by Heather
Is that an expression? Well, if button up is… I figured I could use it.
Anyway, when Holden was a few days old, Alec tried to give him is first manicure. This innocent ritual ended with snipping off the end of his little thumb and us putting mittens on him for the next three weeks.
Five good reasons for baby mittens:
- Babies won’t scratch their little faces unwittingly
- You can avoid trimming those razor-sharp talons or avoid looking at where you snipped your precious baby’s finger already (for a little while only)
- You could be seriously entertained by your choice of handwear
- Cootie-laden strangers won’t grab your babies hands
- Warmth
Holden wore some mittens that made him look like a court jester. You can go that route or the uber-cool, hipster, tattoo-hands route. Buy some plain ones and experiment with your own style.
[Link and image via BloggingBaby]
by Whitney
This is an outing for beginners: go to your favorite outdoor breakfast venue. You have about five more months to enjoy cafe culture. For your sake, I hope that some of this includes the warmer months. Once your baby crawls, she will not tolerate your fondness for people watching or spacing out, so live it up now. Pack up a journal, a trashy magazine, or a pile of thank you notes and head to a cafe. Park the stroller right next to you and breathe in the fresh air.
If it’s raining, this outing is even better. You need to get out of the house and your new favorite coffee shop is a place you can go sit for an hour or two and just be proud that you went somewhere on your own. Yes, you can take the baby out in the rain or snow. Your mother surely took you. (Well, not me, ’cause I was born in San Diego). Go on, that hot chocolate has your name written all over it.
If you go to the same place every day, they will quickly remember you and your baby and probably your order. This might make you feel special. If you were me, you would take this on as a challenge and purposely seek out a place where they ask for your name so that you can arrive to a personalized greeting.
Before you leave the cafe, buy some treats for dessert tonight. Que magnifique!
Related: Activity #297: Do what YOU want to do and Activity #304: Enjoy modern art
by Whitney
My cousin just sent me this link: MyKleenexTissue.com.
You can order oval-shaped Kleenex boxes customized with a photo that you upload and decorate with borders and text. I played around with the tool, and it was pretty fun. You get to see a 3-D version of the box you’ve created. This would be a cute way to commemorate an event where crying is expected, like a wedding.
The price is $4.99 per box plus shipping. Shipping is calculated in the shopping cart, but will be about $6.00 to ship 1-6 oval cartons, so that’s crazy for one box, but economical to purchase six.
Since I have become a mother, our use of Kleenex has skyrocketed, however, I think this would be even more of a thrill for the grandmothers. I just ordered each of them a box with a picture of the baby and text that reads “Welcome to my bathroom. Would you like to see more pictures of my new granddaughter?”
by Whitney
Let’s face it: Before this kid was born, you had no idea that babies were so clueless about how to relax. Well, now you know. Your new roommate would like nothing more than to get back in the confines of the womb and forget this whole “birth” thing ever happened.
If there is one piece of advice I would give new mothers in their baby’s first month of life, it is to watch The Happiest Baby On The Block. Due to the convincing presentation on DVD of Dr. Harvey Karp, we are both big believers in the 5 S’s of the Happiest Baby on the Block – if you don’t have time for a book (and who does?), take the time for the DVD!
If you watched it before baby was born, watch it again now. According to Dr. Karp, the tools you need are:
- Swaddle
- Sideways/ stomach
- Shush/ white noise
- Swing/ jiggle
- Suck
Both Julian and Holden were swaddled for sleep, per Dr. Karp’s specific instructions, beyond their 3-month birthdays. Julian was held on his side and jiggled by every visitor who we trained on this technique. Update: at 17 and 11 months old, they both still sleep with white noise on for every snooze they take. It works!
Click on the DVD or the book to the left.
Try it. You’ll like it.
