A room of my own?

Don't hate me for this statement, but both of my kids were great sleepers as babies. We hit the 8 week mark and bam, sleeping through the night. Yes, I know that I am very lucky.

When they were both newborns (and my youngest still fits into this category), they slept in a bassinet about 2 feet from my bed. It was the perfect distance for a new mother to wake up in the middle of the night and without even taking my head off the pillow, see them sleeping soundly and hear their sweet breathing pattern. As all moms know, having your babies sleep in the same room with you is extremely convenient for middle of the night feedings. But when those stop, the little ones are fine to be in their own room in their own crib. And yes, my pediatrician had to tell me that with my first child. I really thought that the baby needed to be in the room with us, not the other way around. I did not realize the need for your baby to share a room with you was for ME and not THEM.

With my daughter, I was very worried about having a routine established before my maternity leave was up at 12 weeks. So as soon as she slept through the night, we moved her into her room - down the hall. If there was going to be an adjustment, I wanted it to happen and be done with before I went back to work. So she slept through the night at 8 weeks and at 9 weeks she was in her room with her crib. No problem at all.

But this time with my son it is so much harder. He is just 3 months/twelve weeks and has been sleeping through the night for a few weeks now. But, I can't bring myself to put him in his own crib. I am trying to savor each and every baby moment with my son, because he is my last baby - we are stopping with 2 kids. So while I am happy he sleeps through the night, I am not ready for the milestone of moving out of our room. Can't he be my little snuggly newborn for a bit longer. I am not ready for his first step of independence, albeit a very small one. I mean I have done this before, my daughter was moved into the very same room, but it is so much harder this time.

Every night I tell myself that THIS night is the one he will move in there. I get the crib all set up. Night light plugged in. Humidifier gently on. But that moment hits and he is all asleep in my arms and I put him in the bassinet next to me. I just don't have the willpower to do it. So hopefully, tonight will be the night that I do it...hopefully.

Diaper-palooza

OK, so here I was a few months back with my 2.5 year and pregnant. I had always planned on having my children close together. My living room is already filled with plastic toys and sleeping until 7:30am was sleeping in, we are parents so I get it. My life had already changed with having one kid and I knew to expect some sleepless, rough patches adding a newborn into the mix.

Then one day an extended family relation said "Oh poor thing, you will have 2 kids in diapers." Well, yes, yes I will. But I figured why get one out of diapers just to get another one back into them. I mean I am already used to the routine, what is the big deal. (And you can start laughing at me now).

OH MY GOD THE DIAPERS. I feel a little better getting that off my chest. I mean goodness, how often can 1 or 2 little people poop or pee. And the answer to that one is a lot.

There is really no rhyme or reason to the whole diaper thing except that we go through a ton. With having had a girl first and now a newborn baby boy, let me tell you that girls are easier to change. You don't have to worry about a "shower" with a girl. It never occurred to me (clearly I see a pattern here) that changing a boy would be difficult, I mean I change diapers every day what is the big deal.

Flash forward to the first few days at home with my son and I either get the diaper on him wrong (it is all about positioning), get sprayed or he literally poops 5 times in as many minutes while on the changing table. I can go in to change my son and it turns into a 20 minute, 6 diaper, whole pack of wipes that we will both need a bath after affair. And typically, it is after that moment that my daughter needs to be changed. And you know it smells, really bad..and is big. Enough said there.

I know I am not very green in my rant over the sheer numbers of diapers we can go through weekly, sometimes daily. I hope all my recycling and "Al Gore" lightbulbs help to even that out. However, some days I think I could make myself a little fort out of all the diapers and hide there so no one can find me.

Needless to say the 2 year is getting potty trained...ASAP!

Stroller Derby

So what is it with Strollers (sorry to start off sounding like Jerry Seinfeld). But seriously, just 3 short years ago, I had no need for these contraptions in my life and now they consume me. I am addicted to strollers. I have 2 children and I have purchased 5 - yes FIVE strollers in a short amount of time.

How does one with 2 children acquire 5 strollers you ask? Well, by making quick purchase decisions on every single stroller I see. You see I did not plan this, really I didn't, I just can't stop. So I have the stroller/car seat combo that it seems everyone registers for and gets at their baby shower for their first child. Then once my daughter could sit up, I learned of the joy of an umbrella stroller to easily take wherever we went. Also, with my first daughter we were in a Nanny share and of course we need to have a double stroller for our nanny, which she used everyday. So I was OK for a while. Then I got pregnant with my son and the need for a new stroller just started creeping up again. I mean I just had to have an infant/toddler combination stroller that can hold my son in the infant seat and a place for my daughter to sit and stand. And finally, I needed (ok wanted actually) the simple frame stroller to lock the infant seat in place - you know, just because.

How can I have an addiction to these in such a short amount of time, you ask? I think I have the worst case of stroller envy. Yes, moms it is bad enough we judge our parenting skills but there is a term for being jealous of the equipment too. I guess I keep thinking that the NEXT stroller I buy will be the ONE. And what is the ONE? You know a perfectly-light-weight-easy-to-maneuver-I-don't-look-like-an-unoragnized-mom stroller. But they have not invented that one yet - it does not exist. Because if it did, I would buy it.

PS - I am happy to share my reviews of my strollers and brands, just ask.