had over the last few weeks, and some of the fun things that Mike and I have observed. I'm sure that many of you can relate!


1. Ironies
The first time I heard Jack laugh was while Mike and I were giving him a bath, and I was washing, er, his crack :). Mike had heard him, and his folks had heard him, but he just wouldn't laugh with me in the room. Until I cleaned his butt. Go figure!!

Mommy or Daddy's fingers can be just as good a toy as anything Fisher Price came up with. Spirit fingers anyone?

Baby clothes follow no uniform code of sizing. He may be wearing newborn shorts and a onesie that's 3-6 months at any given time.

The older he gets, the less he falls asleep in the car or stroller. This is good when I don't want him to fall asleep for fear that he'll ruin his appetite for a nap just a little bit later on but bad when it is his nap time, and he just won't fall asleep. Isn't there some button I can press?

2. Talents that me and/or Mike have acquired
Multi-tasking:
Type and hold baby.
Make fingers into interesting toy and talk on the phone
Nurse and go to the bathroom; apparently the shut-off valve on the ol' bowels stops functioning during nursing, thus necessitating this skill. Jack's bowels have the same problem . . .
Work out while training a kid to sleep
Listen to a baby cry and do more than mope around the house feeling like the meanest parents ever
Attitude adjusting: If you try hard enough, you really can be excited about changing a diaper in the middle of the night. Spitting up (any time of day) can be equally emotionally gripping, and watching Jack hold onto something with his little fingers may send you into peels of laughter followed by clapping. Stand aside, Barnum and Bailey; we've got our own entertainment!
Other special talents: Singing those annoying nursery songs over and over (Mike is especially good at Old McDonald, who apparently had all kinds of creatures on his farm); ascertaining whether a diaper contains "poopsies" without taking any clothes off the kid; teaching a baby to play peek-a-boo; figuring out which clothes in the laundry will be most interesting for him to play with while you fold the rest; sleep through whimpers and whines and only wake up to yelps and screams.


3. Rewards: When he hears our voices, he smiles. Sometimes he likes to intertwine his fingers with mine and hold my hand. He loves to stare at Mike.I get to let him fall asleep in my arms for a few minutes after I nurse and watch how peaceful he is.


Overall, we think parenthood is a great challenge and a great joy :)