Baby Blog

My darling boy has turned into a monkey. About the same time he learned what a monkey was, how to say the word “monkey” and imitate our furry former relatives, my baby boy decided to go primitive. Just this afternoon I spent twenty minutes wrestling him into his car seat as he attempted to climb from the back to the front seat. It took five minutes to get him to let go of the steering wheel.
His level of determination is what astounds me. Baby Nik seems intent on reaching the peak of every piece of furniture, whether table or chair, bed or television set. He’s also using one piece of furniture to get onto the top of other pieces of furniture. The other day I watched from a distance as Nik took a shoe box, a tool box (empty) and a box of diapers, lined them up and used them as steps to climb on

Like most savvy cyber first time moms I am signed up to every major online newsletter regarding babies, baby toys, baby development, baby food and all things baby. Well maybe a few extra because I write a couple of blogs about baby stuff but still, I know I’m not alone. Besides receiving information on development and the latest organic baby cereals I am inundated with recall information.
Toy recalls. Crib recalls. Gear recalls. Food recalls. Clothing Recalls. Medication recalls.
Recalls. Recalls. Recalls. They never seem to stop and every one seems to add to the constantly growing pile of mommy worry. So how do you weed out what’s worth panicking over and what you can just push from your mind in order to get on with the day?
My advice is mail in your warranties.  Most of the baby gear you purchase these days comes with something to mail back to the company.  This gets you on the

I am writing this blog in the aftermath of a major mommyhood trauma. I am hoping by writing out my experiences immediately I can avoid any long terms effects such as chronic PTSD, depression or rocking back and forth next to the toilet gagging.
Baby Nik just ate his own poop. And being my darling little wild man, it was no polite nibble. Here’s the scoop on baby’s poop.
We were potty training. Nik had removed his diaper and I placed him on the potty. He had a fit, a tantrum if you will as my son thinks he is a two year old and he has already used the potty once and doesn’t see the point in doing so again. I showed him his bag of rewards and he informed me he wanted a car but he wasn’t going to stay on the potty for it. He ran off naked as a jay bird just as

Loyal readers of this blog know well my baby boy’s way with the ladies. It started in earnest at six months old when he spent all his time flirting with the older women (you know the two and three year olds) and ended with him flirting with anyone of any age as long as they were female. Since learning to talk my baby boy has made some senior citizens very happy by calling them “girls” and grinning.
So when his favorite three year old girl Amy asked him over to her house for a real play date, he couldn’t stop grinning. I know he didn’t know what she was saying but she was talking to him and he is a tad infatuated with this beautiful, happy go lucky little girl who always has time for a little boy half her age.
After exchanging phone numbers, allergy information and possible snack choices, the moms set up the playdate

My darling boy has been a bit of a cookie addict from around 12 months, when he began weaning and daddy could finally get involved in the feeding process.  My husband’s sweet tooth only developed in the last few years and consists of munching through an entire packet of sugar cookies in a single sitting. When baby Nik showed up, he had someone to share his love of that sweet baked dough.
Mom on the other hand has always been addicted to cookies and had, until the arrival of the baby and my husband’s sweet tooth, managed to keep them out of the house. I’ll be the first woman to admit (and you know you aren’t any different ladies) that there’s no eating one cookie with me. It begins at two or three and within the hour all that remains of the triple sleeve chocolate chips cookies is the wrapper. I must stay away from the

To say I was overjoyed when my 17 month old baby boy went potty on the potty and not the carpet, inside the fridge (that was not a fun day) or in the litter tray, would be an understatement. When he had finished and flushed his small but oh so significant offering down the main toilet, he informed me “done.” Nik says this after he’s finished eating so I took it as a surface comment. But every day since I asked him if he needs to use the potty and he says: “no mama done potty done.”
Oh I wasn’t aware using the facilities was a once in a lifetime experience.
So here we are at an impasse. The baby knows how to go potty, the process leading up to and the after process of flushing and hand washing. He can do it he just doesn’t want to. Because apparently once was enough.
I FB’d my mommy friends

Baby has been head banging in some form since he was just a few months old. Baby Nik likes to head butt and head bang. The older he gets the more frequently he exhibits this odd behavior. Then I saw another little boy doing it the other day and started to think that maybe I shouldn’t be embarrassed by my baby’s strange behavior. Maybe I should blog about it.
It started as baby Nik’s way of showing affection. We thought he was copying the cat. She tends to nudge you with her head when she wants attention or when she tries to give affection. When you would ask baby Nik for a kiss he had a tendency to give you a friendly head butt in the chest instead. We thought that’s all it was but as he grew his range of head behavior grew.
The head banging sometimes occurred when Nik was bored and tired. He would

The moment your baby is able, whether at two months or ten months old, they begin to put everything and anything in their mouths. Since my baby boy was a few months old this has been one of his favorite pastimes. I thought once he could walk and talk he would grow out of it.  Okay well that didn’t happen. The nature and scope of baby’s mouth exploration may have changed but it hasn’t gone away. So what do you do when baby has to put things in his mouth?
Of course the best thing is not to have anything available for the baby to actually put in his mouth. And of course this is totally impossible. Unless you are super mom, have a home free of any objects and a baby who is unable to move.
The best thing to do is a daily sweep. Every morning, bleary eyed and coffee light I wander through my

For many women conceiving is a lot harder than it sounds. My sister gets pregnant if you look at her funny.  A friend of mine has been trying for seven years without any luck. Most of us fall somewhere in between. I met a young woman yesterday who is recently married and a little old school. All she wants is a big family as soon as possible. Good for her I say. Problem is she can’t seem to conceive. It made me think of some of the advice I was given when trying to get pregnant and so yes, I thought I’d share.
Relax and try not to stress about getting pregnant. I know this is easier said than done. Stop buying pregnancy tests every month or counting days or having sex every five minutes. All this does is make you anxious and what baby wants to be conceived in a stressed out womb. Just breathe.
Try

When the weather gets warm out here in dry sunny Wyoming, my darling baby boy reduces his fluid intake drastically. I can’t force him to drink and the constant reminders seem to have no effect. Right now he is still making a consistent amount of wet diapers so he’s getting fluids from somewhere but my fear of dehydration still exists. So how do you spot and treat dehydration in babies and toddlers?
Well it seems there are two sets of symptoms when it comes to dehydration in children: mild and serious. I’m guessing “mild” means home treatment and “serious” means emergency room but don’t quote me.
Mild symptoms of dehydration include not having a wet diaper for at least six hours. I think any mother would notice not having to change a diaper for that long but in case you need another sign…crying without liquid tears, dark or foul smelling urine and dry skin around mouths and