Being a parent has made me so much more neurotic than I ever thought I would be... How so you ask? Well, I was going into the whole parenting thing with the mindset that I wouldn't be the weird neurotic mom. HAH. In the days of pre-parenting, I totally didn't care about what sort of baby food to buy or what wipes were the best, what diapers were going to last.... Things I thought other parents in the world obsessed over for no real reason. Yet here I sit tonight, obsessive about the food I feed my son, incredibly particular about his diapers and wipes, and even more neurotic about what he gets exposed to. Here's my re-cap (in no particular order):
1. I (along with Patrick!) successfully started out Joseph's introduction to solids in the most un-processed of ways possible. Which I am SO EXCITED we did! We waited until he was 6 months old and our amazing pediatrician gave us the all clear to start solids. Thankfully, this was like early/mid July when my mom's garden was in full swing - bonus for even less chemical exposure! We didn't buy a single jar of baby food - Patrick got pretty into it as well, it gave us so much joy to roast/steam/boil so many different vegetables and fruits for our little man! And, it was so incredibly cheap!!!
2. Wipes - Costco's are the absolute best. You get the freaking mother-load for $15-$19 bucks and it seems to last quite a long time. Most durable wipes we've tried.
3. Diapers - Pampers. But most definitely not the "baby dry" version - those suckers leaked the most! The current fave is the "Cruisers". Before the cruisers, it was the "Swaddlers" - those things were AMAZING. In the event that I should ever change my mind about my "one and done" motto, we will buy stock in these things. Leading up to and even in the first months of Joey's life, Patrick and I were totally on board with buying whatever was the cheapest - which had typically been the Costco brand - however in comparison to the Pampers, the quality just wasn't the same. Seriously. Nothing against anyone who chooses this route, honestly - props to you for being able to do it! However, Joseph has taught us that sometimes you just have to figure out what the best match is for your baby.... And Joe is a bit of a pee-er. The kid seriously has great functioning kidneys, so we had to figure out the best diaper to last through the night (especially since he sleeps like 12 hours consistently...). LUCKILY there's this great thing called Amazon and Amazon Prime - life savers when it comes to buying diapers.
4. Carseats - where to even begin?? Since Patrick is "Mr. Safety" and I'm pretty sure this is all where my neuroses started, we researched the heck out of carseats/brands/models. Our first was the number 1 rated safety pick from Consumer Reports (and also one of the largest on the market). Quite the investment (shout out to my momma who bought it for us!) and so well worth it since it lasted our little guy a little over a year. When we went to upgrade to the convertible style, we again hit the web researching. Originally we intended on just getting a lower end model, but ended up refusing to settle on lower quality for our little man. We again have the behemoth of carseats.
5. Toys - this kid has amassed quite the array of toys. I'm especially fond of all wooden toys (Melissa and Doug seriously make some of the greatest toys ever) which are so incredibly durable. Our other fave is anything from Green Toys - eco friendly and made from recycled milk jugs (pretty awesome right?). I can't stand the noisy toys that don't have an off switch - for real. It's one thing to have a 16 month old kid banging on his toys and squealing every five seconds, but add in a toy that is more obnoxious than banging a metal spoon on a metal pan with no off switch? NO THANK YOU! :-)
6. TV - I'm so incredibly neurotic about this one. I hate when I catch Joe looking at the tv. Absolutely hate it. He used to not even notice it, but as he's getting older, he's becoming more and more aware of everything else that goes on in the house. I spend more of my days off with him with our TV off because I don't want him to watch any at all - even those "educational" shows. There's something about just watching him play and learn with his various toys.... that and I absolutely don't want him to get attached to any tv at all, not for a very long time. My TV exposure as a child was pretty limited (thanks mom, dads, and Michelle!). My "faves" as an elementary school child were Sesame Street, Reading Rainbow, and Mr. Roger's. I also loved the few VHS tapes we had of Tom and Jerry, Bugs Bunny, and Superman - all the classics! I think kids today are exposed to far too much TV (especially WEIRD TV) at a much too young age. There seem to be more and more studies coming out about kids who are exposed to pro-longed tv viewing and electronic device usage having more difficulties focusing in school. I think this is especially true when it comes to behavioral struggles as well. One of my nephews has become so obsessed with watching movies, playing various video games and computer games, that trying to get him to stop is a constant battle for my sister. I think that the sheer control my parents had when we were kids was directly responsible for how we behaved - and seeing that difference in a more lax environment has proven much different results.
7. Being a working mom - so incredibly difficult and full of so many different sacrifices. This is a constant struggle of mine. I was anticipating a much smoother-ish transition than what actually happened. Returning to work and finding out I had a new boss was a freaking blessing. However, I also returned to work in the midst of pure chaos prepping for one of the biggest store visits of my life. Try pumping breastmilk regularly when your phone won't stop ringing and you are literally struggling to find the time to take your lunch. Awful those first few months. Looking back, I now realize that I just didn't take the time to put my foot down and put myself and my son first. After about 2 months of returning to work, I ended up not being able to breastfeed Joe any more - hugely in part because I just wasn't producing enough milk for him. I've sacrificed sacred time with Joey on so many occasions because I've been so dedicated to my job. It's hard to really know what that sacrifice looks like until you realize that you haven't held your son in a day or two because you've worked such long hours. Being a professional and being a mom are two very complex jobs - putting the two together are not easy. I have my periods of time where it seems to gel well together and that it all has a purpose, then there are the times that I wish I could just quit and stay home with my little man full time. I envy the moms that are able to do this. Trying to go for promotions to help make it "worth it" to be a working mom is also gut wrenching and heart breaking at the same time. I've been turned down twice in the past year and it has sucked so much each time.
8. Family time is sacred. My most recent schedule has proved difficult in balancing family time. Having the same day off with Patrick is typically filled with various trips/dinners/gatherings around and very few actual days where it is just us. It can be incredibly taxing for the both of us. The hours that we do get together seem to be filled with naps and trying to just catch up with what's happening around us. It's crazy to think how much busier we have gotten.
9. I love my son more than I could ever have thought possible. He is such the handsome little man these days, full of energy, smiles, laughs, general cuteness with a splash of mischief that's starting to show. Teaching him new things brings so much joy. He's become quite the snuggler recently - so much fun when you go in his room after he's done with his nap and he instantly says "HI!" with this giant grin on his face while he's reaching up for you. As soon as you pick him up, his tiny little arms hug around you and he snuggles in. He's also learned how to give kisses - most recently he won't go to bed at night unless he gives you a kiss and a hug. He kills me with his general cuteness. Seriously. I can't handle it sometimes he's just so stinkin cute!
10. I'm six weeks Zoloft free! It took me a long time to get here and I'm so incredibly thankful that I'm in a stronger place and no longer need the Zoloft to keep me going. I came close to weaning off of it at various points this past year, inevitably I was too scared. I finally said enough was enough. Patrick was hesitant. It has definitely been an adjustment. But a good one overall.
I think I've rambled enough - hows about some incredibly cute pics of my little monster?
