Is it already time to flashback to Sawyer as a baby? Well, he is just over nineteen weeks now so we can at least review the first quarter of his babydom.

According to my own bossyness, we should have completed all thirteen of the rookie moms weekly challenges within his fourth trimester, right? So, let’s see how we did!

1. Pretend you’re in Europe — I totally did this. Before I could sit (let alone sit and enjoy coffee), Sawyer and I walked to our neighborhood cafe. Extra whipped cream on everything please. Supporting evidence in foursquare. It counts.
2. Grab a buddy to go on a recon mission. Check. Well, I’m counting some of my previous experience as a mom-friendly nutjob always on the hunt for new and secret places to nurse and change a diaper.
3. Join or start a new mom’s group. Kinda sorta. This warrants a whole ‘nother post on whether or not I even want new friends these days. I *do* want some people in a similar boat to kvetch about sleep and swaddles, boobs and bottles. Stay tuned.
4. Visit a fabric store with your sidekick. YES! And I have been there a few times. Lucky me, the fabric outlet that I had never even been to before is a short walk in a baby carrier away. I loaded up the carrier with Sawyer and hand sanitizer; shoved my wallet and phone in my pockets; and came back with a small bag of material for various projects (that I assigned to other people to do for me).
5. Go to the grocery store for just one thing. Sadly, yes. And I still felt insecure and like I needed the practice.
6. Paint your baby’s feet for posterity. OMG, so cute! Alec and I did this right before his paternity leave ended. {sorry this photo looks like crap, I think I just broke iPhoto so bear with me!}
7. Take a postnatal yoga class, with your baby. No. I will accept this as my first failing. But in my defense, Sawyer and I did take an ass-kicking bootcamp class for seven weeks starting when he was 12 weeks old. Booyah!
8. Get a pedicure. Of course.
9. Go to a mom and baby movie. So much. Sawyer has seen several (high- and low-) quality films in his young life: Harold and Kumar Christmas, Moneyball, Our Idiot Brother, 50/50, Footloose, Alvin and the Chipmunks Chipwrecked, and A Dolphin Tale (with me, Sawyer, and Milo sharing a seat when we were the only ones in the theater).
10. Plan a mom’s night out. Yes, because of my awesome husband who is unafraid of putting three kids to bed.
11. Visit a friend or spouse at work. Yes. Sawyer and I nervously visited Alec at work. All was well except for the screaming in the mega-van on the return home.
12. Enjoy modern art. Okay, we didn’t exactly go to an art museum, but I did bring the little guy to the Air and Space Museum in DC. And it kind of sucked. I’m counting it.
13. Make a Modern Family photo. I did take a funny picture-in-picture picture (see above) but I did not have the skills to make it fancy. Nor did I actually leave the house! Fail, with flourish.

I’m going to grade myself pretty highly for tackling the first quarter of rookie mom challenges with my little sidekick. We were certainly living up to the spirit of the list — even if I regularly complain that my baby isn’t very portable and want Whitney to come to my house so I’m always near that beloved baby swing.

Is anyone else doing our weekly challenges? How’s it going for you?

Our guest blogger today, Johanna, caught our eye when she wrote this kind post on her blog crushed corn. Her baby boy is one week older than Sawyer so I find her experience familiar and encouraging.

Car seat installed and ready for its first occupant? Check. Nursery set for a crying baby, poopy diapers, and armfuls of pee-soaked onesies? Roger that. A strong enough sense of self to withstand the needs of a newborn, a cluttered house, a needy dog, and a husband going to work and school full-time? I don’t remember that being on my pregnancy checklist.

So much of the preparation involved in welcoming a newborn into your home is focused on the stuff – it’s almost too easy to lose sight of yourself in the process.

After seven weeks my baby and I have stopped exchanging suspicious glances in exchange for googly eyes, and breastfeeding doesn’t reduce me to the whimpering mess it once did. But ask me what I want for dinner or watch as I stare blankly into my dresser drawers and you’ll notice that something is off – I’ve forgotten how to make decisions for myself. In less than two months my brain has been staunchly rewired; all circuits once devoted to making decisions for myself have now been plugged into a big, blazing marquee blinking “Baby! Baby! Baby!” around the clock.

With so many rerouted circuits I have become a new me, a new mom, and a stranger to myself. The first time I got behind the wheel after giving birth sans baby it felt like I had never driven before. I even wondered at the prudence of being on the road for the two miles it took to get to McDonald’s. Many of the things that once defined my existence – going to work, hitting the gym, having a few consequence-free drinks – were no longer part of it. I began to realize that the sooner I accepted that fact, the sooner I could get to know my new self without so heavily mourning the loss of my previous life.

• By month one: Get a new haircut (I have failed and continue to fail the completion of that task)
• By month three: Have a back-to-work wardrobe I feel good in
• By month five: Get a babysitter and go out with my husband for some guilt-free drinks
• By month seven: Buy something completely indulgent for myself and not feel bad about it (finances are going to be a little tight with daycare, so I’m giving this goal some time)
• By month ten: Be able to call myself a mother without thinking twice about it
• Within a year: Run a marathon (or at least a half-marathon.  If Amber Miller can do it while pregnant, I can do it after giving birth!)

I’m excited about who the new me is and who she can become. Having a baby is a perfect reason for reinvention, and I fully intend to take advantage of this maternal clean slate. I may have been a pushover, timid, and introverted in my past life, but I will happily become more aggressive and extroverted in this for the sake of my baby. New mamas we will persevere, and I’m willing to bet that we will be stronger, wiser, and more mommier than before that beautiful baby came along. At least that’s what I’m hoping for myself.

Johanna lives in Madison, WI with her husband, brand new baby boy, and his big brother – a yellow lab named Blue.  She is a full-time office monkey by day and an aspiring writer by night.  You can follow her trials and tribulations as a new mom here, or view more of her work here.

Whitney passed along this mama tip to me and now I’m telling you; if your baby is starting to skip that 10pm feeding and you want to stretch those sleeping hours to ones that are more convenient, try the dream feed. She says it didn’t work for them, but we used the dream feed technique for several months (on two different babies) and are ready to try it again.

Pssst, the Baby Whisperer also recommends it if her word is worth more to you.

Now, it takes a very steady hand and I never tried it myself because I had the lucky job of pumping during feeding time (consequently, Alec is the pro in our house) but here’s the deal:

1. Warm the bottle
2. Feed the baby while he sleeps — you don’t even have to rouse him from the crib
3. Now, you go to bed and enjoy the extra ZZZZ’s

Basically, the sucking reflex is so strong that Holden could down a 4 oz bottle (and later almost 6 oz!) while still sleeping. I think Alec played video games on his phone with his free hand.

I hear that some people are able to do a full-on nursing session without waking the baby this way.

Who wants to make me this sling and teach me how to use it? Based on these simple instructions, I’m pretty sure that I could sew a simple baby sling.

Baby is sleeping in the My Karma Sling (pattern)

According to the directions, all you need to make a “peanut shell” style sling is two yards of fabric and stuff that’s already in my little-used sewing box (like scissors, thread, needles, sewing machine, and an iron). Another simple set of sling instructions is on Instructables.com with photos.

As long as I had a helper like Whitney or my husband, I know I could handle the sewing. But who will teach me and Sawyer how to wear it?

Put away the maternity pants and take yourself out to Old Navy to get some interim jeans to make you feel normal. Go with a girlfriend you trust. Don’t look at the size, just find something flattering and comfortable.

DO NOT THINK ABOUT OR TALK ABOUT THE WEIGHT YOU ARE GOING TO LOSE IN THE FUTURE. Buy jeans to wear this week. When the day comes, you can put these in storage for the next time around, give them to a friend who is a few months behind you, or wear them when you paint that mural you’ve been talking about.

Related rant: Is that #3 in there?!

This is our 35th-ish (I’ve lost count!) weekly challenge for rookie moms. Not relevant to you right now? Choose a different challenge.

photo: Bethan on flickr.

When we have new babies in our lives, it’s easy to go into a self-imposed exile or quarantine, reading only sleep habits books and looking only at the baby. Of course, Whitney and I think that mama needs to leave the house and thus this site was born.

I read the story of how Vicky took her 6 week old daughter, Caitlin, to a bachelorette party at a casino and nodded with recognition (I flew from SFO to Chicago to attend one of my bff’s weddings when Holden was 3 weeks old, so I’m a little crazy). Her amazingly supportive husband, Dave, hung out with the bambino in one of the party rooms so that Vicky could go back and forth between the party and the breastfeeding.

Oh yeah, I would have done that. Maybe it’s awesome, or maybe it’s terrible, but if you don’t even try to go to your best friend’s party, won’t you always wish you did?

Read the logistics and details at SecretMomThoughts post “adventures.” Next time, Vicky, take a picture of you being all wild and not just baby and daddy hanging out.

What are some of the crazy places y’all have taken your infants? Any pregnant mamas with grandiose plans?

Related post: Play poker with your baby

Do you guys watch the show Modern Family? We love it.

The show’s credits show the family members holding frames with photos of the other family members inside. I was thinking what a cute holiday card photo this idea would make for grandparents, when I decided I’d like to do it myself.

Below, my sister is modeling our thirteenth weekly rookie mom challenge.

Take yourself to a place where you can pick up a large frame to hold in front of your body.  I suggest an Aaron Brothers, Target, Michael’s, or your local specialty frame shop.

Bring a friend to take your picture, ask a friendly stranger, or use your camera’s self-timer. If you are particular about photography, you might have a hard time with the fluorescent lights of a superstore. Together, Heather and I were bold enough to bring a frame that we had no intention of buying up to the front of the store where we were able to use the natural light coming in the front door, but the pictures are stuck on a camera for which I have no card reader.

Once you’ve got a photo of yourself with a large frame, how are you going to execute the layering of the two photos? Here are some suggestions:

1. Use Photoshop or ask a friend who has it and knows how to use it.
2. Print the pictures and use scissors and glue to get crafty. When you are done, you can scan the collage so that it’s back on your computer for sharing purposes. This will also give it a flatter, more complete look.
3. Try an online picture editing tool like SplashUp.com. If you are new to this type of program, the steps you’ll need to take are after the jump.

Make sure to share your photos with us when you complete the challenge

How to create a photo within a photo using Splash Up:

Go to File, Open, and browse for your photo. You may need to Zoom out to see what you’re doing. Below I have put a red circle around the Zoom function and the Rotate function in case you need to use either of those.

Now open a second image, the photo of your baby. Select the photo of the baby, copy and paste it onto the photo of yourself. Use the upper left button on the left sidebar that looks like a dotted rectangle (known as a marquee tool) to select the part of the photo you want to place in the frame. Use the Edit menu to find the “copy” option.

Go to your image of yourself and use the Edit menu to “paste” the baby’s photo.

Your baby’s photo is now a layer on top of the photo of you.

The two buttons you need to get the baby’s photo into just the right place are the arrow, which will allow you to drag the baby layer around and the rotate which will make tilting the photo possible. You might need to rotate the top layer to align it with the frame.

When the smaller photo is at the correct angle, click the “apply rotate” button at the top of the application.

To make any further adjustments to the background photo, you can use the layer window that is already displayed on the screen to toggle back and forth between which layer you are controlling.

So there’s your Week 13 challenge.

To re-cap:

1. Leave the house and head for a store that sells large frames.
2. Take a self-portrait without your baby in it.
3. Return home and make a collage either on the computer or by hand.
4. Post your photo on flickr.com (in the rookiemoms group), your own blog, or the Rookie Moms Facebook page.

Not ready for this yet? Start with our very first challenge.

Baby-friendly theaters? Yes, please.

We sure love our DVRs and Hulu, but refuse to give up on going to the theater. Did you know some theaters also have special showings for new parents? These showings have different names in different cities, but the idea that yours will not (most likely) be the loudest baby in the movie theater is the common thread.

Both of our firstborns were frequent attendees of “Baby Brigade” (now known as “Bringing Up Baby“) at the El Cerrito Theater during their first year.

Select theaters are participating in a program called Baby Pictures. Check the website to see if there is a baby movie showing in a city near you.

The Kerasotes chain in Illinois and Indiana offers Matinee Movie Magic. I thought I was pretty magical when I sat in a movie theater while doing my first in public breastfeeding (without crying!) when Julian was 5 weeks old. (This mistakenly led Heather, my 19-weeks pregnant escort, to believe that nursing is easy.)

Stroller matinees are a good early outing for freaked out new parents. Crying is totally allowed.

This is your ninth weekly rookie mom challenge. Even if you cannot find a mom and baby movie in your area, consider taking a risk on an 11 am showing. Heather and I brought baby Milo to Knocked Up while I was super pregnant with Scarlett. We saw the first show of the day and only one other person was in the theater. Milo stayed in his carseat for much of the movie and when he got sick of that, Heather held him up on her lap facing the movie.  The volume at the theater is much louder than any grunting or fussing that tiny babies do.

In LA, Monday Morning Mommy Movies weekly at 11:00 am at the Grove, Glendale, and Northridge.

In Portland, McMenamin’s Kennedy School hosts the occasional Mommy Matinee and for cheap!

Austin, TX has Baby Day Movie at Alamo Draft House Cinema (Tuesdays). Parents are allowed to bring infants into the movie for shows starting before 2:05 pm. (check website for movie times and location).

In San Francisco, realtor Jill Russo sponsors a monthly Mommy Movie on the second Thursday of each and every month. And it’s FREE!

Have you done this outing? Please tell us where!
Loved it or hated it?
Not quite ready for a movie? Pick a challenge from an earlier week.

photos: Grand Lake by ThomasHawk on flickr; theater interior Associated Press

While your baby is still small enough for the infant carrier, take advantage of your relative “freedom” to get your toenails done. We’ve experimented with many places and techniques and find this to be a favorite outing with (or without!) your baby.

Your challenge this week is to enjoy a pedicure and report back. This is your eighth challenge.

Scarlett is one week old

A pedicure is also a great first solo outing to leave the bambino with daddy for about an hour while everyone hopes for the best (and probably does awesome without you!).

Did you complete this challenge? Love it or hate it, tell us how it went:

• Comment below.
• Share a picture with us on Facebook.
• Name your destination on Twitter and use hashtag #rookiemoms.
• Or, link in the comments to your own blog post about this challenge.

Many yoga studios offer mom-and-baby classes. Search online for “post-natal yoga” and the name of your city to find one. This is your seventh weekly challenge.

Benefits of these classes include getting out of the house, being kind to your body, meeting other rookie moms, and sometimes learning a little bit of baby massage technique.

Sometimes there are “helpers” in the class who will hold a baby who needs some cuddling while mommy stretches. Our favorite pose is the one in which you just lie on the floor and do nothing. This is worth paying for.

I live in Berkeley, so keep that in mind when you read this excerpt from my personal blog, from an entry I posted when I went to postpartum yoga when Scarlett was 6 weeks old.

At this particular post-natal yoga class, each student’s station has a yoga mat for Mom and a cozy pillowy bed for baby. A bottle of massage oil, a clean washcloth, and a soft toy are set up, right next to your yoga brick and strap. When Scarlett got fussy, I was offered my preferred brand of swaddling blanket, and once she was calmed, an extra set of arms to rock her to sleep while I downwarded my dog and saluted my sun. At some point during the class, the instructor says something about how special your baby is. One mom was told that she looked like she needed a hug, and given one.

If you’re more in the mood to mock yoga than to practice it, the book Mommy Yoga celebrates the contortions of every day life.

Either way, it’s your practice. Namaste!

Did you complete this challenge? Love it or hate it, tell us how it went:

• Comment below.
• Share a picture with us on Facebook.
• Name your destination on Twitter and use hashtag #rookiemoms.
• Or, link in the comments to your own blog post about this challenge.

When we look back in 25 years, we will marvel that our babies have become adults who drive cars and earn their own paychecks. (Here’s hoping!)

You probably have a baby book to track your bambino’s progress through the first year: sitting up, crawling, first tooth, and so on.

But how will you remember your rookie year? After all, it’s filled with important experiences that will one day make you a veteran mom, capable of coaching soccer, chaperoning school dances, and sending annoying e-mail reminders about unwritten thank-you notes.

Trust us: One day you’ll look back on the early days of motherhood and it will be hard to remember them. We’ve given you this chart to remind you that Mommy’s first full night of sleep is at least as important as baby’s first banana. These classic mama milestones are worth documenting: Rookie Moms Milestones [pdf]

[excerpted from The Rookie Mom's Handbook by Quirk Books]

Our challenge for you this week is slather your baby’s feet with paint and commemorate their tiny size. Many paint-your-own-pottery places know how to help you get cute baby footprints on plates and mugs. This is your sixth challenge.

My five-week old's blurry little feet in the hands of an expert

We made trivets (the cheapest pottery available was a flat tile). I recommend tackling the cheaper pieces instead of taking on the set of pasta bowls, but suit yourself.

At Berkeley’s Brushstrokes Studio, they have seen their fair share of Moms’ Group outings and newborns squishing their hands and feet into paint and onto ceramic and had a few tips for us:

1. Paint and stamp feet instead of hands because babies clench their fists when they freak out. (Also they stick their hands in their mouths with much greater ease! So, Yuck.)
2. If you’re going to decorate the piece, do that BEFORE waking up your baby, because your baby may freak out necessitating a hasty retreat.
3. If the little footprint is less than perfect, you can use a paintbrush to fill in missing toes.

Again, I will stress to you: Paint everything you want on your piece while baby sleeps (or friend holds him) then do the feet and race out the door, because he’s likely to be pissed off. My baby was super pissed.

No place near you for such an outing? Paint some tiles at home for the same outcome but no outing. Fun mom’s group brunch activity.

Did you complete this challenge? Love it or hate it, tell us how it went:

• Comment below.
• Share a picture with us on Facebook.
• Name your destination on Twitter and use hashtag #rookiemoms.
• Or, link in the comments to your own blog post about this challenge.