inevitable post on boring mom things

Inevitably, on blogs written by new mamas, one will find a post about one or all three of the following topics: eating, pooping and sleeping. Why? Because three things rule the world when a new baby is around: eating, pooping and sleeping.

Here's the thing: as a non-mom looking in, I was like, "oh how boring" and "blah, blah, blah" and admittedly, thought to myself that these moms must have nothing better to talk/muse about. These must be the mom's who have zero else going on in their life, and I would not become such a mom-blogger. Because honestly, no matter how interesting we mama's think the topic is - no one really cares that much about listening to us go on and on (maybe our own moms. But even then. Even my own husband, the father of our darling offspring, will start to zone out when I babble on about sleep and whatnot).

But now? I am one of those moms. Because even though I DO have more going on in my life outside my child's eating, output and sleeping patterns, these three things take up SO much energy and thought-space in my mind. (I think I just coined the term "thought-space"... for those that cannot see into my brain, what I mean by this is that the brain can only function up to 100% - no more. And, for most of us, we operate somewhere around 70%ish most days. This is our capacity, or "thought-space" if you will.). Honestly, you'd think that I don't have a real, outside the home job with how much effort I put into making sure my child is well fed, "going" properly and sleeping well. But the truth is that these three things are not just important, but vital to the quality of life in a household, which is probably why they are the three most talked/tought about topics when it comes to life with a new baby.

Feeding a baby is a hot topic. How one feeds their baby is a matter of much debate. Breast? Formula? Extended nursing? Babylead weaning? Make your own babyfood? Start with rice cereal? How much? How often? How soon?

Here's what I think: Do what you need to do to feed your baby. The end.


Ha - if it were that simple, I stop there. But it's not, so I will write on....

Baby girl and I are lucky that nursing was never an issue for us, she came out of the womb and latched right on. So, while together, we nurse. While apart, I pump, which I loathe. I'd love to stop now, but I don't want to stop nursing for probably another 6-12 more months (give or take, ish. I honestly haven't given much thought to when this will stop. Maybe we'll stop at a year. Maybe 18 months. Maybe longer. Maybe I'll have a toddler and another baby nursing at the same time. But, probably not). So, no stopping the pumping for us!

I started feeling Ellie "real" food probably 6 weeks ago, then stopped because 1) she didn't like it too much, 2) it was messy and 3) SO much more of a hassle than nursing. Then, I started again - becaue come to find out, 6 month old babies should be eating real food TWICE a day. What a total pain. So, here I thought I'd be all over feeding real food to her, and now she's lucky if she gets a nibble of something here, or a spoonful of something else there. (okay - to be clear - I don't starve my baby. But, I do need to step it up in the food category). Mostly I make her food, or she eats bites of what we eat, but sometimes I bust out the good old baby food jars. To date, she looks at me like I'm crazy whenever I try to shove pureed whatever's-on-the-menu into her mouth. The other thing about feeding a baby real food is that invariably, she ends up in the tub, because for the life of me, I cannot keep her from shoving both hands into whatever she's eating, then rubbing them all over her face/clothing/etc... So twice a day meals means that either I bathe her twice a day (not happening) or we get better at this feeding thing (getting better = practicing more).

messy eater

This area of parenthood surprises me - I thought I'd be all over feeding my baby, and obsessed with trying new recipes and creating delicious concoctions for her. The reality is, I have hardly enough time to keep up with life as it is. This actually makes me kind of sad, because it's something I take so much joy in, and wanted to share with her at an early age. But, my days are really, truly busy and I am lucky if I have an hour and a half with her at the end of each day, and of that time, she's cranky the majority of it because it's close to bedtime. That's my reality, and I can't change it, so sadly, won't be putting much effort into cooking during those hours Mon-Fri. So, my new plan is to not only plan the meals for Peter and I, do all the weekly shopping as well as the majority of cooking on Sunday, but add Ellie's meals into the day as well. This shouldn't add too much effort into my Sunday chores - her meals still consist mainly of roasting/steaming whatever I intend on feeding her, then blending that up either with or without a liquid.

She does love sitting at the big kid's table!

So, there you have it. I've exhausted one of the three most boring, but most thought/talked about areas of mommyhood (really hate that word, by the way). I apologize for boring you to tears, and congratulate it if you made it through this post. A fascinating peek into the Lacy household, I'm sure. :)