4 Months Old!

My baby is 4 months old today!  I have learned so many things in the 4 months that he has been here and in the time before he was born when I knew he was on the way.  Here are just a few random ones:

*Motherhood is AWESOME!  And HARD.  And painful, blissful, exhausting, rewarding, gross, funny, unexpected, stressful, worrisome, heart-wrenching and heart-melting all at the same time. 

*Mothers' hearts are easily hurt (well, mine anyways).  1) Please don’t ask moms if their baby takes a good nap and then if they say “no” or “not unless I’m holding him” or “not unless he is in the car” tell them to “well you just have to make them” or “just let him cry for a while, he will quit eventually”.  You aren’t there, you don’t know!  How do you “make” a tiny baby do anything?!  2) Please don’t stop by a new mother’s house, when they have told you that you are welcome anytime, and within 30 seconds in the door say “oh, he’s making it pretty tough for you to keep up with things”.  If you think her house is a mess keep it to yourself!  If you came to see the baby, great!  If you came to see her house, make an appointment!  3) Please don’t tell her cloth diapering my baby is “gross”.  Does she ask you to wash his diapers?  NO!  Does she ask you to change his diapers?  NO!  Does she ask you to touch his diapers? NO!  Would you even know her  had a cloth diaper on if she didn’t tell you? NO!  So keep your opinion to yourself!  4) Please don’t constantly compare her baby to other babies in front of her! And please don’t compare her parenting style to anyone else’s!  If her baby is healthy, happy and perfect (even when he’s not!) leave her alone!  She probably weighs and reweighs every decision she make when I comes to that baby, so don’t question it!  I could go on, but you get my point!

*I lose patience with my baby much faster than I ever thought I would, but I’m working on it.  Let me tell you, nothing gets on my nerves faster than a baby who REFUSES to let you put a diaper on him.  He kicks himself out of it, rolls, clamps his legs together and SMILES the whole time.  But, I am working on being patient.  I try to distract him and the whole time I remind myself my baby could be sick, he could have physical impairments, he could not be smart enough to figure out how to keep me from getting it on. 

*Its ok to shut yourself in the bathroom at the other end of the house and let your baby cry for a few minutes.  Sometimes, doing that and coming back and picking him up and snuggling him is the only way to snap him out of a fit!  It doesn’t make you a bad mom, it makes you human!    

*Poop becomes a mothers’ most dreaded and most loved thing.  I HATE changing poopy diapers.  But you know what?  If my baby goes way longer than normal for him between poops I am ECSTATIC when he has a super blowout!  Poop has become one of my measures of my baby’s health! 

*My baby is the most amazing baby ever!  And so is yours! 

*I’ve learned lots of other things about motherhood, but that will have to do for now because my most amazing baby just got up from his nap!  Have a great day!