Wednesday, February 23, 2011

An afternoon in the park

We took the opportunity to go to the park today with Grandma Connelly and Leyla. LoLo really enjoyed herself while Mommy snapped away!

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Had to post this!! I am still laughing...

The 10 Most Irritating, Least Helpful Parenting Tips Ever

by Redbook, on Fri Feb 4, 2011 7:39am PST

I have nothing against friends and family offering advice when you come to them with a dilemma. It's the people who pipe up, unbidden, because they see you with a child and assume you have no idea what you're doing. Too often these people are elderly great-aunts. Fortunately those ladies are afraid of the Internet, so I can rail against them and they'll be none the wiser! Thanks, ladies.

1. "Sleep now, because once that baby comes you'll never sleep again." Technically this is a pregnancy tip, of course, but I'm shoving it in here anyway. Yes, Great-Aunt Hildy, I will sleep throughout my entire third trimester. Because I am part bear.

2. "Sleep when the baby sleeps." Everyone gives you this one — annoying relatives, pediatricians, the cashier at the drugstore where you were buying newborn diapers. Are these people all robots, capable of instantly dropping off to sleep whenever their child is unconscious? Do they not have other things to do, like bathe, or simply relish the rare moments of silence you get when you have an infant?

Read more from Alice Bradley on <<>>

3. "I think your baby's hungry." Whether you're nursing or bottle-feeding, everyone assumes you don't know how to feed your child. And every time your child cries, whines, grimaces, or squirms, they are going to assume you are starving your poor baby and you need reminders to feed it. Lest you forget! This advice is especially maddening when they turn out to be correct.

4. "Relish every moment of your baby's first years, because they'll be grown before you know it." You mean, time only moves forward? I had no idea! I thought we'd be like this forever and ever! This sort of advice, obvious and innocuous as it seems, always put me on the defensive, as if I had just been carrying my baby under my arm like a football, muttering, "Grow up already, why don't you. Just GROW UP."

Related: Celebrities on Motherhood

5. "I hope you're sleep training that child. Do you WANT him to be spoiled?" Oh, distant relative/person whose aisle I shared at the supermarket, I'm so glad you know exactly my child needs. And that you know, from your years of scientific research, that any child not allowed to cry it out will be a horrible waste of flesh!(See #6 for this parenting tip's counterpart.)

6. "I hope you're not doing that 'crying it out' thing. It's so barbaric. Enjoy your baby all through the night!" Again, kudos to you, whoever you are, for knowing what's best for our unique family situation! I will be calling you at 4 a.m., so you can enjoy our baby as well.

Related: The Best Mom Moments of All Time

7. "Why are you bringing your child outside when it's so cold out?" It never ceased to amaze me that, no matter what my child's age, total strangers will express alarm and revulsion that I dared expose him to the elements. "And WHY ISN'T BE WEARING MITTENS? He's going to get consumption!"

8. "Your child isn't really sad/angry/injured. He's just manipulating you." There's no doubt that children can push our buttons as if they've had professional training in it, but the notion that my kid's authentic feelings are in fact manufactured to elicit a reaction really chaps my hide. If that were always true, he'd be a pint-sized sociopath. I'm pretty sure that's not the case.

Related: Read 7 Hilarious Tantrum Tales Here

9. "Schools are just glorified prisons. If you loved your child, you'd homeschool." Oh, if only I loved my child enough to abandon my livelihood, tear him away from the community he so enjoys, separate him from the professionals who have dedicated their careers to childhood education, and forced him to stay home all day with me, where we'd be at each other's throats for hours! If only! Please note: I am not opposed to homeschooling, at all — in fact I wish it would work for us, but it would not.

10. "If I were you, I'd just—" OH NO YOU DON'T. I know where this is going. Listen, unnamed distant acquaintance who last parented in the 19th century (it's true — I often get my unwanted advice from ghosts) you don't know diddly about my kid, and our relationship, and what works for us

2 Month Check up

Harlow went last Friday for her 2 month checkup. She weighs 11 pounds 6 ounces which is exactly 2 pounds more than her 2 week weight, right on target for 1/2 pound per week. She is 24 inches long from the 20 3/4 at birth. These measurements put her in the 95 percentile for height and 75th percentile for weight meaning out of 100 girls born on the same day as her, she is taller than 95 of them and weights more than 75 of them. Nice and healthy. If you take the height of both Dax and I, you can punch them into a formula which will guesstimate Harlow's adult height. It comes out to 5'9". We will get back to you in about 18 years to see if it was right! Both Dax and I did not fall into that "average" since I am as tall as my Mom and Dax is as tall as his Dad.

Harlow's first Valentine's Day 2011-Daddy gave Harlow her first rose!

Sunday, February 13, 2011

A Day in the Life of Harlow

I wanted to do a fun project so we would always remember what one day was like with Harlow when she was 2 months old. I documented her entire day in photographs. Enjoy!

Our day started in the middle of the night. Our trusty "Itzbeen" tells us that it's 4:54 am and Baby Harlow has been sleeping for 6 and 1/2 hours!!! WOW!!! Mom had to wake up and do a little work or things would have been increasingly uncomfortable for her. No way was she going to wake up the baby!

Don't worry, I wasn't that far behind mommy. I only slept a few more minutes and it was time to EAT! But, yes that is right, I slept for 7 hours straight! Way to go me! Mommy and Daddy act like it's a big deal when I do that!

Now it's 8:21, 2 1/2 hours after my last time I ate and it's time to start my day!

This is what I looked like in my crib when Mommy came in to get me....

After we eat and get changed for the day, I like to spend a little time in my swing.

Daddy picked me up and so he could hold me for awhile while they planned out our day. We were supposed to go to the Green Market in the morning, but it was raining and they told me it wasn't good for me to be outside in the rain.

Then, Mommy wanted to get me changed because we were going to go out and do some errands! She just kept snapping pictures of me. I know I'm cute, but geez....enough with the flashes in my eyes!

Here is my whole cute outfit! Mommy said I had to wear it because I am almost too big for it and plus it was chilly outside so I had to wear layers. Mommy also told me that Daddy and her picked this out at the Baby Gap after they took back the boy clothes they bought when they thought I was a BOY!

Are you done yet??? I'm already getting tired!!

Whoopsie, I fell asleep when we drove in the car! I love my stroller!

Man, we go to this store all the time! I always get good stuff after we leave so I guess it's alright! Last week I got a couple new outfits and a new headband here. I wonder what Mommy will buy me today?

Now we are at Aunt Maggie and Uncle Kevin's house. I fell asleep again on the way there.

I played with everyone for awhile after I ate. I had the toots pretty bad, and everyone kept laughing at me! It was so embarrassing...

Whoopsie, I did it again! I had another blow out. I blame it on Mommy for feeding me so much. I had to get changed on the counter top with everyone laughing and watching. Uncle Kevin couldn't handle looking at my accident so he stayed far, far away. Good thing mommy packed a spare outfit for me!

Next, we went to the Garlic Festival in Delray Beach. Mommy wore me in the Moby. I loved it, it is so cozy and warm to be next to mommy. I also got to wear my knit hat since it was a chilly 55 degrees.

Here we are again in the Moby. There were so many families, kids and stroller at the festival. Also lots of yummy food! My mom and dad are always eating food. I can't wait to eat something other than milk.

Mommy put me down inside my stroller and bundled me up tight so she could eat (go figure!).

Dang, I am just the cutest baby in the whole wide world.

I loved watching these kids roll around in plastic balls! It was so crazy. Maybe someday I can ride inside one.

I rode around in my stroller while dad pushed me. I like being bumped around inside that thing.

Finally, we were back home! I was ready to be home so I screamed my lungs out at the end of the festival so that we could leave. It worked! Mom even ran ahead of Daddy and me so she could warm the car up for us. I have those two wrapped around my little finger. Every time I start crying, they jump up and do something for me. It's so awesome! I don't even have to suck on my pacifier for that long. If it falls out, they just put in back inside for me. Haha!

It was bath time next. I love my bath time. It is so relaxing. Daddy washes me and gets me nice and clean.

Mommy warmed up my bottle. Sometimes I am lazy at night so I get a bottle to keep my tummy nice and full so I can sleep well. I am so glad that my mommy warms it up for me.