The Noon Bell: An Enemy To Napping Babies Everywhere

I grew up in a large metropolitan area. There was no open space between cities. People from all different walks of life lived together in harmony. Most importantly, there was no noon bell. I understand that small towns have certain traditions and quirks that have been going on, well, let’s be honest, since the beginning of time. Some of these traditions are important to the people who live in these towns. They give character and personality, and residents are attached to them. For example, the small town in which I went to college had a giant glockenspiel. The music coming … Continue reading →

Be Afraid, Thrush. Be Very Afraid.

I wrote yesterday that I’m suspicious my daughter might have thrush. Experienced family members and her pediatrician all think it probably isn’t thrush, but I’m taking some precautions, just to be safe. I emailed a midwife I greatly trust (she delivered both of my older sisters in home births 25+ years ago and is still delivering babies), and got some great advice. She suggested buying a probiotic in capsule form, breaking open the capsule, and dipping my daughter’s binky into the powder. She said that allowing her to suck on the powder would help restore the natural balance of fungi … Continue reading →

Church-Going Cherub

The week before Easter brings a marathon of church-going for Christians. There’s church Maundy Thursday, with communion; church Good Friday; and a variety of Sunday-morning services to celebrate Easter. Since I was a child, I’ve attended church Thursday, Friday, and gone to one service on Sunday morning – the Easter Sunrise Service. Yep, we got up, put on our Sunday finest, and drove (sometimes walked) off to a service that started at 6:00am. We’d sit in church, singing hymns, listening to the joyful Easter sermon, and catching whiffs of the delicious Easter Breakfast aromas floating up from the church kitchen. … Continue reading →

Baby’s First Easter

Holidays were quite possibly the most exciting part of my life when I was young. I’d count down the days to Christmas, Easter, Halloween, and my birthday with major anticipation. I could hardly sleep the night before the big day. As I got older, the butterflies that used to be present around holidays began to disappear. However, this year, they’re back with a vengeance. What brought back the excitement? I have a baby! Even though she’s really too young to understand or appreciate what is going on, we’re starting to include our daughter in holiday events. We didn’t really intend … Continue reading →

Gas Leak

We had a pretty scary experience this past week. We had been out with friends for the entire evening, and came home about 10:00pm. The second I entered the hallway of our apartment building, I smelled major natural gas. It was pretty strong. I unlocked the door to our apartment, opened it, and the smell became about ten times stronger. “The gas is coming from our apartment, honey,” I said to my husband. He went inside, and discovered that a burner on our gas stove was leaking gas. I immediately freaked out. The first thing that went through my head … Continue reading →

The Sleep Game

There’s a new game being played in my house lately. It’s cute, it’s endearing, it makes us laugh, and we like it. It also is probably going to get really old really quickly. It’s the sleep game. I’m sure you all know what I’m talking about. It’s the game children play when they’re obviously tired, often over-tired, and want to fool their parents into thinking they’ve finally given in to slumber. Sleep has never really been an issue with my daughter. For the first 5 ½ months of her life, I always held her while she slept during the day. … Continue reading →

Get your Daily Dose of Vitamin D

I don’t give my daughter the liquid vitamin supplement that many pediatricians recommend. I’m always in favor of doing less – less vaccines, less medicine, less supplements. To be honest, I don’t think my breast milk needs any supplementing. I take plenty of vitamin D, and I eat a healthy diet. I know that people say vitamin D doesn’t pass through breast milk, but I have hard time believing that alcohol passes through, eating lots of broccoli can make her gassy, but vitamin D won’t get into my milk. Anyways, none of these random thoughts are the main reason I’m … Continue reading →

Get Out Of My Face!

My poor baby couldn’t catch a break this morning. We have a morning routine. I hear her stirring (she sleeps with us), roll over to feed her quickly, then pick her up for some pajama snuggles. After we’re all snuggled out, I change her diaper, since it is usually saturated with pee. It’s during diaper changing that I have a prime view up her nose. Yes, I admit it: I’m one of those mothers – the kind that hates boogers in her baby’s nose. I could see a big one, so I got my bulb syringe and got to work. … Continue reading →

5 Reasons to be Thankful it’s Winter

It seems like all anyone in the Midwest can think about this time of year is when spring will arrive. Now that it’s March, you might you might mistakenly expect spring to begin making its entrance. It might be happening other places, but it’s not happening here in the good old Midwest of the United States. It’s one thing to survive a long, cold winter as an adult. It’s another thing altogether trying to survive it with a baby. An adult can handle a long walk in 20-degree weather to maintain her sanity. A baby can’t. If you happen to … Continue reading →