A Mom's Life

Why do all baby toys talk? When Caroline was a newborn, her vibrating chair had a little attachment with a lion and a parrot that lit up and sang songs when she pulled on the plastic figures. As she pulled and cooed, we'd find ourselves humming the tunes while cooking, doing laundry or even at work during a meeting. "Birds fly high and low...you can do it too!" would be in our heads at all times of the day. When she outgrew the chair, it was then the farmer's tractor. Now this one was in my head in my sleep or better yet, during relaxation time in yoga class. Breathe deep. Clear your mind. "Old McDonald, THAT'S ME!" Clear your mind. Breathe. " EIEIOHH !" My dad gave Caroline a LEAP Frog baby Tad for Christmas. Tad is special. The stuffed buddy is Caroline's new androgynous friend. Tad, who is marketed as neither male nor female, has lots of shapes on his/her chest to hit and that light up and play songs. Tad sings old favorites like Hicko...

I'm not going to call it anything nicer than what it is. Puke. Projectiling on the carpet, the pets, your hair. We were lucky to miss out on scary infant vomiting illness but our luck ran out Thursday night. It was another Norman Rockwell evening at our house. The family was lying on the bed, the pets curled up next to us. We'd turned the light off and Andy was nearly asleep when I laid Caroline in his arms for a last hug. As I picked her up I noticed her belly gurgled and it wasn't a moment later that it hit me. Chunks of stinky, milky vomit all over me and the carpet. Dingo retreated as it splashed her tail and back. I was proud of my and Andy's quick reaction to the the clean-up of the rug and room and the ensuing second bath, third crib sheet change and acceptance that the one puke chunk was just going to stay in her hair for the night. We thought it was a fluke the next morning since she was fine but it returned again the following night. That time I ca...

She carries things in her mouth. She follows us around the house. She gets into the toilet paper, unravels it and eats it. She does tricks on command. No, it's not our dog. It's our baby, Caroline! Sure, she was fun as a newborn when we were thoroughly entertained to watch her sleep in her bassinet. We continued to be amused and delighted as she learned to sit up and hold her own bottle. The fun has really begun the past few months as it seems she learns something new by the day. Better than any TV show, Caroline is the highlight around the house. There is nothing better than sharing her latest trick with Andy from waving good bye to mimicking "All done!" after she's finished her bottle. You might have thought from our reaction that Caroline won the Nobel Prize when she (finally) picked up the sippy cup and took a swig of juice. We cheered and clapped with glee and she in turn giggled and clapped, perhaps proud of her own accomplishment or more astutely...

Over Thanksgiving, Andy, Caroline and I visited some old friends of the family, a mother and daughter and her husband. I've known them since childhood when I would stay over at their place and play with a special box of paper dolls that were just for me. That was many years ago, but we try to stay in touch, although it had been over a year since I'd seen them. The daughter has been married for around 7 or 8 years. The couple has two elementary-aged children, a dog and they all live in a crazy, bustling house in the middle of a renovation enabling the mother to live with them. The daughter is a stay-at-home mom who babysits everybody else's kids and her husband works as a mechanic. Now, a few things to keep in mind. This couple is about 10 years older than me and Andy and most of my relationship with them has been from a kid's perspective. We've fallen out of touch over the past five years, but maintain a connection because of our history and because they are li...