Baby Blog

In the last few weeks my son has developed some strange new habits. In fact I would almost call it regression if my friend’s little boy at 18 months wasn’t going through the same thing. Perhaps it’s a phase they don’t talk about. “They” being the so-called baby experts. All of a sudden baby Nik has decided he cannot function without a pacifier and a blankie. When he was a small baby neither item meant anything so what’s going on?
I read the mom blogs looking for women going through similar experiences with their older babies. There are quite a few 16, 17 and 18-month-old children out there suddenly attached to their blanket. In most cases, like in Nik’s case, the blanket is the one they have had since birth. Nik has always enjoyed this blanket; it’s the one that mom and dad picked out for him weeks before his birth. But has it become his

This coming Wednesday my son’s favorite pastime starts back up: story time at the library. The group is for children from birth to five years old and for all those moms out there who think it’s silly to take newborn babies to story time? Think again. My son has a great vocabulary for his age, is very social and interacts easily with children from ages birth to five years and he’s an only child. I’m pretty sure most of that comes from the great times he’s had at the local library.
Over the summer we’ve gotten a little slack with our reading. Baby Nik has been exploring the world of books by himself. His board books, foam books, waterproof books and coloring page books have become the main stars in his learning library. Mom reading stories has really been on the back burner. I have no excuses; summer’s been busy but it’s time to start reading

Baby Nik enjoyed his second baseball game over the Labor Day weekend. It was lots of fun; the free tickets helped too. In attendance were myself baby Nik baby Wyatt (they were born just a day apart)and Wyatt’s baby brother Cactus. The two 18 month olds stood and watched the game as five-month-old Cactus was cradled by his mother. We visited and watched as our growing baby boys interacted.
Wyatt’s mom and I have been working hard at making the two boys best friends.  Not just because they were born less than a day apart in the same maternity ward of the same hospital in the same town, but because we are close friends, our families spend a lot of time together and it only makes sense for the two boys to grow up to be best friends. But I wonder if we are trying to force a relationship that isn’t really there. Sometimes Nik and

I am reading the cutest little book. It’s called “Mother Shock” by Andrea Buchanan. The lady in the story has an 18-month-old like myself, is a writer like myself and works from home like myself. I just read her chapter entitled ‘I’m an idiot’ and I must agree with every single word in the chapter. You see Buchanan writes that the stay-at-home worker and the stay-at-home mother are two mutually exclusive roles that we try to fill simultaneously to our own detriment. Here is a typical day for a stay at home work at home mommy.
Baby Nik usually stirs in his apple green pit around 7:15 AM. I, on the other hand have only gone to sleep about four hours prior to this so always have to balance between getting Nik out of bed, changing his diaper and getting him dressed with running into the kitchen to make the day’s first pot of coffee. After

Well here I sit at ten to nine on a Tuesday evening with baby Nik by my side. I put him to bed less than 30 minutes ago. That entire time he screamed and yelled and cried and begged me to let him out of bed. I finally succumbed when Nik used his word of the week telling me “but mama I’m stuck! I need mama I’m stuck! I want mama! I’m stuck!” over and over again as though his little heart would break and yes ladies I gave in.
Is not that he is cute which is why everyone else spoils him; it’s a combination of the fact that he’s cutting four teeth simultaneously and that when he calls out for me like something horrible is happening to him… Did I mention I’m Irish and the guilt thing is big in my house? Baby Nik has been getting stuck in more places than his crib

It’s almost my favorite time of year. The days are growing cooler, the leave are changing color and before we know it we will be scraping the innards out of pumpkins, dressing up like wild people and roaming the street demanding sugar. I love Halloween and I’m hoping my little boy learns to love it too. Last year was his very first Halloween and I went a little overboard. A lot of people choose not to take babies out trick-or-treating when they are still so small. But here’s why I did.
Last Halloween my little boy was only eight months old but he was the most adorable homage to Dr. Seuss as Horton the elephant. We decorated his buggy in Horton phrases and gave him a giant pink flower and wheeled him around the neighborhood with all of his to three-year-old friends. He had a blast. Watching his little head bob around with that elephant trunk

Its not like my son just started teething. In fact, baby Nik at 18 months is working on his last four baby teeth. They came in and went out again and now they are all coming in at once, two at the top and two at the bottom. His teething has taken a whole new turn though with a new symptom of angry biting.
A lot of my friends with babies younger or even the same age as Nik have mentioned to me that their child is a biter or has bitten them on occasion. This was never the case with Nik and it’s not the case now. In fact, Nik has sudden urges to bite things and it’s been quote a mix from the cat sleeping bed, the couch and the door handle of the refrigerator to his crib, the kitchen table and his board books.
Rather than think my baby boy is hitting the toddler

As my baby grows I begin to notice how he connects one thing to another, from one medium like the printed page or the computer screen to the toy box or the playground. He’s constantly making connections and where some things are new, some early discoveries still hold true.
Babies learn early that when they cry, they will be soothed. They learn that screaming gets more attention than soft cooing and that mommy is probably a softer touch than dad. Well, Nik still realizes that it’s better to go to mom than dad for a treat and that loud verbalization of needs but now he sees other action reactions. Specifically, I’m talking about music.
From the womb, baby Nik has been introduced to music. No, not a steady diet of 18th century piano music but an eclectic mix of mom and dad’s favorite rock tunes and whatever was on the radio at the time. Nik loves music

Once your child gets past the whole putting things in their mouth stage, somewhere around ten or twelve months, you think your giant worry watch list has been reduced by one item. Oh the naivety of the first time mom.
Instead of putting things in his mouth, baby Nik now has the legs to explore things of interest in a completely different manner. He is in love with cars and trucks and must be held very tightly when crossing parking lots or walking down the sidewalk. He doesn’t understand the danger of running out in front of vehicles. My heart hits my throat at every attempted escape.
So far we have avoided any terrible accidents but the way Nik’s escapes have increased in frequency and speed, it was only a matter of time. Today I was reminded of how curiosity can hurt a baby; whether it’s his head or his ego that feels pain.
We were browsing the

When you have a baby the list of must buys includes a crib mirror. This is supposed to encourage your child to evolve into a self aware human being.  During tummy time many children lie on blankets that have small mirrors attached or sit in bouncy chairs with small mirrors dancing in front of them. Baby Nik was one of these children but showed no interest in mirrors until recently.
Now he’s the king of mirrors and self awareness and it’s fascinating to watch.
We have mirrors everywhere now. No I admit they are not safety glass crib mirrors. I picked up a bunch of oak framed mirrors of different sizes at the thrift store. I had meant to hang them on the wall as we are in desperate need of mirrors in general but once baby Nik showed such an interest, there seemed no reason to hang them out of his way.
I first noticed his interest