I don’t have a lot of time to write/blog as you can tell by the length of time between now and my last post. Motherhood is hard (more on that at a later date) and I work my consulting job full-time from home while taking care of Lincoln. But! It is the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done and I’m so thankful to be able to raise him and support my family. With that said, I’m currently stuck under him. Every time I try to move this sleeping baby wiggles and wakes. NOPE! You need to sleep kid, these teeth your brewing are exhausting to all of us. So here I am, stuck under my son in the glider.
(Oh I should mention, Lincoln Michael Graziano was born on August 16, 2016. 8lbs 2oz, 20 inches, giant head. He is the greatest thing to ever happen to us. We are butting up against that year warranty on babies, so, I guess, we’ll keep him.)
I recently saw an article (I’ll link it if I can remember where I saw it) about useless stuff you don’t need when you have a baby. I had over half the items and I completely disagree. Sure, you don’t NEED a wipe warmer, but I also didn’t NEED blood-curdling baby screams at 2 am from cold wipes on his tiny baby booty. Baby got back and that tush likes his wipes warm. What else… oh! Bath thermometer. Ok first, I like a super hot shower. Super hot water isn’t good for bebe. I’m also incapable of feeling if something is too hot- my mom and I have “asbestos hands” we can touch and grab super hot stuff without issue. So the little whale thermometer bobs up and down in the bath so I don’t scald my kid. This seems reasonable to me.
Here are something’s you ABSOLUTELY DO NEED once your squish is out of that blob stage known as the 4th trimester.
Books
Usborne books from the “That’s not my” series. Lincoln was not interested in any books from my extensive childhood library until I bought these. (Another box of them comes today, actually). Hard and hardy books with touchy feely pages. Lincoln will have me read them over and over again and enjoys “reading” then by himself. Gotta raise a reader in these electronic days (she says whilst typing a blog post on her iPhone. The irony is not lost.)
Choomee tops
This little bugger loves to feed himself. He also loves to squeeze and sit on his pouches. Which means mama has the pleasure of wiping up spinach and apple baby food and scrubbing sweet potato and pear sauce out of carpet, clothes and every surface imaginable. Here comes the Choomee. These caps fit on his pouches. Took him two seconds to figure out and now he can crawl around like a mad man holding his pouch (you know, for baby rest stops. Crawling is a hungry game) without mommy following him with a wipe. Oh and they cap, also awesome. We have 12, seriously.
iPhone app guided access
What is this malarkey? (Thanks, VP Biden for bringing that back. I miss you.) Lincoln has a bunch of awesome apps for the iPad- my former iPad mini that this mini human had commandeered. All the apps teach the alphabet, numbers, shapes and have super annoying songs. He loves them, so I deal. But this future computer engineering major (Vanderbilt class of 2038) loves to push the home button. Give him any Apple device and he will push the home button. He’s also figured out what the tv remote does and pushes the buttons, then looks at the tv to see what he’s done. Usually, he’s recorded something bizarre like “paternity court” or the “ninja blender” infomercial. He also recorded football- good job son. Anyways, he would be in one of the apps and hit the home button. Then look at me in despair because Elmo had disappeared. (F–king loves Elmo). So, thanks to my bestie google, I figured out how to keep him in the app, even when he hits the home button.
Head on over to your settings. General -> accessibility -> guided access. Follow the prompts. You’re smart. You’re welcome.
What else? Patience! That goes without saying. You also need to get over any fear you have of poop, drool, spit up, breaking your child. They are pretty maleable and they also crap ALL THE TIME. You got this!
