UWSmom's Blog

It’s That Time Again…

uwsmom — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 21:39:47 +0000

My son is now over 14 months old and almost 2 years ago I discovered that I was pregnant with him. If I was still married, I would probably be discussing another pregnancy with my husband so as to have about 2 years or so between our children. Well, I am not married anymore so that is not an option. However, I am becoming surrounded by new pregnancies of people who have children about the same age as BBB. It is bittersweet to hear about these new pregnancies. I had every intention of not making Hunter an only child. I am not an only child and I wanted a sibling for my son. But that is not what is going to happen right now.

I think that opens another topic which is how many children should a family have. I don’t want to even start on that one but I can say that there are a few families out there that probably have too many children. I think that they are obvious and I don’t want to disparage any one family so I will just let the readers think for themselves about this one.

One last thought, I loved being pregnant and would do it again in a heartbeat. Pregnancy was the happiest time of my life before I had my son.

Quick note to my followers

uwsmom — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 21:38:36 +0000

I will be changing my baby’s name in posts to BBB. When I had my son, he was named Baby Boy Brown by the hospital since I had not changed the name on my medical insurance. So, with the impending divorce I feel that it is appropriate that he take on my name in posts. It isn’t a big deal, just a change to note that will take place in future posts.

Judge not lest ye be judged

uwsmom — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 21:36:11 +0000

As soon as I became a mother, I felt an immediate shift from being judged as a woman to being judged as a mother. I can’t explain what happened but I can tell you that I felt like a failure instantly. I don’t want to go into the long version of the story but the feeling of failure came from not being able to breastfeed immediately, Baby J constantly crying and various other little things.

Motherhood has taught me so much. The first lesson is that I will never judge other mothers again. Well, I think that I will judge those that are just plain stupid – I will judge you if you put your children in danger!! Please don’t be Michael Jackson and hang your child over a ledge and we will be okay. I am definitely not the mother that I thought that I would be. I thought that I would be in charge and set schedules and have this perfect child. Well, I love Baby J to pieces and he brings joy to my life every day, but he is not perfect. He is extremely demanding. When I say demanding, I mean it. I don’t go to the bathroom or do chores without him right by my side. And for all those naysayers out there who believe that he is spoiled, I invite you to live my life for a few hours and see what you think. I have tried tough love, I have tried lots of love and nothing has seemed to work. He wants to be with me 24/7. But that is mine to deal with as I see fit.

I think that as mothers we have a tendency to have strong feelings about different things. For instance, breastfeeding vs. formula feeding, cloth vs. disposable diapers, co-sleeping vs. crib and these are just a few topics that the boards on babycenter.com and others will discuss. I think, at the end of the day, that we all want the same thing – a healthy, happy child. And as mothers, we should band together rather than judge others. The saying, “walk in her shoes” exists for a reason and we should try to remember that!

Finally a sippy cup any Mom could love

uwsmom — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 20:32:14 +0000

Like most moms out there, I have gone through a lot of different sippy cups in search of that perfect sippy cup. We have tried those with straws and those without. We have tried many different brands and styles. I finally found one that does not leak, spill, leave water rings and does not dent. It is the Thermos Foogo Leak Proof Sippy Cup . And the best part is that it keeps the liquid cold. It is an amazing sippy cup. I got it at Babies r Us and it is a bit expensive. However, when you look at the cost of the previously used sippy cups and how quickly I went through them, I feel that this purchase is going to be worth it. Baby J actually ends up drinking more of the liquid in this cup. Before I would find that it was all over the floors and rugs. I recommend this sippy cup to anyone who has a baby that uses a sippy cup and has had no luck with others. It is definitely worth a try!!

Milestones.. some are not celebrated in this household

uwsmom — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 22:21:23 +0000

Let me preface this post by saying that milestones are wonderful. It is great to see your child growing up and experiencing something new. My son is now almost 14 months old and so much has happened. The latest milestone is the turning of his convertible Britax Boulevard car seat from rear to forward facing. It is one of the saddest milestones to occur. It means that he has truly stopped being a baby. I remember when he no longer fit into bassinet part of his UppaBaby Vista stroller. It was a very difficult time for me because it signified to me the end of his infancy. I think that a lot of our feelings are irrational and could be viewed as silly by others. However, my posts are not meant to be very serious and I am the first to admit that these feelings are a bit silly. Of course our children are going to grow and get older. I guess it just feels a little fast sometimes. One last thought – time does pass by quickly so try to enjoy each milestone to the fullest because they are fleeting.

Moms: a “can’t live without” product

uwsmom — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 17:26:06 +0000

I purchased a Swiffer Sweeper Vac from Target and it is my go-to product now. If my son drops food or if I want to clean around his high chair, I just bring it out and it quickly cleans the area. I don’t have to lug out a big vacuum for the smaller jobs. It also “dusts” so I am getting the small amounts of dirt that are on the ground too. Don’t get me wrong, this is not a replacement for a good vacuum but it is great for in-between times. They are a bit pricey but Swiffer always offers coupons so you should not have to pay full price. Thank you, Swiffer for your entire line of products but this one is genius.

New York, I miss you

uwsmom — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 02:56:41 +0000

I miss New York or at least a part of me misses it. I am loving my quiet, suburban life here in PA but a part of me yearns for the city every now and then. I think that it may have to do with the change in weather. I LOVE the fall weather and all the changes that occur. My last autumn in NYC was while pregnant and I have very fond memories of that time since I walked everywhere. I even walked 20+ blocks the day before having my son and I was already having contractions!

I think that I also miss having so many restaurants to choose from for dinner. Toward the end of my pregnancy, we (re) found a great Thai restaurant, Land, that had the best skirt steak entree around and their chicken curry puffs were so tasty. It is an experience that most would miss, I think.

I have to add that I miss my manicure/pedicure place and my hair salon. It takes a while to find a great hair salon and I found mine. It is Rare salon located in Tribeca. They are wonderful and so skilled. The owner, Ruth, is on the floor cutting hair and always smiling at those around her. It is worth noting that they are priced way below Manhattan standards but provide a cut that rivals the pricey ones. And I used to go to Bloomie Nails in midtown and Dashing Diva on the UWS to get my nails done. I could always trust that their stuff was clean and the technicians were skilled at providing manicures and pedicures. Their manicures and pedicures would last for weeks!!

I have to admit that Central Park was never my “thing”. I always worried that I would get lost and followed the same exact path that I knew inside and out. I never explored the park and for good reason. I was meeting a friend for lunch at the boat basin. Now this place is a straight shot from the 72nd Street entrance. Count on me to make it more difficult than necessary. I was supposed to look for the fountain and meet him down at the restaurant. Well, I did find a fountain, it just wasn’t the correct one. I got lost going straight through Central Park, that is why I never explored. But I do miss walking through the areas that I knew. The leaves have probably changed and the air is crisp with fall smells and I am imagining a leisurely stroll with my son in his stroller.

All in all though I am happy in PA. I love my house and my son is thriving being around family. It makes up for the little things that I am missing in NYC. I can always visit and probably am a better visitor than resident.

Single parenthood can be lonely

uwsmom — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 03:50:49 +0000

When my son was 3 months old, I left my NYC life and headed to the suburbs. My marriage was not working and it was brought to light even more so by the infant I cared for day in and day out. I was able to retreat to my parent’s home in suburban PA, for which I am eternally grateful. I bought a house of my own, 4 houses down from my parents, in May 2010. I encountered some problems and was not able to move in until September 2010. Since then, I have loved having my own space. It has been liberating to put things where I want and to care for my son day to day by myself. However, there are times that it hits me how isolated from the world that I have become. It took a good friend to really point out to me that I need to do what I want now and not wait until tomorrow. We live our lives so much thinking that we will do something in (fill in the blank) years. Well, why not do it now? I really want to meet new people down here and haven’t thought about how I would go about doing it. I think I will investigate taking a class or two at the local community college. Perhaps I will be able to find a Mommy & Me class in the area. However it turns out I will be grateful to my friend for seeing things in me that I didn’t see in myself before, even if wasn’t the best thing.

Who’s (really) the Boss?

uwsmom — Sun, 21 Nov 2010 00:49:12 +0000

I would like to claim that I run my household with an iron fist and I keep my son in line. I would be lying if I did though and laugh at such a statement. The reason is that my son is so completely in charge. He determines most of our day. Don’t get me wrong, he takes naps and eats at designated times and usually complies without much complaint. However, he calls the shots in most other areas. A perfect example would be today. I was changing his diaper but he wanted nothing to do with laying down. My solution was to change his diaper with him standing up. I figure he needs a diaper change and it gets done without tears. I would love to hear your stories about your child(ren) showing you who is boss.

Gap casting call – what a joke!!

uwsmom — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 20:10:07 +0000

Gap has an annual casting call that they hold for the new face of Gap. I thought that it would be fun to enter Baby J so I put up a few photos of him and asked friends and family to vote for him. Well, it would be fun except that no one can vote. The website is always down and no one can get onto it, including me most of the time. I am lucky if I can get onto the site 1 out of every 1o times I try. Also, I find it very amusing that some photos have gotten over 12,000 votes. How does that happen? Has someone hacked into the Gap site? If the people voting for that child have normal computers like the rest of us, they are beating the system somehow because there is no way anyone can get on to vote that many times!!

Gap, you need to find a better system for conducing this contest because the baby that does win is not necessarily the most popular. He is just lucky enough that the people voting for him actually got on to vote.