New Conspiracy Theory

It feels like October.  I’m not quite ready for that.  By the afternoon, the temps should be perfect, though.

Well, the Farmer’s Almanac 2009 edition goes on sale today and predicts below average temperatures this winter and above-average snowfalls for the Midwest.  It boasts an 80 percent accuracy rate, so things could be interesting this winter.

However, the National Weather Service is predicting a warmer than normal winter for most of the country.

So here’s my conspiracty theory: the government is telling the National Weather Service to predict a warmer winter so that people don’t freak out before the holiday season about the high costs of heating their homes after New Years.  If people have to penny-pinch to save up for fuel, then it’ll be hard on the economy.

Come on – that makes a whole lot of sense!

Oh, here is the link to the story.

Parenting Observations #5

This one definitely goes down as a tip.

Alex doesn’t like to be held still for very long, unless he’s tired. So having him lay his head on your shoulder are rare and treasured moments. A common time you can expect to get one of these moments is right after his last bottle of the night and you’re trying to burb him.

Now here’s where the tip comes in. Unless you enjoy the smell of sour milk, avoid the temptation of staring at your child while in the burbing process. A face full of his breath at the wrong moment can send you reeling.

Parenting Observations #4

Baby fingernails are razor sharp.  And they grow back really fast.

While one might think it would be fun to have your own personal Wolverine in the family, it’s not really the case.  Especially since he likes to grab skin and lower lips.  I often look like I’ve just gone rolling around in a rose bush.

But cutting them is a challenge on it’s own.  Alex doesn’t like to sit still, so really the only time you can get him is while he’s sleeping or near sleep.  Like last night, just before we put him to bed, I was feeding him his last bottle of the night and Sara was able to cut the nails.

Ah good times.  Now, can you pass the gauze?

Parenting Observations #3

You will wash a lot of dishes.  Period.

Bottles mostly.  Especially if you use day care.  There’s the first bottle of the morning.  The 3 bottles throughout the day used at daycare.  The bowls and spoons from dinner.  And then the nighttime bottle.  Since Sara is not a stay at home mom, these items pile up in the sink at the end of the day.  And so every evening I wash.

I should say most evenings.  Some times Sara will wash up, but I don’t mind doing them.  It has become an evening ritual.  Before the baby came along I had expectations of changing diapers and bottle feedings.  But doing a pile of dishes every night was not in the “What to Expect in your First Year” book. (and no – putting them in the dishwasher every night isn’t really a good idea: it’s harsh on the bottles and nipples, plus we don’t have a full load every night)

Parenting Observations #2

Teething sucks.  Both for the child and the adults.  It’s gut wrenching to watch your normally super-content son cry while waiting for the Tylenol and to Oragel kick in.  Plus there is the river of snot that mars is usually adorable face.  And because of all the congestion, sucking his thumb is tough because then he can’t breathe.  All this also contributes to him not sleeping well and often waking up in the middle of the night.  Several times over the past week we’ve had to get up, administer more drugs and another bottle to settle him down and go back to sleep.  And I thought the midnight feedings ended after 3 months.

Parenting Observations

So I’m starting a new category today.  My target audience is those who hope to have children some day or those who just want to laugh at me.  So, pretty much everyone who already reads this blog.  I don’t want to call them “Tips” because I have no idea if what I’m doing as a parent is working.  I’m thinking they will be more along the lines of “Stuff that should be in the ‘What to Expect in the First Year’ book, but aren’t”.  But that’s too long of a category name, so I’ll just go with “Observations”.  Some of these will be specific to my son and may not be applicable to all children, so deal with it.  Here goes.

Just because you have a boy doesn’t mean he’ll be an automatic sprinkler every time you take the diaper off.  I think that’s only happened to us two or three times in the past 10 months.  It’s much more common for him to start peeing about 30 seconds after we sit him in the bath.

Changing the diaper in general can be quite an ordeal.  At this stage, he hates being on his back, so that’s the biggest problem.  He’ll kick and scream even when trying to take the diaper off.  But it can get worse when putting it back on.  Sometimes it takes the two of us to change him.  One to change, the other to distract.  And if you change him on the floor: watch out!  He’ll flip over and crawl away at warp speed the minute you remove that diaper.