This is the new "picture of a cute baby" I put on my desktop (see the post on January 27th for reasons). He looks so happy, and I hope you'll be a happy baby too.
Why do I hope (instead of know) that you'll be a happy baby? It's 'cause, at this moment, my self-esteem as a mother is extremely low and I'm hoping it'll go up as I learn more.
Okay, here's something you should know about your parents. Your dad grew up around babies, and everyone in the Martins family is a baby expert. However, daddy was away from home for most of his adult life, which was also the time when most of your cousins were born. While it may appear that he knows a lot about babies, sometimes I'm not sure if it's just that he's more familiar with them. I, on the other hand, am simply and completely clueless when it comes to anything baby-related. Period.
Let me show you what I mean. We saw some bibs at IKEA last weekend. They were the cutest things I'd ever seen: soft white cotton cloth with rims in 5 different colors... and Velcros on the back. In my head, "baby=bibs" made total sense 'cause I remembered how much Jordy drooled when I visited auntie Lisa last summer. I grabbed 2 packs (10 bibs) thinking that ought to do the trick. Daddy kinda looked at me funny when I shoved them into the bag, but he didn't say anything and I didn't care. It was the first baby item I purchased, and I was all giddy about it.
When we got home, I started reading a book about what happens after a baby is born. It's got a month-by-month calendar documenting a baby's development. Then I learned that babies don't actually need bibs until they're at least 5 months old!! I felt defeated, but the mistake was also amusing. When I told your dad about it, he went "Aw~~" and gave me a sympathy hug. I wonder if he knew but didn't want to spoil my fun when I shoved the bibs into the bag... or did he?!?! Hmm....
I hope you won't mind, but I gave those bibs to Willy, my colleague John's 5-month-old son, who's apparently drooling like a leaky faucet now.
3 comments:
You can still get a few bibs! I used Renee's first bib when she was like 6 weeks old, the first time she had a bottle (of breast milk). She didn't quite know what she was doing, so it got very messy. ;-) You probably don't need the big Ikea bibs just yet, but go ahead and get a few! Oh, and the 5 month old thing? I think Renee was a crazy drooler at about 3 or 4 months! She lived in bibs for a long time. ;-)
You get whatever you want,whenever you want!!!
Yeah, don't try to follow everything you read in baby books. They are books full of guidelines but not necessarily rules. You will need burp cloths for spit up from day one. Who says you can't use a bib for a burp cloth? In fact, it may be way more convenient, being that a bib is always with the baby because it is velcroed around the baby's neck and you don't have to franticly search for a burp cloth when the baby spits up all over the place and your burp cloth is in the diaper bag and you can't find the darn thing fast enough. All you do is lift the bib up and wipe the spit up away and you are the smarter and cleaner momma. Being a mom comes by instinct as you will see. It also comes by trial and error. That's where baby books came from to begin with and what works for one mommy may not work for another mommy. You are going to do great! I think you should go out and buy something like the cutest pair of shoes for your baby when it is one year old. Get both a girl pair and a boy pair and when you find out if you are having a girl or a boy just give the other pair away as a gift, like you did with the bibs. Then put the shoes up where you can see them and tell yourself every day, "I'm a going to be a good mommy because I love my baby and take care of it." You may end up writing a book on caring for your baby the most convenient way... like using bibs for burp cloths and all the mommys in the world who read your book will think... Wow! Why didn't I ever think of that?! And they will never know your great ideas came from what you thought was a defeat. God created us with natural abilities to mother our children. There is no "right" way. Just trust God. Every time you feel inadequate, just think to yourself, "God created my body to have and nurse and love my baby. God has blessed me with a baby and the love and ability to care for him or her. God is good and He has loved me and blessed me and wants me to put my faith in Him."
Psalm 139:13-14:
"For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well."
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