The Rookie Mama

(Yes, that is a shoutout to my girl, 90s Mariah Carey. My interest waned after Butterfly.) My hubby is a brilliant, witty, caring individual. But in the words of Hermione, he has the "emotional range of a teaspoon". He's the first to admit that he is a little robotic, a little Vulcan-like in his demeanour. Unless the man is a few shots deep in a bottle of Johnnie Walker, he is quiet and reserved. If you can believe it, there's a term for this in Danish which he recently learned and immediately identified with. He is the very opposite of a loud, boastful, attention-grabbing person; an anti-Kanye, if you will. Parenthood has not made him boastful. But it has made him emotional.  I myself get teary when I think of how far my little NICU preemie has come. Now that she's 8 months old and learning new things every day, I am simultaneously excited for tomorrow and nostalgic for yesterday. Much like it was during my pregnancy, I can get teary at a sweet commercial,...

How dare you. How dare you sneeze when I just spent 40 minutes putting a cranky baby to sleep. That you would have the audacity to perform an involuntary reaction like that just boils my blood. Well, she's crying again and what's that? It sounds like she's saying "Dad, it's your fault I'm up, so come here and comfort me!" You will snap at each other. You will stare daggers at each other. And sometimes, you will be utterly humourless and take things very, very personally. Such is the ever-changing dynamic of your relationship with your partner, now that your family tree has a grown a new little branch. We always knew we wanted to have children, but for a time, we were quite happy being DINKs (double income, no kids!). We partied, went on vacations, took random weekend getaways, and went to restaurants and movies on a whim. All of that started to slow before we made the decision to try and start a family. We were theoretically ready to take on the ch...

Bill 143 Child Care Modernization has passed its First Reading. The Bill seems to stem from well-meaning roots, but some of the proposed changes will wreak havoc on the current daycare situation and cause much difficulty for parents of young children. Ultimately, a number of fantastic, well-run home daycares will have to close and not only will we lose those providers but we will also flood an already-strained system with more children in need of care. A detailed, concise article explaining the issue can be found here , so I'll not repeat what has already been said. To sum up, the main changes focus on the unlicensed home daycares on which working families depend and the major issues are as follows: Providers are limited to 5 charges, including their own children under the age of 6. Previously, a provider could have 5 children in addition to his/her own   Providers are only permitted two charges under the age of two. This particular rule would apply to licensed and unlicens...

I am privileged to be part of a wonderful group of young mamas that gathers weekly for fun, venting, socialization, yummy treats - the great list goes on and on. At a recent session, we were discussing prenatal vitamins and how it is recommended that breastfeeding moms continue to take them postpartum. One woman expressed feelings of guilt for not taking any but we assured her that it was not for her baby's sake, but for hers. "Oh," she laughed. "Well, that's okay then." Such is the selflessness of mommyhood.  From the moment I saw a little blue cross show up on that slim piece of white plastic, I knew my life would be forever changed. Sure, I was still basically the same person - the same loud laugh, the same hot temper, the same passionate fervour for disability awareness. But all my priorities instantly changed; I was not living for myself. I was living for her. Every decision, from what I chose to eat to where we decided to live, was centred around t...

Disclaimer: as with all major baby-related decisions, consult your primary health care provider. This blog entry is meant to describe our particular situation and perhaps spark a few ideas. Info as interest only! Also, the following entry discusses the transition into solid foods, not actual food choices or preparation. Wholesome Baby Foods is a comprehensive resource you may want to check out, and a shoutout to Stories of Suburbia for similar info! Our preemie daughter was seen by a nurse practitioner for her 4 month vaccination. The NP was both kind and knowledgeable but knew very little about our gal beyond what was written on her chart. She thus suggested we begin solid foods at her corrected age of 6 months which would make her just over 7 months old chronologically. My friend whose baby had already begun this gastronomical journey wondered about this recommendation, as delaying the introduction of solid food is usually reserved for babies with gastrointestinal issues of whi...

Holy crawdaddies, does it ever pile up fast. Clothing, towels, bedding - a mound that grows ever higher regardless of how many times (a week..a day!) you do laundry. The satisfying feeling of emptying the hamper is itself hampered by the drooly bibs and blowout onesies that quickly fill in the gaps. I didn't mind laundry that much before; unlike washing dishes or vacuuming, it was a chore I was happy to do. But with the addition of just one tiny extra person in our family, we are suddenly doing loads nearly every day. She's so small! It doesn't make any sense!  Even though the overall amount of laundry in the basket remains the same, it takes twice as long to fold and put away because the items are so tiny. After the baby shower, you wash and dry these adorable pieces of clothing. You giggle at the wee little socks you're folding, then you stack neatly organized piles inside a dresser so new you can nearly smell the pine. Six months in, the cuteness (sort of) remains ...

I wake to the sound of her babbling. No distress, no anxiety, certainly no crying. Just her - talking to herself or perhaps to the animals hanging on her mobile. This is how she greets every morning. I listen for awhile, trying to shake the sleep from my own head. I wonder at the adorable sounds coming from the crib, and how just a few weeks ago she was not able to control her voice this way. Now there are giggles, happy shrieks, and frustrated grumblings. Just a few months in, and she is communicating with us. I peek over the side of the crib and say good morning; she turns to look at me and a huge smile stretches across her tiny face. She giggles and rolls side-to-side as I reach down to pick her up. I hold her against me and she nestles into my shoulder. She pulls her head back to look at me and we smile at each other. Recognition. She cannot yet call me "mama" nor can she tell me she loves me. But that smile, every morning without fail, tells me she knows who I am...