From the category archives:

Month 2

Go to the market for just one thing

January 31, 2011

The day my husband went back to work and left me and our bundle of joy alone for a full day, Whitney generously took the day off of work to show me the ropes of maternity leave. I accomplished three things under her tutelage: taking a walk, taking a nap, and buying one thing at [...]

How to behave: a Mom’s Group toolbox

January 25, 2011

Years ago, I went to my first mom’s group meeting, lugging my 5-week old in his bucket carseat. My c-section scar was still hurting when I lifted the seat and my breasts were so large from nursing that I felt unlike myself. Normally petite, abeit with C-cups passed down through many generations of voluptuous Russian [...]

Guest post on colic: 5 coping techniques for moms with fussy babies

December 21, 2010

1. Step away from the baby Make a list of all those well-meaning friends who say, “Let me know if you need help with anything.” Then call one of them, hand over your screaming child, and leave the house. Even if you are nursing, you’ll have a 90-minute window after a feeding. Go get your [...]

Activity #120: Find a mentor mom

November 11, 2010

My friend Samantha (mom of twins!) said to me, “the most experienced mom is the one who is six to eight months ahead of you in parenthood; any bigger gap than that and they’ve forgotten what you’re going through.” As a new mom of a little wobbly baby, I woulda thought 2 to 3 weeks [...]

Ariana’s Fearless Friday

October 1, 2010

Woohoo! It’s our first Fearless Friday post. (Send in your own; instructions are here.) Without further ado, Ariana shares her Adventures of One Very Small Boy and One Rookie Mom: I gave birth to our first child, Lars Magnus, on May 11, 2010. Since then upstate NY has been unbearably hot. I like to think [...]

Breastfeeding resources for rookies

September 6, 2010

Annie (@phdinparenting) compiled an extremely helpful list of go-to references for nursing moms and moms-to-be. She has been blogging about the art and science of parenting at the PhD in Parenting Blog since May 2008. Nursing mom picture via flickr christyscherrer Here are Annie’s top six resources: Kellymom: Kellymom is the one of the most [...]

Kristi and Nora’s Very Rookie Summer

August 20, 2010

We’re happy to share the eighth edition of our Very Rookie Summer series. Kristi is sharing three short stories (the final one is a love story) about a great big green ball. Her daughter, Nora, is 6 weeks old. They live in smokin’ hot North Carolina. She blogs at Here we go… This story is [...]

Erin’s Two Very Rookie Summers

July 30, 2010

Time for the fifth edition of our Very Rookie Summer series. Erin Goettsch shares two different days from her life as mom including her lessons learned the hard way taking a baby swimming. Baby Nathan taught his mama how to treat a baby at the pool; baby Anneliese benefited. Read more from Erin at her [...]

Activity #347: Photograph a nasty crying jag

May 17, 2010

Argh! A crying infant. It breaks my heart a little every time… I’m going to give him four minutes and then go in there and let him out of the crib for a while. Ok, but first, I’m going to take his picture. That might piss him off more, but that will work for this [...]

Activity #84: Smile

April 30, 2010

I have heard — and totally believe — that babies give their first real smiles right when you don’t think you can go another day without one (like you’re starting to joke about how you want to leave junior out by the dumpster, ha ha?). When your baby smiles, praise him and smile back to [...]

Activity #564: Reduce postpartum stress

March 25, 2010

Amongst my memories of high school, some of my fondest are laughing so hard that I cried (mostly in inappropriate situations, such as Psychology class or Yom Kippur services). One of the people who was frequently responsible for this behavior is Alison, pictured below. I was not at all surprised to learn that, as an [...]

Activity #566: Find out who else is up all night

March 22, 2010

Though it might feel like it, you’re not the only ones up all night. Find the places that are open all night and who will deliver to your home; keep a running and accessible list of nearby pharmacies, grocery stores, take-out joints, etc. and have these numbers readily available. Program these fantastic vendors into your [...]

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