Unexpected Consequences

I spent the morning at the dentist today because I had a baby 7 months ago.

Huh?

I know - who'd of thunk it? According to my dentist, new moms are notorious for gritting their teeth or clenching their jaw because they get up repeatedly during the night. All that nocturnal up-and-down causes stress and disturbs their usual deep sleep, leading them to shave away at their molars, crack teeth, and form cavities during the night.

When I told a friend that I was being fitted for a nightguard, she said she had to get one about 6 months after her firstborn.

First you lose your hair. Then you lose your mind. Now you lose your teeth. By the time Noah is 18, there may not be much of me left...except the few extra pounds I want to lose.

Meanwhile, Noah is busy trying to get some teeth, and reminding me why I really don't mind losing all that other stuff after all...

The Art of Napping

I spent 20 of my 30 years in school. Clearly on some level, I enjoyed school. Yet the past year has shown me a startling gap in our curriculum. School prepared me for so many professions I was never likely to pursue full-time -- medicine, law, nuclear physics -- and never prepared me for the one I was most likely to become: a parent. Society provides abundant proof that parenting is not all instinctive. And any baby store will tell you that parenting is infinitely complicated, requiring lots of equipment. Thankfully, I learned a lot from my own parents. But now I'm on the job, and there's still a lot to figure out.

Which brings me to the art of napping. One would think sleeping is pretty straightforward: You get tired. You lie down. You wake up. You get tired. You lie down. Etc. No sir -- Not when you're 6 months old. Noah's nap schedule was erratic when he was in daycare every other day, usually getting 2-4 naps/day of 30-45 minutes each. This presented a dilemma for his mother: Should she stick with the catnaps or were they an unhealthy habit?

I read and talked to other parents about it, made a few adjustments, and gradually Noah cleared up the debate. Since I've been home full-time, he has moved to the textbook nap schedule (2 naps of 1.5-2 hours each plus a late afternoon catnap). It's lovely. He's more rested and predictable, and I get real blocks of time for other projects. But now that we've found our rhythm, the question is how much to protect it.

Do I let him sleep in?
Do I wake him up early to go meet a friend?
Do I skip a nap to go out? If so, which one?
Do I keep him out late to finish an event?
How many days can I mess with the schedule and still go back to it?

I've realized that unless you're home all day everyday, napping is an art. So far, I'm still in the euphoria of a new-and-improved schedule, so I probably err on the side of letting it influence my plans too much. I hear myself saying no because "Noah needs to nap" a little too often. Yet there's some deep compulsion in me that wants him to get his naps every day - that hates to see bags form under his eyes, that doesn't want to wake him from a peaceful slumber, that doesn't want him to revert to 30 minute catnaps all day. That side is currently winning. But I don't want it to take over. I don't want to become the rigid mom with a demanding baby. And I don't want other priorities to suffer. There must be a balance.

So each day, I learn a little more what that balance looks like for us. For example, just in the last couple of weeks I've learned...
1. I don't want to let Noah's naps impede our church attendance.
2. He can miss a nap, but plan time to make up for it later that day.
3. If an event is at our house, I don't have to worry about his schedule.
4. If I mess up one day, we can recover the next.
5. If we have more kids, I'll likely look back on this post and laugh, so I might as well relax now.

Dada BaBa Dada

I'm not sure we can count it as his first word, but Noah started babbling with consonants today! Even better, it sounded an awful lot like "Dada"!! For at least the last month, he's been cooing a ton and throwing in a consonant every once in a while. But today was the first time he's produced something resembling syllables. I got it on video, but video doesn't seem to appear when I upload it to my blog. So you'll just have to trust me - and visit us soon to hear it for yourself.

Progress Report - Part 3

Noah changes daily. It's hard to discribe the incremental development from one day to the next, but I love seeing it! It feels like a miracle each time he discovers something new. Here are a few examples:

1. Weightless - Maybe he's an aspiring astronaut, because Noah loves to defy gravity. 2-3 months ago, he fell in love with his jumper (or baby bungi).Then last week he found something almost as fabulous: swings!

2. The Sky is Moving! - Noah's carseat has an awning that can be moved up-and-down over him to protect him from sun, rain, etc. Around 5-6 months, he realized that he can touch this awning, scratching and even moving it with outstretched fingers.

3. Soon after Noah discovered the awning, I was driving Noah somewhere and glanced back at his carseat (which faces back) only to see him looking up at me. He'd realized that if he pulls down the awning and cranes his neck, he can see me over the top of his carseat. Suddenly, he's no longer alone with a voice in the car. Mommy's here!

4. Yam I Am -- Noah is eating. Some days more than others. Some days I still worry. He'd still rather do just about anything else. But he's eating!! Over the past month, he has gradually agreed to eat rice cereal, sweet potatoes, peas, bananas, squash, peaches, and oatmeal - a little at breakfast and lunch and usually a full dinner. I think sweet potatoes are his favorite. He definitely got that from Mom & Dad.

5. 99 Bottles of Milk on the Counter -- That's right; we've tried them all, and Noah is adamantly not a bottle fan. In fact, some days he's not a nursing fan either (see #4), but he has decided that the sippy-cup-with-a-nipple can feel good on the gums. So while he makes a face if ever liquid comes out, at least he's made friends with something plastic.

6. I Can Do It -- As a prelim for when we'll hear that phrase all the time, we've noticed that Noah actually helps us dress him - putting his arms through sleeves and feet in footies. It makes the whole process faster, which is very helpful since we're often running late...

7. Stuck - This past week, Noah has found himself on his stomach several times (even during the night) without the least idea how to return to his back. He has accidentally rolled both ways but doesn't seem to know either can be deliberate. We're eager for that discovery!

8. Adventures in Reading - Kids' books these days are very cool. Noah has one book on cats with furry spots throughout and another book on animals with "lift-the-flap" surprises, and just in the last week, he's figured out how to interact with both. It's adorable to see his little fingers scratching the fur or lifting the flap to see the gorilla "inside."

9. The Illusion of Cleanliness - Considering the various and sundry places Noah sticks his hands and mouth, I can't say he's particularly clean. But this week Daddy taught him to wash his hands - the first of many steps in an attempt to civilize a soon-to-be-toddler.

10. Sitting - but that's a whole 'nother story... (i.e. tune in tomorrow)

No Need for an Owl

Harry Potter fans may wish they could receive The Daily Prophet by owl, but we can now do better than that! You can receive Denny & Co updates in the safety and comfort of your own inbox. Just enter your email address in the box on the right shoulder of our site and then when you get the confirmation email from "confirmations@emailenfuego.net" click on the link in the email which assures them that you are a real human being. You'll get an email around midnight with our latest posts just on the days we (i.e., I) write. Or, keep checking this website. So long as you comment every once in a while to keep our staff writers (i.e. me) motivated, you're welcome to read it however you like.

Momnesia

Last night, I put a tea bag in a mug and nuked it for 90 sec.

At least now I have a semi-legitimate excuse: "Babies can cause 'momnesia'"- USATODAY.com

Now why can't I just forget something more serendipitous - like chocolate?

Tasty Tags

After our big baby shower last summer, I remember opening all of the clothes and toys with relish - pre-washing, assembling, folding, nesting... I even considered cutting the tags off the toys so they would be smooth and perfect.

What was I thinking?

Maybe it was the Holy Spirit that stayed my hand, because Noah loves the tags. He can find a tag on the most exotic toy, ignoring the primary colors, bells, and whistles and sucking on that little piece of polyester to his heart's content.

I've decided to be OK with that, since I don't think they print the washing instructions with led...