Bye Bye Baby Seat

Today marks a milestone for my Cutie Pie. He has officially outgrown his infant carrier carseat. We brought him home from the hospital in that seat. He's gone on long car trips, run errands, sat in restaurants and gone for long walks at the park in that seat. Now at almost six months old, he's too big to fit in the seat that was supposed to last a year. It felt bittersweet to see my baby boy's chair cast aside on the garage floor to make room for the giant big boy seat that we bought to replace it.


Choosing a new car seat was quite an undertaking. I read the baby books and consulted numerous web pages. I visited baby stores. I looked at charts comparing every aspect of dozens of seats. I read that I needed a convertible car seat but I wasn't sure why. Does it have a moon roof? I felt like I was cramming for a test on a foriegn language I had never heard before!

Do you want a seat with a cow or zebra pattern? Stylish parents might prefer a special couture fabric edition. Traveling parents might want a seat with wheels at the bottom so they can cart their kid around the airport like he's riding on a dolly. (Isn't this why they make strollers?) How about a snack tray? For only $400, your baby's seat can have it's own airbags! I was surprised I didn't find one with iPod attachments.

In my research, I found that Britax seats are considered the safest on the market. When I read a review from another parent about how a Britax seat saved their child's life I knew that was the one I wanted. They might not have all the cutest patterns but if my Cutie Pie was in an accident, I wouldn't want to regret not buying him a better seat.

You would think that would be the end. My decision is made, I will buy a Britax seat. Oh no! There are six different kinds of Britax seats available for babies like my Cutie Pie. Each seat is different and none of them are really better than the others. Every seat had something I wanted that the others didn't have. The seat with the airbags sounded intriguing but very expensive. I think my Cutie Pie should be comfortable in his seat so we should probably get one with the comfort pillows. I don't have a van or an SUV so I needed one that would fit in my normal sized car. I read a bunch of reviews that said some seats don't have adjustable crotch straps and their little boys were uncomfortable because their wee wees hurt. Well that was it! The deciding factor. I don't want to have to drive all over town with a baby crying because his wee wee hurts!

I finally decided on the Britax Decathlon and found a good deal shopping around on the internet. It fits perfectly in my mom-mobile and I can hardly wait to run errands with Cutie Pie so he can sit in it. I'm going to miss the seat that carried my sweet baby boy but I'm looking forward to countless car trips with the new seat. I just better not hear any complaints about that crotch strap!

King Kong

Feeding my Cutie Pie has become quite an adventure. The airplane makes it's approach toward the mouth, complete with putputputput noises. The mouth opens and just when you think all is safe, King Kong comes out of nowhere and swats the airplane down sending peas in all directions!

I've noticed that King Kong only comes out to play when Mommy is doing the feeding. I've watched Daddy and Grandma and Cutie Pie's Teachers carefully. I've studied their technique and style. I've tried it all and to no avail. Feeding time is just dangerous when Mommy is at the other end of the spoon.

I invented my own technique of giving Cutie Pie his own spoon to play with. My rationale is that if he already has a spoon then surely he won't try to grab the one with the food on it. Right? Wrong, Mommy! Cutie Pie and I have tried this at least a dozen times and it hasn't worked yet. When will Mommy learn?

I guess Cutie Pie will just have to work harder to teach me to feed him neatly. Sometimes I'm not such a fast learner. We were just getting the hang of breastfeeding when the doctor sprung this solid food business on us! What do you mean we can start giving him cereal and baby food? He's still a baby!

We haven't stopped breastfeeding completely yet. I read that six month old babies begin to lose the immunities their bodies stored while in the womb. I think it is fabulous that my milk helps to protect him from germs.

The early days were very difficult. King Kong first made his appearance in the hospital. Cutie Pie would thrash and fight when it was time to eat. Each feeding session was like a wrestling match! Then somehow it got easier. Now feeding Cutie Pie is so relaxing that I sometimes fall asleep. I love breastfeeding. I love getting to stare into my Cutie Pie's eyes while he eats. I love cuddling and bonding with him.

Everyone has an opinion about breastfeeding. When I was pregnant, everyone was sure to share their breastfeeding opinion with me. I thought that most people would push me to breastfeed, after all, "breast is best." But I was surprised to learn that several of my friends thought the whole thing was disgusting. One of them actually told me it reminded her of watching monkeys at the zoo and she would never let her child suckle like an animal! My little monkey and I are doing just fine. It's King Kong I'm worried about!

Baby's First Pandemic

At 3:00am this morning, I was awakened by a thunderous sound coming from the baby monitor. Before I knew I was awake, I had already run halfway across the house on my way to Cutie Pie. Still bleary eyed, I looked down at my Cutie Pie's crib to see a very unhappy baby coughing violently. Now I know I'm not supposed to pick up the baby every time he makes noise at night, at least that's what everyone says. So I stared at him for a moment trying to figure out what I am supposed to do. I gave him his pacifier, I put Baby Vicks on his chest and I rubbed his back when he rolled over on his stomach. He wasn't fully alert yet but the way he was coughing, I knew I didn't have long before I had a wide awake coughing baby. Sure enough, in a short time I saw my little Cutie Pie's eyes, looking up at me and heard the first of many cries. Cutie Pie told me it was time to stop doing what everyone says and pick him up NOW!

For the next two hours we rocked in the rocking chair, we nursed, we tried walking around the house, we tried sitting in the swing, we used the saline solution, we used the aspirator and when nothing could stop Cutie Pie's coughs, my mind naturally turned to the Swine Flu. Now that I'm a Mom, I have to worry about these things. Maybe I'm not worried enough. We've got a hurricane plan and we know what to do in case of a fire or a tornado. Some of my friends who watch too many horror movies even have an alien plan and a zombie plan! Should I have some kind of a Pandemic Plan for keeping my family safe? I started reviewing the symptoms in my head. Cough- check, body aches- well, he seems unhappy, lethargic- no, he seems pretty wide awake, fever- nope! Hooray! Cutie Pie is safe from the pandemic!

But what could be making him cough like this? I think I read in one of those books that sometimes babies cough a lot because they swallowed something and it got caught in their windpipe. I wonder if Cutie Pie will open his mouth and let me have a look back there. He was nursing right then so I decided to hold off on inspecting Cutie Pie's tonsils, when all of a sudden he let out a monstrous cough that I'm sure they heard in China. This was followed by projectile vomit, the kind I've only seen in movies. Hooray! I immediately decided Cutie Pie must not be choking. If he'd had something stuck in there it surely would have come flying out. I've never been so happy to see a baby throw up.

Around 5:30am, Daddy came in and immediately identified the problem: the humidifier wasn't working. He fixed it and Cutie Pie soon stopped coughing. He was out like a light by 6:00am and slept in until 9:00am. Lucky me!

There are two things I learned about being a Mom last night. One, apparently I tend to overreact when I don't have enough sleep. Two, next time Daddy should get up to check on the baby.