Allow me to share the ninth installment of our Very Rookie Summer series.

Bec is just beyond the official definition of being a “true rookie” mom to her son Ben. Ben is a whopping 13 months old. She is sharing the story of their rookie camping trip together on Vancouver Island at Rathtrevor Provincial Park.

For even more details about the camping trip (and the rest of Bec’s life), see www.becshulba.blogspot.com.

I have a 13 month old, Ben.  My husband, son, and I were camping with friends and their children, ages 5, 3, and 16 months.  Because camping was their idea, I figured they were pros.  I wanted to appear to be a pro myself therefore, packed enough food for 7 days instead of the intended 2 days and packed a suitcase full of clothes for each of us.

Unfortunately, this only made me look more disorganized when I could never find what I was looking for. Thankfully, I soon discovered that our friends had only camped with their brood once previously.  Phew.  The (imagined) pressure was off.

We spent most of each day at the beach, building sand piles and driftwood forts, finding baby crabs, and unintentionally filling diapers with said sand.

Despite my son’s excitement for beach activities, I brought him back to our campsite for his naps twice each day.  Each nap, he lay down in his pack-and-play and slept immediately which was a big surprise to me – but being outside is tiring for little ones!  During the toddlers’ afternoon naps, my friend had her 3 and 5 year olds bring out their backpacks with their chosen toys.  She laid out a blanket in the forest next to our campsite for them to play on and we hung out in our folding chairs.  The shade of the trees was perfect change of pace for the heat of the afternoon.

Unfortunately, sleeping at night was not as easy. 20 – 30 minutes of crying to go sleep the first night.  Our friends’ toddler cried for even longer one night when she went down.  Leaving a baby to cry-it-out in a campsite is total stress. What we found, however, is that they eventually do go to sleep.  We were camping in a camper on the back of pick-up truck.  The pack-and-play was set up with a little path to our bed.

When it came time for us to sneak in to our camper, our friends whipped out glow-sticks!  As it turns out, glow sticks (you can a pack of them for a couple dollars at Michael’s or Wal-Mart) are the best kind of night-light for camping!  They’re not bright but in the pitch dark, they’re all you need.  Even though we took our glowsticks and tried our best to get into the camper bed quietly, Ben woke up.  He definitely seemed scared of the shadowy shapes carrying tiny beams of coloured light so I quickly picked him up and assured him it was his mommy.  I gave him a comfort bottle in hopes to resume drowsiness but no such luck.  Wailing ensued.  At 11:30pm in a campground.  If I had thought crying at a 7pm bedtime was stressful, it was nothing compared to this.  Now, I’d read many a blog post and heard from many a friend that when they were camping, their kid ended up sleeping in their bed with them.  While I could never quite imagine this working with my baby boy, I pulled him out of the playpen and popped him in between my husband and I.  Terrible idea.  I don’t know who these kids are who lay down and sleep between their parents when camping and they are not Ben.  Ben was instantly full of giggles and energy.  Back into the playpen he went.  Yes.  We let him cry it out at 11:30pm with our friends camping right next to us and the sound carrying far and clear to many a campsite nearby.  Sigh.  But he fell asleep.

Both mornings that we were camping, Ben woke up between 5:30 – 6am.  After bad sleeps, this was way too early but it got me up and going for a half hour walk each day.  And thankfully, this campsite has a Nature House that also sells Organic Salt Spring Island Coffee…mmm…

So, camping with a toddler – was it worth it? I didn’t even tell you the “how do we clean the sand off this baby?” story!  Let’s just say that we made some memories and I’m sure we will be back but maybe we’ll wait a year or two until next time so we know that he will actually remember it too.  :)

If you’re ever in British Columbia, Canada, more specifically on Vancouver Island, I would highly recommend Rathtrevor Provincial Park as a place to camp with children. The bathrooms are clean and have showers. There is not only forest to play in but beautiful beaches with both rocks and sand. The water that comes out of the taps is drinkable. These are all must-haves in my book when camping with wee ones.

Related Rookie Moms Posts:

• Activity #152: Go camping
• What to Wear: toddler camping version
• Find your own glow sticks or glow bracelets on Amazon

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 about the Giant Green Miracle Ball (also known as Exercise ball, Core strengthening ball, Balance ball, or Birthing ball but to us it will always be the Giant Green Miracle Ball of Goodness). Call it what you want.  THIS lone item has saved my sanity over the past six weeks since Nora was born. Let me explain.

The first time I was introduced to one of these balls, it was a core strengthening ball. Some fanatical dare-I-say-PERKY class instructor at the gym introduced it as a miracle tool which would help our balance, strengthen our cores, and basically give us all the abs of a bikini-clad 18 year old model.  She then led us through 25 minutes of crunches in every possible position imaginable: sitting on top of the ball, reclining with our upper backs and shoulders on the ball, holding the ball between our knees while lifting our legs in the air and crunching up to transfer the ball to our hands (don’t even try to picture that last one; it took coordination that I do not possess).

I hated the ball that day.  I hated the ball the next day.  And I’m sad to say that me and my almost-30-year-old-abs hated that ball the third day after the class also.

The second time I was introduced to one of these balls, it was birthing ball. The lovely woman who taught our childbirth classes at the hospital taught me that sitting on the ball during labor could help with the pain of contractions (something about distributing pressure evenly across my back).  This lovely woman told me a lot of LIES about childbirth… (Trust me – this was one of the things I yelled about while I was pushing…that this woman LIED TO ME!!  I have yet to determine whether it was on purpose or whether she has the absolute WORST case of placenta brain known to man) …BUT…BUT…BUT… she was right about the birthing ball.

I sat on a birthing ball for several hours during my 33 1/2 hours of labor.  It did magically help with the pain of the contractions.  Okay crazy woman, ONE correct piece of advice to 47 LIES. Deep breaths…therapy session on Tuesday…moving on…

The third time I was introduced to one of these balls, it was a miracle ball. A woman leading our infant care class casually mentioned that her giant “miracle ball” had saved her sanity during the first few months after her child was born.  She claimed that holding her baby close while sitting and bouncing on the ball stopped her baby from fussing when nothing else would.  I made a mental note of this comment and went right back to taking notes and wondering how in the world we were going to handle an infant.

Fast forward to two weeks after Ms. Nora was born.  Don’t get me wrong, she is a good baby, but like any baby, there are times that she cannot be soothed.  We tried everything those first few weeks: swaddling, shushing, singing, and there were times that nothing would work.

Finally I remembered the “miracle ball” idea, so we ran right out and bought one.  Four weeks later, not a single day has passed without Nora and me bouncing on that ball.  And you know what?

IT WORKS.  Oh my goodness it works.

I would estimate that 95% of the time, Nora calms down almost immediately once we start bouncing, and then 70% of the time, she is asleep within five minutes of bouncing.  Yes, there are still a few times when she is inconsolable, but anything with a 95% success rate deserves a blog post in my book!  I LOVE this ball.  I will seriously be giving these “Giant green miracle balls of goodness” as baby shower gifts from this point on.  I’m not saying that this is a solution for every baby, but for us, it is probably the single most useful item that we currently own.

So again, call it what you want.  Use it for whatever devious, weird, or useful purpose that you want.  I will call mine a Giant Green Miracle Ball of Goodness, and I will use it to soothe my sometimes fussy baby.

Related Rookie Moms Activities

• Activity #19: Bounce it out
• Activity #210: Roll, bounce (more uses for the yoga ball)
• Buy a yoga ball miracle ball from Amazon.

Voila, the seventh edition of our Very Rookie Summer series!

Jessica is a rookie mom deep in the middle of her first year in Alabama. Her sidekick is six-month old Holden (great name!). She chronicles their adventures at her blog, Mother of a Homegrown Kid.

As a new mom getting the baby out of the house isn’t the scary part. I love packing him up and driving around. It’s the out in public part that worries me. I never know when he might have a meltdown or an explosive diaper. We’ve been taking him out to eat with us since he was two weeks old without any problems but suddenly at five months he became a different baby in public.

Instead of quietly observing the world around him, he wants to be a part of it. He wants to play and show strangers that he can sit up (mostly) on his own. He wants people to smile at him and he wants to interact with the world around him. His dad isn’t worried about these things at all. His dad faces things head-on and so I am following his lead, putting on a brave face, and going on adventures.

Zoo Babies
We have been on several this summer including a trip to the zoo and a day at the lake. I think I enjoyed the zoo more than Holden or his dad did but he did pay attention to the always entertaining monkeys and several large birds. I particularly enjoyed a mother and daughter pair of elephants and the family of giraffes.

Mama and baby elephant

It was really neat to watch how animal mothers interact with their offspring. I’ve never paid much attention before but I found myself getting teary-eyed comparing animal mother and baby pairs.

My zoo baby

Holden fell asleep about halfway through the zoo but we continued on in the heat and really enjoyed the day. Wearing him around added to the heat but I think he liked being higher up than he would have been in a stroller. He was also comfortable in a new environment having me so close.

Lake Swim
Our latest venture was to the lake for a swim. Holden’s first ever swim to be exact. I was a little nervous but mostly excited about swimming and spending a family day at the lake. We bought a float that wasn’t nearly as cool as it looked on the box but served it’s purpose for the day. I covered the baby in sunblock and passed him over to his dad to introduce him to the water.

He absolutely loved being in the water and in his float

To our surprise he immediately smiled, laughed, and kicked his little legs! We had so much fun floating him around and later playing in the shallow water. He splashed and laughed most of the day. It was great and I’m glad we went. We’ll definitely be swimming a lot more this summer.

I’m looking forward to the rest of our summer and hoping that we find many more adventures that we’re brave enough to try!

Related Rookie Mom Activities:
Activity #96: Go swimming
Activity #257: Meow, bark and tweet at the pet store (a free alternative to the zoo for little ones!)

Presenting the sixth installment of our Very Rookie Summer series.

Nicole sent us a photo essay of her walk on the wild side, a hike with baby Reagan in a Florida Nature Preserve.

My husband and I took our nine-month old baby girl, Reagan, to The Enchanted Forest (A local nature preserve in Florida) to hike through the woods; she strolled and we walked.

There were many trails to choose from so we picked carefully to be home in time for nap.

Reagan enjoying the hike

Reagan talked and babbled for most of the hike.  I think she really enjoyed seeing something other than the same old houses in our neighborhood.

Daddy and Reagan make a plan

Related Rookie Mom Activities:
5 Super Green Baby Activities
Activity #153 Take a hike
Activity #503: Start raising a treehugger

Read more from Nicole at her blog Running the Marathon of Life

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 blog, Happy Noise.

Erin calls her post “A tale of two rookie summer swims”

I come from a family of swimmers. We swim. It’s our thing. If you want to be one of us, you have to swim too. True story.

My siblings and I were “pool rats” growing up, and I haven’t quite been able to shake off that awesome feeling of the sun on my shoulders and the water on my skin. (And, no, it’s not just because the weightless sensation of being underwater makes me feel mucho mom-skinny.) There’s almost no better way for me to pass the summer days than in the water, enjoying the sunshine.

So when I had kids I was (of course) determined to have them be little swimmers too. Don’t you love it when we moms get these hare-brained ideas about how to project our own likes and wants onto our children? Yeeeeeah. Needless to say, I failed on many counts with my rookie baby, Nathan (now three):

1. We went to a lake instead of a pool. Even though we’re in Raleigh, smack dab in the middle of the south, the water was cold. Really cold. Do you know any newborns who like really cold water? Yeah I don’t either. Including Nathan.
2. He was only six weeks old. Old enough to know he doesn’t like cold water, too young to enjoy intentionally splashing in it. This is not the right age to teach a baby all the reasons swimming is rockin’ awesome.
3. We went right between dinner and bedtime. This was before I grasped what every mom (probably since caveman days) knows about the hours between 5pm and 7pm: they are evil. Even as a rookie mom, I should have known better. Needless to say, he wasn’t in a great mood. (I’m stating that as delicately as possible.)
4. I wore a workout racing swimsuit. Which, in case you’re curious, is quite possibly the worst. breastfeeding. outfit. ever. I ended up nursing, basically topless, in the front seat of my car while both Nathan and I soaked through the upholstery. Fail.
5. We went alone. Well, I had a non-mom friend there, but not Daddy. And when your baby is six weeks old, don’t attempt major outings (or major firsts!) without Daddy. It just isn’t worth it.

Baby Nathan hates the water

The result of his rookie swim? He hated it. In case the picture leaves any room for doubt. But the good news is, he was able to put the trauma behind him and now he loves swimming. So, he’s a keeper.

My second child, Anneliese, was born in October. This year is my “take two” of the rookie mom summer. And baby’s first swim went much better this time around:

1. We went to a pool. The water was still cool, but not bone-chillingly so. Also there was a baby pool and splash area. Full of other moms. Let the befriending and playdate-planning commence! Pool > lake, at least for the first swim! (There’s some rookie mom math for you.)
2. Anneliese was just shy of eight months old. Definitely of the age when kicking and splashing are fun. Also, old enough to be distracted from the chilly water by funny faces from her big brother. Also, old enough to look really really really cute in her first swimsuit. And isn’t a cute suit half the fun of the first swim? Drink in the compliments, mommies.
3. We went around lunchtime (AKA before naptime). Some more rookie mom math: Swimming + a “picnic” lunch (baby food in a plastic tub, no glass allowed!) + sunshine = best naptime ever. Works every time. Every time.
4. I wore a cute towel dress cover-up over my swimsuit. It wraps around and velcros in the front, plus has button-on shoulder straps. It’s a dream for breastfeeding at the pool (assuming you don’t want to get topless, which, while totally within your right, might not sound any more fun to you than it does to me). Baby can just tuck in a drink up, and the coverup stays on even when the swimsuit comes down. Sure, you could buy a nursing suit. But, I’m cheap. And my towel dress also hides my baby belly for those times when it’s not experiencing one of those weightless moments underwater.
5. Daddy was there. And an uncle too! Last piece of rookie mom math for the day: outnumbering the kids with grownups is just good sense. Lots of help with feeding, changing, splashing, and playtime.


Baby Anneliese is having a blast with Erin

Swimming is a great way to spend your rookie summer! Beats the heat, wears out the baby , and it can be a great way to meet other new moms! Just… learn from my rookie mistakes, mmkay? And do it right.

Related Rookie Mom Activities:
Activity #96: Go swimming

Ready for the fourth momoir in our Very Rookie Summer series?

Deb and baby Leah at the bowling alley last month

Our pal Deb shares a blow-by-blow(-out) account of her day with baby Leah. We appreciate the geeky attention to detail as well has her sense of humor in this mega-did-do-list.

A Day in the Life of a Almost 3-Month Old in San Francisco

7:30am: Leah wakes up after sleeping for 9 hours – a new record! She usually sleeps from 10/11pm until about 6/7am or from 10/11pm until 4/5am and then again until 7/8am. Yes, I know that we’re very, very lucky. Leah still sleeps in our room in a pack and play. Today I unswaddle her before going to the bathroom, giving her bum a few more minutes to wake up before changing her diaper–it sometimes comes to life a few minutes after the rest of her. My husband Elliott hasn’t left for work yet and is on the couch watching the World Cup, so he gets up to change her diaper.

7:45am: Breastfeed Leah on the couch while watching the game, although I would usually feed her in bed in the morning. She eats on and off for about half an hour and spits up a bit on her shirt (which is typical). While feeding, I remember a dream from last night: I went back to work for a visit and got pulled into a meeting that made me 2 hours late for Leah’s feeding. It was my first work anxiety dream since she was born. Let’s hope this doesn’t become a pattern!

8:30am: Change Leah into dry clothes and change diaper again. Pump out the rest of the breast milk to freeze for when I go back to work. I have about 30 bags in the freezer to date. The US team scores its game-winning goal and I get to see it live. I love maternity leave.

9:00am: Leah starts to get her crank on, so I put her down in her crib without a pacifier to take her first morning nap. As a general rule, we try to make sure that she isn’t up for more than two hours at a time.

9:01am: Leah cries so I give her the pacifier. She is asleep 30 seconds later.

9:02am: Make a cup of Ritual Roasters 1/2 caffeinated & 1/2 decaffeinated coffee. The half caffeine is for me, the decaf for Leah.

9:30am: After talking to Rookie Mom Whitney for a few minutes about the guest blogger assignment, hop in the shower while Leah sleeps in her crib in the other room. I keep the monitor in the bathroom so I can hear her if she cries. Leah is usually in her bouncer in the bathroom while I shower to steam out her boogery nose, but I didn’t want to wake her from her nap. Daily showering is a top priority for me and helps me feel like “normal” person. I am proud to report that I have taken a shower every day since she was born.

9:45am: Leah wakes up just as I am about to sit down at the computer to start today’s log. How does she always know when I’m about to try to get something done? I plop her in her bouncer and she plays with the attached wooden toy for a few minutes. She gets fussy a few minutes later, but the return of the pacifier soothes her instantly. I can’t help wondering whether I use the pacifier too often, but I don’t see the harm in anything that makes both of us happy. It’s not like she’s 12 years old sucking on a pacifier — she’s only 12 weeks! No offense to those of you whose parenting strategy involves giving pacifiers to your 12-year-olds.

10:20am: Clean out Leah’s stuffed up nose with the Nosefrida, this crazy contraption that helps me extract boogers from her nose more quickly and effectively than a bulb syringe. She screams her head off, but I promise her that I only suck the boogers out because I love her. Continue expression of love by changing diaper.

10:30am: Breastfeed Leah to stay on three-hour eating schedule. She remains relatively still and I manage to read a few pages of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.

11:05am: Doorbell rings and I am hoping that it’s FedEx making its 3rd attempt to deliver a mystery package for Leah because I really don’t want to have to go and pick it up. I gently pull her off of me while hollering “I’ll be right there” in the general direction of the front door. I manage to make it before the guy leaves. The package is an adorable 18M outfit from Elliott’s cousins in L.A. I begin to think about what she’ll be like when she’s big enough to fit into these new clothes.

11:20am: Shovel down breakfast and dry my hair.

12:00pm: Change diaper again and drive to meet work friends for lunch in Potrero Hill. Planned on leaving at 11:45am to allow time to get gas but don’t make it out the door in time. Oh well. Good thing we have a hybrid that gets great gas mileage.

Portable baby in Potrero Hill

12:15pm: Arrive at restaurant for lunch. Leah wakes up briefly for my friends to meet her and then proceeds to sleep through the rest of the meal on a chair in her car seat. Discuss work/life balance with friends who happen to be mothers of a one-year old and a 9-month old.

1:30pm: Get home just in time for her next feeding. Double check diaper before feeding her. Catch up on email and Facebook on my iPhone while feeding.

2:15pm: Play with Leah while she wiggles on the couch. Try tummy time with and without a pillow. She doesn’t really care for either but found the pillow the lesser of the two evils. Change diaper.

Leah gets her core work out

2:45pm: Plop her on a blanket near the computer so I can work on a contract for a nanny.

3:00pm: Mail arrives and includes my first State of California PFL check (Paid Family Leave). Cha-ching!

3:10pm: Leah starts to get her fuss on, so I put her in a sleep sack and down for a nap in her crib. She wakes up 5 minutes later so I put her pacifier back in and put a sweater over both her bare arms and the rest of the sack. It looks ridiculous but her arms and hands felt cold and it was easier to put the sweater on over the sack than to take everything off. Convenience prevails over fashion.

3:45pm: Leah wakes up from her nap so I bring her into the bedroom where I am going through my dresser. I am out of all of my maternity clothes and am ready to store them down in the garage. I’m not sure whether I am taller or my pants are lower, but all of a sudden several of my older shirts seem a lot shorter than I remember. I set a few favorites aside before putting them in the out pile. (Tonight, hubby will opine that my lactating boobs are the reason my shirts are too short. I set them aside in the maybe pile rather than the out pile in case he is right.)

4:30pm: Just as I start feeding Leah, a friend calls from San Diego. Leah eats a bit but would rather play. She also farts quite a bit but has not pooped for 24 hours. I begin to fear the inevitable poo-splosion.

5:45pm: After a bit more playing, Leah gets a diaper change and goes down for a nap.

6pm: Elliott gets home from work. We wanted to go on a walk but don’t want to wake the baby. Leah, if you’re reading this please wake up.

6:15pm: Decide that Leah is not going to wake up so I go to the gym while Elliott stays home to babysit.

6:20pm: Leah wakes up 5 minutes after I leave. Of course.

7:15pm: I get home from the gym and pump while Elliott gives Leah her nightly bottle. We introduced a bottle of breast milk at week 3 and she has had at least one bottle every day since. We try to make sure her second-to-last feeding of the day is a bottle so we know that she is eating enough. My theory is that if she eats enough close to bed time she’ll sleep longer at night. Not sure if it’s actually true but if I believe it and she sleeps well, that’s good enough for me.

8:00pm: The much-anticipated poo-splosion arrives. Fortunately, nobody is injured!

8:10pm: Skype with Leah’s aunt in LA.

8:30pm: Leah snoozes on and off while we watch The Bachelorette on DVR. Yes, it’s garbage TV but we’re brain dead by the end of the day. Leah used to be very wakeful between 7 and 10pm but recently started taking naps in the early evening. I imagine at some point this will merge with her night sleep. I hope we don’t have to do formal sleep training, but we’ll see how it goes.

10:00pm: Elliott changes diaper for bedtime and I feed Leah for the last time in our bed. After she is done, I swaddle her and put the little wiggle worm down for a (finger’s crossed!) good night’s sleep so we can do it all over again tomorrow!

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Related Rookie Moms Tips & Activities:
Activity #24: Encourage daddy time and relax already
Activity #243: Pump it up (support for working the breast pump)
Activity #212: Interrupt someone’s work day
Activity #46: Take a shower (you can do it every day!)
Activity #135: Host a webcast

Allow me to present the third installment of our Very Rookie Summer series.

Elizabeth shares two different days from her life with baby Zaida that are seven weeks apart. We love her stories for reminding us so fully of what a difference a few weeks not-quite-two months can make in the life of a rookie mom. They live in Chapel Hill, NC.

You can follow along her daily musings on twitter/efriend if you “want up-to-the-minute updates about my thoughts on important things like pie (like it) and heat (don’t).”

Elizabeth calls her Very Rookie Summer adventures “Compare & Contrast”

My daughter Zaida was three weeks old when I decided to go to N.C. Maker Faire in late April. A festival of DIY nerds seemed like good family fun, so we rookie parents piled everything we could think of in to our gigantic diaper bag and hauled ourselves out of the house.

The crafts were great and the people were friendly, but the whole event was such a mistake from a new mom point of view. The building was hot and crowded, and I bumped into so many people with my new stroller that I eventually had to put it away. Even with our over-stuffed diaper bag, we were unprepared. With no sling, wrap or baby carrier at hand, I was stuck cradling baby in my arms the entire time. I spent the afternoon tired, thirsty and more than half-starved. When it came time to nurse, I couldn’t find any where quiet and comfy to sit. I found myself leaning against the bathroom wall trying to nurse standing up, draped in a hooter hider and sweltering in the heat.

A very blond, very Southern woman smiled at me sympathetically, “Y’know, you don’t have to hide in the bathroom, hon. These folks won’t mind.” I knew she was right, but all I could do was stammer, “Um, I’m not there yet.” She shrugged, and told me to do what ever felt comfortable.

I was weighing the physical discomfort of nursing in the bathroom against my fears of nursing in public when the Southern lady returned with a folding chair and a bottle of water. “Here ya go hon, you take these. We need to look after our new moms, y’all are workin’ so hard.”

I was so grateful I burst into tears.

I don’t have any pictures from that afternoon, but I doubt any are necessary. Rookie moms already know what tired desperation looks like.

Compare that to the afternoon, seven weeks later, when we toured the studio of the local NPR affiliate, WUNC 91.5 FM, and attended Carlabration, a celebration of NPR’s elder statesman Carl Kassell. The situation was not so different from the one that went so badly two months before- the venue was crowded, the weather even hotter- but this time I was prepared.

Here I am with Zaida (10 weeks) enjoying the show

I brought water and a snack, and we were ready should the stroller prove too cumbersome. When it came time to nurse I peeled off from the tour group to ask a staff member if I could use a quiet office. I think she was more flummoxed by the request than I, but she led me to a out-of-the-way spot where I fed my baby in a comfy armchair and Dad changed a diaper on the floor. The afternoon went so well we stayed for bluegrass and sandwiches. People complimented us on our sweet, well-behaved baby, and we felt like accomplished parents.

The lesson learned: persevere. Don’t let one bad outing keep you in the house for the rest of the summer- get out and share the world with your little one! Also, bring water; it’s hot out there.

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Related Rookie Mom Posts:
Activity #191: Put your own oxygen mask on first
Activity #521: Survive breastfeeding
Dad’s Eye View of the Maker Faire [From (510) Families]

Voila! It’s the second installment of our Very Rookie Summer series.

Baby S.A. is 9 months old and lives in Nashville, TN with his parents, Alana and Dan, who wrote it to share two summer adventures with us.

Swimming at the YMCA outdoor pool.

This one seems obvious, but I think a lot of new moms are afraid to take their baby into a pool. We started taking our son, S.A., to the Y pool when he was 6 months old. We wanted him to feel comfortable in water. He is now 9 months old and loves the pool (and bath time too!). I put on his UV shirt, swim diaper and trunks, grab sun screen and a sippy cup of water and we’re ready to go.

Since we live in the city (Nashville, TN) and don’t have our own pool, going to the Y is a great way to cool off during the summer and build community. I always see other moms from the neighborhood or our church at the Y pool. And if you’re not currently a YMCA member, you can always sign up for just the summer.

Summer hair cut.

I was hesitant to cut my 9 month old’s hair, but it was getting kinda wild and uneven. After some coaxing by my mom, my husband and I decided to give S.A. a summer haircut. I broke out the scissors and went to town.

It was an easy process since we sat him in the Bumbo and used scissors instead of the loud, scary clippers. He didn’t even realize what was going on. I cut off FOUR precious inches of hair {and of course saved some locks for his baby book} and now he looks like a big boy!

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More from Alana (aka Nala): She blogs at nalasmagic.typepad.com.

Related Rookie Mom Activities:

Activity #96: Go swimming
Activity #559: Use Bumbo seats for a photo shoot

Leonora Pitts shares her adventures with eight-week old Willa. They live in Atwater Village, Los Angeles. Her infant blog is Butter and Whiskey. We can’t thank her enough for kicking off our Very Rookie Summer series with her story.

My baby girl, Willa, was born eight weeks ago. Inspired by the Rookie Moms book and desperate to stave off the encroaching baby blues, I decided when she was about three-and-a-half weeks old to have an adventure a day with her.

In the short weeks since she’d made her debut, she’d been out to dinner a couple times:

Willa and her mumma at Kuma Sushi with her papa, where mumma had a beer her first raw fish since pregnancy and loved it

We’d gone to the grocery store twice. The first time, I heard the Beatles’ “She’s Leaving Home” playing over the PA. When I was a little girl, I caught my father crying while this song played. I asked him what was wrong and he said, simply, “I don’t like this song.” I didn’t get it until I found myself sobbing in the aisles of Whole Foods, thinking about my tiny growing up and leaving me (in sixty years). A kind woman with a seven-year-old stopped to make sure I was okay and gave me a hug, once again reminding me of this incredible, ancient tribe every woman joins as soon as she becomes a mother.

But those adventures were few and far between and I found myself starting to sink. Once we decided to have our adventure a day, however, the cobwebs blew off, my energy returned, she started sleeping much better, and I fell in love with her like it was the first day.

Our adventures can be small, like going to the The Village Bakery up the road in Atwater Village for a latte and a chat, or a little more grand, like Mommy and Me Movies (I don’t know which was more of a challenge: changing her on the floor of a movie theater after an enormous poop explosion soaked through her clothes and on to me, or suffering through the enormous poop explosion that was Killers. Toss up.). We always have fun, and at the very least, I know I’ve showered and put on big girl clothes and gotten out of the house.

Our biggest adventure to date happened last weekend. My parents came into town, and in an effort to make them believe I am The Most Incredible Mother Ever, we packed up and started our adventure. After a nice lunch, we went to Los Angeles’s Museum of the West, which is having an exhibition all about Women in the West.

We were excited to find the museum displaying a first edition of Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather, the great feminist writer from the Prairie for whom our daughter is named (favorite quote: “The fact that I was a girl never damaged my ambitions to be a pope or an emperor.”).

first edition of Willa's book

Willa slept through most of the afternoon

I just love this, thats all

I saw so many moms of kids of all ages at the museum that it occurred to me what a great adventure museums are. For my infant, she’s strapped in or in the stroller and I feel like I’m very grown up, learning a lot, and feeling like myself. Older kids seemed really engaged and enjoying themselves with their mums.

After an hour or so at the museum, we went to Sears to look at stoves. A trip to Sears is not necessarily that exciting, but I did face a big fear while there: Willa had a meltdown, and I knew the only thing I could do was nurse her. So I did! Right there in the outdoor furniture display:

Nursing at Sears in the outdoor furniture display. Oh Hooter Hider, you are amazing!

So Willa had her first trip to a museum and I nursed her in the middle of the Glendale Sears. That would count as two adventures, I think. I was so tired by the end of the day that I skipped dinner and went to bed at eight.

The following day was by far the biggest hurdle we’ve leapt. We left our Wee’un for longer than an hour for the first time. I was so nervous I couldn’t eat, and I had pumped what felt like constantly, terrified that she would get hungry, with nothing to eat, and I would be way out in Malibu, and she would cry until she was hoarse, and she might get sick, and my parents wouldn’t know what to do and would be mad at me….

I pulled it together and I have to say, it felt pretty amazing to get all gussied up so soon after having our baby:

Yes, we match, and yes, its on purpose.

At the wedding, I couldn’t stop thinking about my Wee Willa. I was getting sweet updates from my mom and dad, telling me all about the adventures she was having without me, like a long walk, a stop by our local taco stand and ice cream shop, and bottles! And napping! And being just fine even though I wasn’t there!

Meanwhile, I cut a rug and caught up with my girlfriends and felt pretty and loved seeing one of my closest friends marry the man of her dreams.

The baby was never far from my mind, however. At one point, I thought about going home and nursing her and I actually got butterflies in my tummy. Butterflies. I said to my husband, “I just thought about Willa and got butterflies, like I used to get with you!”

That was pretty mean.

We made up

I told my friend Gillian, who had her first baby son ten months ago, about the butterflies. She said, “That’s because you’re in love.” And even now, four days later, writing that has made me cry like I’m in a Whole Foods listening to “She’s Leaving Home.”

We were gone for ten hours, and the baby did more than great. And I did okay. The next day we sent my parents back to North Dakota, sadly, and started our adventures all over again.

—
Related Rookie Mom Activities:

• Activity #80 Go to the Market (crying optional)
• Activity #226: Pretend you’re in Europe
• Activity #87: Go to the theater where crying is allowed
• Activity #460: Observe Fearless Friday
• Tips for nursing in public

Is this your first year of motherhood? No experience? A true rookie? Where will you be going with your baby? To Mazatlan or to the mall? Either way, we’re interested in your adventure– and so are other moms who are trying to figure out how to fill their days.

This one time? at band camp? In a movie theater? My 7-week old’s diaper leaked up to his neck and I had to strip him naked on the floor of the theater. ~ True story by Rookie Mom Whitney

We’ll post a different mom’s contribution each week until Summer is over.

Beginner’s version: Tell us about one thing you did with your baby. Include a picture and tell us where you were when you took it.

Advanced version: Describe your activities, big and little. Tell us where you went and what you did. Feel free to name specific destinations so that moms in your neighborhood can discover them. If you need inspiration, browse the Rookie Mom archives by the age of your baby and incorporate one of those missions.

To play along, email your story to moms@rookiemoms.com and put “A Very Rookie Summer” in the subject line. Attach one or more pictures of your very adorable sidekick. Bonus points if you’re in the picture. Don’t forget to include how old your child is and where you live. And a Twitter handle if you have one.