Babys First Year Blog
For a closer look at this highly scientific cuteness graph, hit "continue reading" (or scroll down).
I’ve noticed a strange phenomenon lately. Sometimes, when I am away from my 6 month old for a few hours, after I return she somehow looks even cuter than when I left. Like, I’ll leave already thinking she’s adorable, but when I return the cuteness seems to have increased and I’ll be overwhelmed by it. I got home the other day, grabbed Hazel’s grinning face and said, “I keep thinking you’ve reached peak cuteness, but you keep outdoing yourself!”
Of course, I’m her mother, so that may not be too surprising. She might actually look like a monster baby to everyone else, while my mommy brain just sees an illusion of supreme cuteness. But Mike, her father, agrees—and aren’t men supposed to be less affected by sappy stuff like this? He’s also a scientist, so when I started to wonder if it was quantifiable, he actually graphed her cuteness: Continue reading »
Who wouldn't want to be friends with this happy baby? Hazel, 6 months old.
It’s true.
Mike and I moved into a new apartment in October, when Hazel was only 3 months old. And she met all our neighbors before I did, because our nanny would take her down to the lobby to see the kids when they were coming home from school. I guess my smiley baby made quite an impression, because when I would run into random neighbors on the weekends, they would inevitably say, “Oh, you’re Hazel’s mother!” then ignore me and talk to my tiny daughter like she was an old drinking buddy.
6 month old Hazel winks her poppy-seed-free baby eyes
A few weeks ago, I quit my full-time magazine job in order to go freelance, partly because I wanted to see my 6 month old more. But then I said yes to all the freelance work that came my way, so I have pretty much been slogging away nonstop in my home office all day and into the night. Still, my nanny, V, and I are having to adjust to the fact that I’m in the apartment while she’s looking after my baby. I kind of feel like I’m invading her turf (I know if I were a caregiver I’d think it was a big drag if the baby’s mother were present the whole time). Not surprisingly, V has been spending a lot of time down in our building’s basement play room and just bringing Hazel up to nurse.
As far as babysitters go, V is amazing. Hazel always lights up when she sees her. And now that I’m home more, I’ve been able to witness some impressive feats of nanny power. One trick stands out in particular. Continue reading »
6 month old Hazel, after a full night of baby sleep
Well, she finally did it! Last night Hazel fell asleep around 9:15, and then slept through until 7:30 this morning! I feel like the proverbial new woman!
Mike and I took her to her 6 month checkup last week. She was normal, if on the tall (i.e., supermodel?) side: Weight: 17 pounds, 12 ounces. Height: 28 inches. Smile: 2 inches—until she got three immunization shots in her thigh.
Before we left I told the pediatrician about the baby-sleep issues we’d been having, and I asked my burning question, Should I just let my baby cry at night? And she said, basically: yes, for 10 minutes. So I tried not to roll my eyes as I said, “While we’re just lying there next to her?” And she said yeah, but we could also consider having her sleep in another room. Oh. Continue reading »
Woman Falls in Fountain While Texting
As a new mother, a few things come to mind when I watch the funny “woman falls in fountain while texting” video: 1. Is that going to be my tech-loving baby as soon as she learns to walk? And 2. What if that chick had been holding a baby? And 3. Wait, do I walk with Hazel while sending text messages?
I have to admit it: I am guilty of sending text messages while walking around with my 6 month old. But only once or twice, while strolling very slowly around my somewhat safe apartment. And I’m sure the texts were quite important. And urgent. Like, “We R out of wine – pik sum up on UR way home? <3”
But after watching the texting fountain lady video, I’m thinking maybe I’ll hold off on sending text messages while carrying my baby. While this is not quite as egregious as texting and driving, of course, I definitely don’t want Hazel thinking my iPhone is more important than she is. Not even if we’re out of Pinot noir!
View the video after the jump: Continue reading »
6 month old Hazel is already plotting how she can get an iPhone of her own
Oh, no, it’s starting already: My 6 month old baby wants to get an iPhone. Or a Droid Eris. Or basically any gadgets with touch screens and/or keyboards. I think she would settle for a Palm Treo if necessary. All I know is that whenever a smart phone is near, she lunges for it, touches it and watches as the colors move around while random friends are dialed and important emails are deleted. Once maximum damage has been done, she puts it in her mouth.
Mike and I tried to do what we could to avoid this scenario. Months ago, when a friend of ours mailed us a toy that looked kind of like a real iPhone, I said, “I don’t know how I feel about this.” I imagined Hazel becoming a cell phone addict by age 2, calling her tech-savvy baby friends and inviting them over for cyber-pablum. Now I’m thinking it will be an accomplishment if we’re not forced to add her to our “friends and family plan” by her first birthday.
We got rid of that first toy phone. But later, when we got an Elmo’s World baby toy cell phone, we kept it. Something about the bright blue plastic and the cartoon voice saying “La-la la-la! La-la la-la! Elmo’s world!” seemed far enough from the real thing that we wouldn’t risk raising a gadget junkie. We were so, so wrong.
The awesome T-shirt I was supposed to wear while giving birth
When I first realized I was pregnant with Hazel, I half-joked, “I’m too posh to push—sign me up for a C section!” But after watching The Business of Being Born and reading various pregnancy books, I ditched my OB/GYN, switched to a midwife and planned to use the birthing center at Roosevelt Hospital, sans epidural. My fiancé, Mike, even read The Birth Partner and made this funny T-shirt for me to wear (above). It’s an allusion to a childbirth video we watched, in which one woman’s ultra-annoying husband said as she strained from the pain: “You’re the best pusher in the room!”
I was all ready for the life-altering experience of a vaginal birth. Then, when I was 38 weeks along, my midwife realized that Hazel was breech. And after a lot of attempts at getting the baby to turn (which I’ll detail some other time), I was finally informed that I would have to get a cesarean later that week. It was quite the shock: “But I already have the T-shirt!” Nonetheless, it all turned out well, and I recovered quickly.
Ever since then, however, I’ve had this problem where I feel like a fraud when it comes to saying I “gave birth.” Continue reading »
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