Daily challenges

The Itsy Bitsy Ear worm (Or, Get these Damn baby songs out of my head!)

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Do you find yourself singing “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” in the shower? Are you running out of animals to appear on Old McDonald’s farm? Do you know at least 7 songs that are sung to the tune of “Frere Jacques”?

Welcome to life with a small child! Or perhaps you are a music teacher? In which case, you have been dealing with the particular brand of torture that comes with listening to repetitive, catchy songs for hours on end. If you are both a new parent, and a music teacher, like myself, then you are uniquely qualified for dealing with the music that will now be the soundtrack of your life. I have been unknowingly preparing for this for a decade. Continue reading →

Five ways to relax as a new mom

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Originally published at: Mommy Connections East Toronto
(Look mom, someone reads my blog!)

momrelaxing

Remember how you used to relax before your baby was born? No? Me neither. But I do have vague recollections of going out for dinner or to the movies or for a spa day. These things are much tougher to manage with a young baby and you begin to worry that you will never get a moment to yourself again.

Well, probably not. Sorry. But fear not, fellow Mom! That doesn’t mean you can’t squeeze a little relaxation into your day if you get a bit creative. Here are five ways I have used to find my Zen: Continue reading →

Things my baby has done while breastfeeding

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Since I wrote a list of things that I have done while breastfeeding, I figured I would share a list of things my baby does:

  • Smack my boob
  • Laugh at my boob (I am not really sure why, as I have never had this reaction to my boobs before. Maybe he is just remembering something funny he heard earlier?)
  • Talk while he eats (Sometimes he stops eating to talk, but other times he just chats on my boob.)

Continue reading →

Goodbye sick days

~ newbiemomsite ~ 3 Comments

My husband has the best immune system. He gets a cold and it clears up in a few days. Even when I am a dripping pile of mucus and germs he mostly avoids getting sick. I hope my son gets this from him. Me? Every cold I have ever had has turned into a sinus infection and lasted several weeks, followed by a week of coughing and sometimes voice loss. This is extremely inconvenient, but especially now as a new mom.

When I was younger, I used to pride myself on being functional while sick. I would push myself to do everything I normally did while healthy. This definitely did not help the healing process.

If I could go back in time and talk to myself in the past I would say something like this:

Continue reading →

The Stages of a Sleepless Night

~ newbiemomsite ~ 2 Comments
  1. Shock: You bolt out of bed as the wail of the baby seems to come from nowhere. What time is it? When did he last eat? When did we fall asleep? Should we wait to see if he soothes himself?
  2. Sadness: You have just looked at the clock and it is 2 hours since you last looked at the clock. You begin calculating how much time you actually spent asleep as you walk to the baby’s crib. It is a depressingly low number.

Continue reading →

Things I have done while breastfeeding

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  • Watch him adoringly
  • Read emails or check Facebook
  • Attempt to stop my boob from squirting while he takes a break to look around or chat
  • Wonder what he will be when he grows up
  • Wonder who he looks like more
  • Wonder where his sock went

Continue reading →

My son has a furry big sister

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This article also appears at: Only a Season

My husband and I brought home Hazel in 2012. For the first while, she kept us up all night and kept me busy all day getting into things and crying for attention. She has boundless energy and ruins all her toys, but she is clever and lovable at exactly the right moments. And boy, is she a ham for the camera!

No, Hazel is not a toddler. She is a 3 1/2 year old chocolate lab. Though Hazel has always loved children, we were nervous about introducing her to her baby brother when we found out that I was pregnant. Hazel has always been sweet and gentle, but we had heard and read stories of people having to make the difficult decision to re-home dogs when children arrive. It turns out we didn’t need to worry because in August she welcomed home her little brother, MB, with much excitement. (And even more wet doggy kisses.)

There have definitely been some challenges with being a mom to a dog and a newborn baby, but also some extremely sweet moments. I thought I would share the pros and cons of having a dog and a baby.
Continue reading →