Baby 101

Babies are so wonderful. They are so innocent and their smiles melt your heart.

It is generally pretty easy to care for them. Make sure they're fed, dry and have had enough sleep and they are usually happy as can be.

BUT, what about when they cry?
I think the hardest thing as a parent is hearing your child cry. Oh sure, I know it's okay,and even healthy for them to cry. But that doesn't make it any easier to endure.

So the big mystery then, is WHY they are crying. First you rule out the basic three causes for crying: hungry, wet or tired. After that, it's anybody's guess.

I'm a fixer. I like to know what is wrong, and fix it. There's an old joke that babies should come with a manual, and certainly there is enough advice and reading material out there on raising babies to make your head spin. But each baby is different, and thus, you are still left to your own common sense to figure things out.

Could it be???

teething
stomachache
overstimulated
colic
diarrhea
head cold
gas
fever
something mother ate being passed through the milk
something baby ate
Sometimes it's obvious. You can take a temperature for fever, or she'll cough and have a runny nose with a cold. Other times I think we just guess to make ourselves feel better. Like we might actually have an idea what's going on. For example, Stan comes home and ask how Miriam was today and I say she was a bit grumpy. So to make it sound like I know what I'm doing as a parent, I say "I think she's teething." (Just so you know, you can always use teething as a cause, even if the tooth doesn't show up for months).

Miriam had a rash show up the other day.
Was it???

an allergic reaction to her new lotion, rice cereal, any number of other things?
chicken pox

Our first inclination was chicken pox, since she had been exposed to them by her cousins at Christmas. But they were only on her arms and legs, and not the torso as it is said they most commonly appear.
So we examined her daily.

Day two, spots still there.
Day three, redness gone, but spots crusted or bumpy feeling.

So they didn't last the 5-7 days and bubble over like normal chicken pox. Stan and I decided that it must have been something else, possibly an allergic reaction. Then we tell my sister and sister-in-law about it and show them pictures. One says, "no, it definitely wasn't chicken pox." The other says, "I don't know...my friend's baby had chicken pox that only lasted 2 days, so it could be that since she gets your antibodies."

AHHH!!!
Are there really any answers???

I've decided that it's okay to guess if it makes you feel more confident as a parent. It's also okay if she cries, as long as you've done what you can.

I also now understand why doctors so often treat symptoms instead of do a million tests to find a real diagnosis. For example, to find out if it is something the mother is eating, being passed through the milk, that is making baby fussy, you have to give up the culprit food for 2-3 weeks and then reintroduce it later to see if she's fussy again. That, of course, is if nothing else in baby's life is going wrong to make her fussy.

All in all, raising a baby is good for me. It teaches me that I don't always have to have all the answers or know all the causes. Sometimes, I just do what I can and then exercise a little faith that everything will turn out okay.

And you know, it always does. Babies are so durable and recover so quickly. They don't hold a grudge or get offended. They just love you. What more can you ask for?

Life lessons from eating solid food

You know how at different stages of your life, you always seem to hear certain repeated bits of wisdom that is supposed to be really helpful, but really, you've heard it so many times before you begin to tune it out. For example, when you were single everyone always seemed to think you needed comfort while waiting for "Mr. Right", so they would always say, "it will happen when you least expect it."

Or when you say you don't really enjoy watching other people's children, so you're not sure how you would do as a parent and people say, "it's always different when they're your own kids."

Or when you finally have a child, and people give the repeated advice to "enjoy every moment, they grow so fast!"

I've come to realize that the reason people say these things is because they're true! And so what if you've heard it a million times before? It's good advice or wisdom, so why not take it for what it's worth and listen.

The ironic thing is, statements at which I used to inwardly roll my eyes at, I now say to others. I found myself saying to my sister-in-law Meredith just yesterday, "it's different when they're your own" after she spent the afternoon with Miriam while I went out with my sisters to see a movie. Isn't life funny? You don't really appreciate these bits of advice, until you experience it.

And then you tell yourself: "it really is true!"

I really did meet Stan when I least expected it.

It really is different (a better different) when the child is your own.

And I am really learning to enjoy every moment with Miriam, because she really does change every day.

For example, when first introducing your baby to solid foods, people will tell you do it mainly so that they get used to the texture. I thought to myself "well, aren't they also getting a different kind of nourishment?" And then I made my first attempt last week to give Miriam rice cereal, and...well, you can see the results for your self:
I don't think she swallowed a drop of the rice cereal. So I gave it a rest, and tried again today. And now I understand why everyone said in the beginning, you feed them mainly so they'll get used to the texture.
She might have swallowed a drop this time, but most went all over her, me and the chair.

So people do really know what they're talking about...

And of course, how can you not enjoy every moment of this??
Isn't life great?