Our Water Darts feature an inflatable 24″ tall target with a water bladder to keep it upright. Leave in the inner section divider for tough competition or remove it for beginner play. Set includes three soft 9″ water resistant darts. Play various games with multiple players. (Age 4+)

The Laugh & Learn puppy is a cuddly play pal for baby that combines 2 modes of play, learning and musical games with 10 sung song. In the learning mode – six hot spots on plush puppy will teach you A-Z, body parts and colors through fun phrases and songs. Then switch to the game mode for fun phrases and sung songs to play along with baby. Songs include 4 learning; Alphabet Song, a color song, a counting song and a song to teach body parts. The game mode has 6 additional sung songs to encourage interaction; Head Shoulder Knees and Toes, Oh Where has my Little Dog Gone, Pat-a-Cake, This Little Piggy, This Old Man and Bingo. A light up collar will twinkle to the music and puppy’s response.

I’ve always had this idea that a parent that uses a harness with a leash is treating their child like a dog. Only dogs should wear leashes!  I would pass them in crowded places and just think to myself “How could that mom tie up her child like that?!”  I never knew what it would feel like to be out in public shopping with my son and to turn around and find that he is gone, nowhere to be found.  I can’t imagine the absolute fear that mothers and fathers go through when their child has gone missing.

 Then I had my son.  I understand there are those children out there who actually listen, try not to get themselves in to trouble or wander off; my son is NOT one of those children.  Once my son is placed down on the floor he just takes off!  He runs for the most unsafe thing he could find and runs off again.  He feels the need to be so independent and doesn’t even like to hold my hand.  We visit many theme parks, we do a lot of shopping and it’s usually just me and my son.  Because he is so active I have a hard time keeping him close by, he always needs to be in the action and know what’s going on and when he’s in a stroller he even tries to climb out of that! The world today is not a safe place what so ever, someone could just come up beside me and snatch him away from me!  So I thought recently about using a harness.  Would I be able to handle the rude comments from other people?  Would I even be able to use it?   I did some research and spoke to other moms.  I went through the pros and cons of the harness and came up with these.

Pros:

*Comfort, a child’s arms isn’t stretched up to hold your and you’re not having to bend over to hold their hand.

*Safety, you will always be 3 feet away from your child, they will also have their independence to walk on their own.  Plus they won’t be running in front of a moving car!

*Exercise, they will be able to burn off more energy by walking.  They won’t get that sitting in a stroller.

*Your sanity!  Imagine losing your child, it could have been avoided by using a harness.

And then I went through the cons, there weren’t many.  Some of the people I talked to thought it was inhumane and cruel.  Some of these parents are also against disciplining their child in any way as well.  I’m trying to be my child’s parent, not their best friend; I need to keep them safe at all times.

Cons:

*Cruel, leashes are for dogs.

*You look like a lazy parent, why can’t you just chase your child around?

*Unhealthy to their growth

So after asking some people and doing some research I decided having a harness would be in my favor…and my son’s.  He is the most important thing to me and when you hold something like that so dear you will go to any extreme to keep them safe.  As far as what I would do if someone made a rude comment?  To be honest I don’t know what I would do, I don’t know what I would say.  I’m sure my first thought would be to say something rude back but I think I would let them know that this harness could mean the safety of my son and keep him from becoming another statistic. 

Is there a good time to start teaching your baby to swim? Does it benefit them if you start off early rather than later? I think so. Some infants have started to swim lessons as young as six months. Younger babies seem to feel more comfortable in water than older kids do. There isn’t such a fear for the water as there would be for maybe a three year old. I have my son enrolled in a swim class, he is a year old and loves to take baths and play outside with water toys but when we get in to the pool for lessons he seems so scared. There is a seven month old baby in the class and he seems so relaxed in the water, like he remembers how it was when he was in utero. My son on the other hand wants nothing to do with swimming, going under water or even playing in the pool. As a parent, it’s so important for me to know that my son can swim. So many babies and children drown each year and I want to make sure my son knows what to do when he’s in the water. With that said I feel like the earlier I would have started him in lessons the more comfortable it would have been for him. It is said that small babies know to close their mouth when they go under water; it’s a reflex for them. My son has a wide open mouth and tends to swallow water, which in turn he coughs and then cries which scares him even more. The seven month old in the class seems to know when he’s going under water, he closes his mouth and goes under with ease, not choking one bit! Back when I was a baby my mother took me to swim class, she said I was about six months old and at that time to teach a baby to swim the parents would stand in a pool and let go of their babies and that it would be almost second nature for them to try and swim, she said for me it was. Today things are a little different, there are different techniques used that aren’t so harsh. Now they have floats to help babies learn to kick, games to play to make swim time fun and all these things still seem to scare my son. I often wonder if I waited too long and if he will ever want to go back in to a pool again. I guess I will continue to try and see if he will become a little swimmer and not turn off the idea that swimming can be fun! So yes, I think teaching your babies to swim at an early age makes it easier for them and for you. My mind will be put at ease when I know my son can swim safely on his own.

From the moment I found out I was pregnant I started reading articles on fetal development through music. I had read a few different articles on how a fetus in the second and third trimester can hear music and sound. I also read that classical music can help develop brain cells and stimulate your unborn baby as well. I thought what’s the harm in it? Can a baby really have a higher IQ and enhance their development by listening to music? Well when I got in to my second trimester I purchased a few baby classical CD’s and also a few nursery rhyme CD’s, a pair of large earphones and a small CD player. I sat in bed the first night and thought for a few minutes, asking myself if this was silly and even worth trying? I remember the first few nights I didn’t really notice anything different with my son, as far as movement was concerned. Then after the first week I remember feeling a little more movement, soft kicks and pokes! I thought to myself, “Is he really hearing this and is it bothering him or is he enjoying this?” How can you really know if they are kicking you because they want it to stop or they are kicking out of enjoyment, well I just went with the enjoyment because he never really kicked me that hard and in a way it calmed him, he would actually fall asleep. So I continued to play my classical music for him, as well as the nursery rhymes during the day and I still got my little kicks and light punches. Then I thought why I don’t try some other kinds of music, nothing loud and obnoxious but something else I find soothing. I played one of my favorite artists ever, Frank Sinatra. I would play it at home and I would also play it in the car on the way to work. I’ve heard they can hear quite well even without the earphones. So I played music, read to my son and talked to him every day in hopes that this was actually “stimulating” him and enhancing his development. I read that In-utero fetal acoustic stimulation has been shown to improve pregnancy outcomes as well as benefit the growing fetus. Dr. Thomas Verny M.D., Author of The Second Life of the Unborn Child (Dell 1994) says “When your baby hears the soothing sounds of music, it does two things. First, it stimulates her ear, brain, and body to begin preparation for sound and language comprehension. Secondly, it lulls her into a calm, meditative state.”

When my son was born I continued to play his classical music while in his crib and I noticed certain songs would help soothe him, almost as if he remembered them. One thing I was completely amazed at was one night when I was trying to put him to sleep my husband and I decided to play him some Frank Sinatra in hopes it would help, my son stopped crying and peacefully fell asleep and slept half the night. I was in shock just thinking to myself that he remembered the music and that he was comforted by it. My son is now 10 months old and still to this day I play music for him, every night and every day. It soothes him at night and cheers him up during the day. So when people ask me, “Do you think music really makes a difference?” I have to say YES! It does.

My Happy Monday

Monday April 21^st

So this morning I woke up around 6 or so to Justin’s babbling from his crib…He usually wakes up and talks to his little animal toys in his crib. So CUTE! I usually get a bottle ready and go get him; it helps to keep him occupied while I change his diaper. Once were clean we head to the bathroom to brush his teeth. Even though he only has three I still think brushing them is important, plus he loves it. When I put the toothbrush close to his mouth he just opens wide and lets me brush his teeth. Then we head downstairs for breakfast. Since about 9 months Justin has swore off canned baby food, he won’t touch it anymore, why this happened…who knows. I can take a guess (It tastes like CRAP) so I went out and purchased a baby/toddler cook book to see if I could just make him breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Some of the recipes are so tasty! I looked up some recipes for breakfast this morning and thought I would make him some eggs with tomato and cheese, he liked it! He never seems to eat all of it though but I’m sure the taste of it compared to jarred baby food was so much better. I can’t imagine being a baby and eating that stuff!! He went down for his nap and usually our first nap of the day is the longest, about an hour and a half. That gives me time to take a shower, do my hair, makeup, wash dishes, wash some clothes, work and TRY and straighten up the house a bit…and a ton of other things…which I never get to. I don’t think I’ve done things so fast in my life; my showers are the quickest they have ever been! My water bill shows it too! But once he wakes up I usually try to give him some lunch. My son is an eater but he seems to get so easily distracted that he just doesn’t want anything to do with the spoon coming towards his face. It usually turns in to a fight with him to get him to eat half his lunch and by then I give up. He loves snacking though. Today he snacked on ham and cheese…and so did I. I wish I had more time to cook myself a healthy meal but with him climbing out of his highchair, I can’t get much done. I’m always afraid that he’s going to be one of those kids that will never just sit and eat his meal. I hate to force him to eat but I know it’s important for him to have something other than milk. He loves that bottle let me tell ya! He gets a little overly excited when he sees it so I’m not looking forward to the day I try to wean him off it. After lunch we took a walk, went to the local park around the corner and I put him on the swing for a bit, he loves that. I think it’s important to take your kids out, get some fresh air. He loves to look around at the cars, trees, birds. It’s like a whole new world and I love to see life through his eyes, it’s so new to him.
After that we came home and he played in his playroom for a while. He’s now getting in to trucks and cars so he spends a lot of time pushing his trucks around the playroom. The other toys he really enjoys playing with are NOISY toys. I think all kids like playing with toys that are annoying to their parents! I don’t mind it so much anymore; I’ve learned to block it out! He played for a good hour or so and then went down for his second nap. That nap only lasts around an hour so at that point I really try and work. I do as much as I can and hope he sleeps a little longer! His room for some reason is always cold; I’m always covering him up with his blankets to keep him warm because no matter if the heat is on it doesn’t warm up his room. My sister recently let me borrow a small heater so last night before his bedtime we put it in there to warm the room up and it worked. Once he went to bed we turned it off and unplugged it and it kept his room warm most of the night. I’m too paranoid to leave it plugged in all night. I don’t know how many other parents still use their monitors but I still do. He’s almost a year but he’s a daredevil and tries to climb out of his crib. I think I still use it for peace of mind. It’s definitely paid for itself! Last night he woke up once, he usually not a good sleeper but he did pretty good. I’m yearning for those nights where I sleep all night long…every night! But sadly I know those days are long behind me. At least until he’s 18!
I think I’m done for today, I’ll write again tomorrow.

Tuesday April 22^nd

So last night I got about 3 hours of sleep…I wouldn’t really consider it sleep because I could hear my son the whole night moaning and whining. His top right tooth cut through last night and it must have been very painful. Even with Motrin and Tylenol it still caused him a lot of pain. I felt bad for him and I wish I could take that pain away from him. I put him in my bed at around 4 A.M. with a bottle and he slept till about 7. He woke up in a good mood though, I think both of us were just so tired from the night that we both woke up almost in a daze. I’m not really looking forward to the molars that will coming soon, I think those nights will be accompanied by lots of coffee and late night TV shows. Some of my friends that have kids say they had no problems with their kid’s teeth, I’m not that lucky. I wish I could say my son sleeps through the night and is always happy…well he is mostly happy but he for sure does not sleep through the night. I’ve come to the realization that sleep is gone, for a very long time. But it’s still hard at 2 A.M. when I’m sitting in room rocking him to sleep; I wish I was cuddled up warm in my bed…
He didn’t have breakfast this morning and I honestly didn’t feel like fighting him to eat so he had some crackers and milk. I managed to eat some oatmeal and eggs though which is big! Right now he’s napping his first nap of the day and should be up soon. Today I plan to work a bit, it’s supposed to rain so I won’t be going to the park. We’ll hang out inside and play for most of the day. That’s it for today; I hope I can get some sleep tonight!!

Wednesday April 23^rd

So today was a long day. I woke up once to put Justin back to sleep at around midnight and then Rhod took him at around 3 when he woke up again. Justin woke up in a really good mood at around 6 or so and went right to having a bottle and then a little later brushing his teeth. As far as breakfast, he didn’t want to eat anything so I gave him some crackers and he ate all of them. I didn’t get to eat breakfast today, like most days. I know it’s the most important meal of the day but since I take care of him by myself a majority of the time it’s really hard to do anything for myself. You would think I would have lost some weight but nope! Still hangin on to all the baby fat. I have a hard time doing a lot of things during the day when I’m taking care of Justin. I don’t know how some mom’s can clean, cook, do laundry and take care of a child all at the same time. I have some friends whose houses are spotless! They don’t have maids or help. Why can’t I do this? I think I’m just overwhelmed with this whole mom thing. It’s not as easy as some people might make it look. It’s hard but it’s the most rewarding job I’ve ever had. I don’t get any thank you’s from Justin, nor do I get paid for it but I’m ok with that. His smiles and giggles are thank you enough for me!
As for the rest of my day, I worked while he napped and then went to the gym. I really need to get this baby fat off so I’ve hired a personal trainer in hopes that one day I can wear a swim suit again…..I came home and he went down for his afternoon nap and I did some more work and then tried to nap but it didn’t last long, he was up and ready for a bottle when I started to doze off. We played for a while, he did not want lunch so I just fed him a little bit of chicken and some carrots. One day he will eat! He will! It’s his bedtime now and he’s slowly winding down, rubbing his eyes and getting a little fussy. I can always tell when his nap or bedtime is coming, a lot of eye rubbing and he likes to rub his face in whatever is close by, the couch, a blanket, my leg..He’s so cute…so right now he’s rubbing his face in his little frog pillow so I see bedtime coming soon! And once he’s out, so am I!! Until tomorrow……

Thursday April 24^th

So I woke up early this morning at 7 A.M. and looked at the baby monitor and saw that Justin was still sleeping…STILL SLEEPING! And even better he slept through the night! I’m so glad to because of my gym experience yesterday I was so tired! We woke up and did the usual, tooth brushing and bottle. We headed downstairs and watched some cartoons while I made breakfast for us. He managed to eat some eggs and bananas this morning which is a good thing. He woke up in a great mood which I always like, the day seems to go a little smoother that way. After breakfast I got him ready for “Bring your child to work” day at my husband’s work which I was looking forward to taking him in to see everyone. Unfortunately my husband was not in the office which was a bummer but we had fun none the less. Everyone was so surprised to see how big he’s gotten in the last few months. Last time I took him in he wasn’t walking and this time he was running all over the place like a crazy man! We hung out for just a bit and then I headed home to get some work done and he slept all the way home which was nice, I was able to get some stuff done when I got home. Nothing really exciting happened today, it was a pretty normal day, we had fun though and it was beautiful outside. Tomorrow is Friday so we’ll make a trip to the park if the weather stays nice and maybe visit the grandparents!

Friday April 25^th

So I woke up early this morning at 7 A.M. and looked at the baby monitor and saw that Justin was still sleeping…STILL SLEEPING! And even better he slept through the night! I’m so glad to because of my gym experience yesterday I was so tired! We woke up and did the usual, tooth brushing and bottle. We headed downstairs and watched some cartoons while I made breakfast for us. He managed to eat some eggs and bananas this morning which is a good thing. He woke up in a great mood which I always like, the day seems to go a little smoother that way. After breakfast I got him ready for “Bring your child to work” day at my husband’s work which I was looking forward to taking him in to see everyone. Unfortunately my husband was not in the office which was a bummer but we had fun none the less. Everyone was so surprised to see how big he’s gotten in the last few months. Last time I took him in he wasn’t walking and this time he was running all over the place like a crazy man! We hung out for just a bit and then I headed home to get some work done and he slept all the way home which was nice, I was able to get some stuff done when I got home. Nothing really exciting happened today, it was a pretty normal day, we had fun though and it was beautiful outside. Tomorrow is Friday so we’ll make a trip to the park if the weather stays nice and maybe visit the grandparents!

Monday June 16^th 2008

Today was a long day. I was actually able to sleep last night because my parents had taken Justin for the night. I had spent most of Saturday and Sunday at the hospital with a girlfriend who was in labor so my son spent most of the weekend with his father. It was also my sister’s birthday so I got to spend all day with her which was great, she is also expecting and I cannot wait to meet my niece! To be at the hospital and witness the birth of this little boy was so emotional, I was so amazed at how incredible life is, bringing a baby in to the world and for the first time feeling love like you’ve never felt before. It was so great to see someone else “discover” that love. It also made me want to have another baby, although my husband and I have already talked about extending our family I remember the feeling of when my son was born and how in love with him I was. So I was tired, tired from the long weekend and tired from only having about 5 hours of sleep what seemed like 36 hours. When I got home Sunday night without my son it was a bit strange at first. I usually get him ready for bed. Set up his music, camera, night light, my routine is like clockwork. That night I stumbled in exhausted, washed my makeup off, put on my pj’s and hit the bed like a ton of bricks! I hadn’t been that tired in a long time and it felt so good to just lie down without having to get up and do all the usual stuff. I don’t think I woke up that night to be honest! How great it felt! I woke up Monday morning at about 5:30 when my friend had sent me a text message from the hospital saying she was so in love with her son, it was nice to hear even though I was dead tired. From that point on I just laid around for a bit then got out of bed and got ready to drive out to my parents and save them from the little maniac that is my son. The rest of the day was a blur, he slept and I managed to get some work done. It was a good day overall though and if I had to do it all over again to witness such an amazing thing, I would.

Tuesday June 17^th 2008

Today was a better day, I felt a little more rested. I woke up early with Justin and we sat for a bit and had breakfast and watched some cartoons. I went to the gym early and then right after took him to swim class. I will a little nervous about class because he has hated it so much in the previous six classes that I thought I was just torturing him. So I put on his swim trunks and went in to the pool. At first he just kind of looked at me and then he started splashing around and laughing! I thought, YES!!! The whole time he was smiling, even after coming out from under the water. He was clapping at himself and playing. He did so great, I was so proud of him! I was so happy that he actually enjoyed the class; I was afraid that swimming for him would end up a disaster but today proved otherwise. So after class I gave him a shower to rinse off l the chlorine and we went home. He took a long nap so I worked as much as I could while doing laundry and cleaning up a little. I was so tired by mid day! He’s only been taking one nap a day lately and that’s hard for me, I don’t get a break at all. He’s so active that I sometimes have a hard time keeping up with him. I hope one day he will slow down a bit but I “The Little Gym” and he loves it. He gets to run around in a padded room with other kids and have a great time, while learning new activities. I hope the next few years will get a little easier but I think I have a little athlete on my hands and relaxing is not an option!

Wednesday June 18^th 2008

Today was a good day. Pretty mellow for the most part, nothing out of the ordinary. My husband left for an overnight business meeting so it was just me and my son. I went to the gym in the morning to get a little workout in and he went off to the gym daycare; which he loves! The day care sitters say he is such an active boy and that he is nonstop the entire time which is nothing new to me! I came back to find him just hanging out with his little friends and didn’t seem like he really wanted to leave. It was cute, the girls love him there. So we came home and he took a nice long nap, I was able to get some work done and do some laundry. I always feel behind in house work, I never feel like anything gets done. I hate having a dirty house and no clothes so when I never clean or do laundry I almost get anxious from it. It’s so hard to not just do what I want like clean the house or laundry or cook even. If I take my eye off my son for even a minute he is in to something and usually something he should not be in to. I have found him playing with dog toys, cat food, and dirt, anything he could find! And of course most of it ends up in his mouth, yuck. But I always tell myself dirt is fine, bugs are fine, he’s a boy! So a clean house I feel is something in the past. There are the occasional and “rare” days where I am able to really clean but those are far and few in between. I think as my son gets older it will be easier for me to get things done and not worry, I can send him out in the backyard to play. If I was to do that now he would be eating tan bark, bugs and lord knows what else the dog might have left behind! He woke up and we played, had some lunch, dinosaur shaped nuggets, and hung out. The rest of the day was pretty much the same as every other day and towards the night we had dinner and got him ready for bed. I’m so used to having my husband at home every night, it was quiet and ESPN wasn’t on in the background. Justin finally fell asleep and fought me for a while but eventually gave in and passed out and so did I.

Thursday June 19, 2008

I woke up this morning about 7 AM to realize that I never got out of bed to feed Justin last night; he had slept through the night! I felt rested, somewhat at least and was surprised I got to sleep through the night. I wonder at what point does he sleep through the night? Will I ever be able to sleep through the night on a nightly basis? I hope so. He’s 13 months and still wants to have a bottle in the middle of the night and wants to be held and when it’s 2 o’clock in the morning you really just want to sleep! I figured by now it would have past. As far as the rest of my day, we did the usual; had breakfast, watched some cartoons and ran around the house a bit. I managed to get to the gym and take him to daycare for about an hour. After my workout I walked over to the day care to find Justin holding someone else’s sippy cup, walking around like he owned the place. I picked him up and turned to the day care ladies; who by the way were being attacked by kids left and right, and let them know he was drinking out of someone else cup and they of course apologized and began to tell me that this was the fifth time he had taken someone’s sippy cup…right out of another babies hand! How embarrassing!! He’s such a little bully but I know at his age and being an only child he’s not one for sharing and wants what he wants! So let’s just cross our fingers that the little kid he stole that from isn’t sick! So I managed to get all of our stuff and walk out with my head down. We’ll have to work on the sharing, that’s going to be a tough one!

Friday June 20^th

Thank god it’s Friday! I got pretty good sleep last night, I spent the night at my parents house because my mother and I had gone out the night before and I left Justin with my husband for the night. So to come home and just sleep was so great! People always say they don’t want to be away from their kids or they have to be with them every night, well I guess I’m not one of those moms. I need a break every now and then, I need to sleep and sleep without interruptions. I think all moms need that. You would go crazy if you didn’t. Now I’m not one of those moms who go out every weekend with my girlfriends and drinks till the morning. Those days are long gone but to go to a concert with grandma, I think that’s acceptable! I think I would feel bad leaving him at home to go out every weekend and not spend quality time with my family. I do feel like I spend 24/7 with my son and I love every moment but I need the breaks here and there and yesterday was one of the BEST! I don’t think I’ll have another great night like that in a long time so when I get the chance, I take it! I’m looking forward to the weekend and hanging out with my boys.

Monday August 7^th 2008

So today was a tough day. Justin had gotten sick on Saturday with a high fever; he wouldn’t eat or drink anything. I sat up at night trying to bring his fever down with Motrin, Tylenol, cool compresses, whatever I could do make him feel better but I had no luck. I got about maybe 5 hours of sleep the entire weekend! On Sunday I decided I better take him in to Urgent Care to make sure he didn’t have strep and to just have him checked out. I get there and his fever is still a bit high and they hold him down and take a swab sample from his throat. They came back pretty quick to say he didn’t have strep which was great but that he did have a viral infection. He had no interest on eating or anything. So it’s Monday, still no food, no milk, nothing! He wouldn’t even drink pedialite. I noticed tons of saliva all over the place though. He would hold it in his mouth and just slobber everywhere. That’s how much his little throat hurt. His whole sleep schedule was off as well, no naps during the day like usual. He was taking 20 minute naps here and there throughout the day which made it hard for me to do anything! So I guess we’ll see how tonight goes and how Tuesday goes!!!

Tuesday August 8^th 2008

I decided today I better take Justin in to see his pediatrician to follow up after my Urgent Care visit. I took him in and had him looked at, we did yet another swab and he said his throat was pretty raw. Poor guy. At his age he isn’t able to give him anything for the pain which is hard. All he was able to give me was Tylenol with codeine. The Dr. had told me that sometimes Codeine has the opposite effect on children. Instead of making them sleepy or groggy it hypes them up. Guess what happened with my son? Yep, he wanted to play, walk around, cry some more, avoid napping all together! That’s just my luck though! I gave him some of it throughout the day and night; he seemed to be feeling a little better. I gave him a bottle as well and when he would take it he would cry when he swallowed, I felt horrible. I wish I could have taken his pain away. He slowly drank his milk, never really felt like eating much though. Maybe tomorrow he will want to eat!!!

Wednesday August 9^th 2008

HOORAY! Justin woke up this morning in a good mood, he asked for his bottle which was a great sign! We went downstairs and made a bottle and I also thought I would try and give him some applesauce. Once he saw the applesauce he got very excited, I knew my guy was back! He ate like a champ! It’s like he was never sick, he did a complete 360 and went right back to his old self. He was in a great mood and wanted to play instead of be clingy and whiny. That is so hard to deal with after a few day so fit, you just can’t handle the constant crying so to wake up to a smiling baby is a breath of fresh air. So for the rest of the day he just wanted to eat and drink his milk, he needed his energy to play! I on the other hand had seen better days. I was EXHAUSTED. I had been up for so long, through the night and all day, unable to take naps. My husband conveniently had plans like softball on Monday so I got no rest then and today I was going to let him know momma needs to sleep! I couldn’t see straight! I worked and when I finished I thought, “How did I even get through that?” It’s funny what you can do with lack of sleep isn’t it? I pushed on and waited for my husband to get home from work. When he did I think he could see the look on my face and he knew I was on my last leg. He took my son and I went to bed, my pillow was waiting for me and I couldn’t get to sleep fast enough.

Thursday August 10^th 2008

I feel better today, I got some sleep and Justin was feeling a lot better to. He was all busy and wanting to play first thing in the morning. I still felt tired, I knew I need about 30 more hours of sleep to feel my best, but I know that will never happen! I decided to go ahead and take Justin to his weekly swim class, he hasn’t missed a class yet so I was glad he was healthy. We went to our class and he did great! Towards the end of the 25 minute class he started to get sleepy and I knew he would fall asleep one the car started moving. So after class I showered all the chlorine off of him and got him dressed and we headed home. He did fall asleep in the car and when we got home I put him in his crib and though “I should nap right now”, and then thought I should work instead. I decided to work as well because I wasn’t feeling tired. Why is that? Why is it that you’re tired when your kids aren’t but when they are asleep your wide awake? So frustrating! So I worked and he eventually woke up. We had lunch and played for a bit and then he was off to his gym class. He loves it. He runs around, plays and learns different things to help develop his motor skills. I love the class because he burns energy and passes out right after class. It’s worth every penny! It’s almost Friday!

Friday August 11th

It’s Friday, I made it through the week! Today I met with my personal trainer at the gym and she kicked my butt again…I love her. It felt good to work out since my week was so tiring; it gave me a burst of energy for the rest of the day. Justin was at the gym’s daycare which he loves and all the teachers there love him as well. He’s quite popular. Our day was like any other, nothing out of the ordinary. There isn’t much to write about today except for the fireworks we saw tonight. The annual Cornfest here in Brentwood has fireworks on its first night and they are very impressive. This was Justin’s first fireworks show, actually it’s his second. His first one was when he was 2 months old; he was asleep so it didn’t count! So as the fireworks started he looked very confused, he squeezed my arms really tight and I could feel his legs tightening around my waist but he didn’t look scared and he never cried. He just had the look of awe on his face, it was too cute. Nothing could take his attention off the fireworks though, not even his bottle. Today was a good day.

So I got to thinking the other day about how hard it can be for new moms to register for their baby shower or just for the baby in general.  I remember going to Babies R Us and thinking “This is going to be fun!”.  Little did I know there were a million and one things to look at and I had no clue about any of them?  There are so many things to consider when registering.  You need to make sure you have all the bottles, but which bottles are best?  There are only about 50 different brands to consider.  Then there are pacifiers, for different ages, silicone or latex?  Then you need to look at health items such as thermometers, grooming kits (are they really necessary), skin care and humidifiers.  I was lost the second I had the scanning gun in my hand.  I thought I would go in, scan everything and go, but I was wrong.  It’s hard to know what you need and what you’re going to use, you’ve never had a baby!  They give you a list of must haves and say it’s what most moms get when they register but still, you’re lost.  I ended up scanning EVERYTHING in the store.  Did I really need a pee pee cover?  Was I really going to need a fancy bottle warmer?  So I registered and got home and showed it to some friends who already have kids and their jaws dropped.  They had to ask why I registered for the store itself.  I didn’t know what I was doing!  Needless to say they helped me dwindle the list down to less than 300 items.  I wish there was an easier way to know what you need.  I did though ask all my friends if I would need certain things, some used everything and some just did without so I was kind of stuck in the middle.  I guess you learn along the way and let me tell you I did!  I ended up getting some items from my registry and thinking, “How and when am I going to use this?!”  And it ended up going to waste.  I never needed to use the wiper warmer I asked for.  I ended up being more of a hassle than anything.  I did though end up using the boppy pillow, I still use it to this day or shall I say my son still uses it to this day.  He sleeps with it every night.  Everything is so new when you have a little one coming in to your home and you’re never going to fully know what to do, who does?  I think the fun of it is learning on your own, learning how to be a mom, teaching yourself what works and what doesn’t.  Now I’m one of the moms that are asked about what should be put on the registry and I have to say it’s hard to really give advice.  I just think it’s best to do it on your own, it‘s confusing and overwhelming and frustrating but the rest of your life from that point on is also going to be and only you can make decisions, no one else can. You can always ask for help but at the end you are the one decides what works best.  That’s what being a mom is about, learning.  And it can be fun!

I sometimes wish that I had the invention that Homer Simpson's brother Herb invented in The Simpsons which translated baby talk for Maggie Simpson. It would hear a gurgle and translate that into "I soiled myself, how embarassing". I hear my daughter grunt and I wonder if she is hungry, sleepy or has soiled her self. I know that some choos or grizzling means I am hungry or sleepy, but the grunt confuses me at times and that is when I need the invention. Just now she was grunting and it turned out she had wet herself, so just for those moments I need his invention, "Daddy, I just have just wet myself, how embarassing!".

I would have never thought how much I would miss my daughter until she is out of the room. I will sometimes look over at her swing expecting to see her there, she won’t be there and then I remember that she is upstairs with my wife. I just expect her to be there and I didn’t expect that to ever happen, that she could become part of my life so quickly.

It is funny to think that a year ago that I didn’t realize that I would have this beautiful bundle of joy who makes me so happy when she smiles at me or gurgles. Just the other day I was playing with a Oscar the Grouch glove puppet with her when she started giggling. I was so delighted at this giggling that I ran upstairs to get my wife and when I returned with the glove puppet she stopped giggling, but was still smiling.

Every kid needs a nap-to-go pillow and blankie set?super soft plush combined with silky satin make nap time fun again!