New developments or lack of

Thinking about my infant’s developments is driving me crazy! As a mom you can’t escape thinking about, reading about, and comparing your child’s developments to other children. Did I sign up for this event in the delivery room when my non- medicated head was spinning around during contractions? Was I told to sign next to the X? Because I’am now a member of the Compare Your Child Forever Team? Great, another thing no one told me about and I never got a t-shirt.

Every week I open some dumb email, telling me “your baby is now BLANK months, and BLANK weeks old, now they’re probably doing such & such”. I, the stupid mom continue to click on the link and read. I read all about what my baby should be doing; what they should be eating, what they should be holding, why they are fussy, how they should be sleeping, how they should be napping, how they should be crawling, should be standing, should try to walk, should try to talk, should this, should that, and what should be next.

Look I have no future plans to try out for a GREAT MOM award. I’m an average mom, just trying to get by with the simple steps. My 10 month old, eats three meals a day from a jar, drinks formula from her bottle, takes two good naps & one cat nap, goes potty in her diaper, hates being on her tummy, puts most objects in her mouth (to make sure they are real), loves her jumpy, loves her baby rave music, thinks bath time is funny, likes to eat her own feet, and sleeps straight from 7:30pm to 6:30am. She’s a baby and not making some scientific discovery.

We are working one holding and drinking from a cup. Has a little trouble tilting it up. Takes after her mother, when her cup is empty she tosses it on the floor. I do the same with my wine glass. If one more person asks, “is she crawling yet”? I will scream, “NO, SHE IS NOT”! Yes, I know she will soon. I don’t bother trying to explain or tell them her excuse. She is a bit behind because she could not have use of her arms till she was 5 months old. I should tell them, “not yet but she knows all her nursery rhymes, can choreograph her own dance routine in the jumper, and knows all the words to GOODNIGHT MOON.

I have not even made it a full year, this is going to be a long game.

Annoyed again

So the other morning during a morning mom activity I overheard a conversation about baby snacks.

A mom of one baby was saying she wasn't sure what kind of snacks to give her boy. He didn't care for the baby puffs.

I thought here is my chance to share something (when I normally wouldn’t bother). "I gave her baby mums, they are easy to hold and dissolve fast". "But they can become sticky".

I had one in our diaper bag and showed this woman. " Here's one, see the shape is easy to hold onto."

Her response, "oh it looks like styrofoam. I don't think I want him to eat something that looks like styrofoam, he may think styrofoam is ok to eat. I will have to think about that one".

My thought, "Seriously weirdo. Don’t infants try to put anything in their mouth no matter the shape, texture or size. Good luck with that. I guess my baby is going to eat paper, cardboard and styrofoam, crazy me."

My response, "Ok."

Time to make friends

Once we moved to Baltimore I knew I was going to have to get out there and make friends. Life can become lonely when your family and friends are far away. Good thing I have a kid to help me meet people. I was told about Meet-up.com when I lived in SD. It’s a way to locate mom groups in your area, get outside, share parenting tips and maybe make a friend. The idea of joining a group in SD seemed ridiculous. There was a group called “No Drama Mama’s, they claimed not to gossip about others. Another group was called “Classy Mom’s”, they claimed to have manners & class. The fact that you need to tell people you have class means you don’t.

Lucky for me, the search in MD was simple. I typed in my zip code, and mom groups in our area popped up. I made a decision that the new East Coast Adaline was going to be friendly and open to meeting new people (or at least try). I spent a couple of hours on a Sunday evening trying to figure out what women appeared interesting and offered options. Unfortunately, you can’t just choose a group, RSVP to an event and suddenly you are in. You must first email the group leader, introduce yourself, answer some questions and set up a meet & greet before you can attend an official play date. This is for everyone’s safety. Guess they want to see if you really have a child and not some psycho who just wants to meet moms.

I completed the first steps and the meet & greet was set. I was given the secret location, Barnes & Noble, and told how to find the LEADER. Walk through the front entrance, go straight, make a left after the table of new arrivals, a right down the cookbook aisle, a left into the children's section, one more left and stop at Thomas the Train. My thoughts were, “seriously”, and “who is Thomas, and why does he have a train”? I may be exaggerating a little, but that's how it all sounded to me. Everything went fine, I met the LEADER and was told about the age groups and activities. I passed my meet & greet with flying colors. So I was now ready to RSVP, “lets bring on the play dates”. Slow down. This meet up group was serious business every event for our age group was booked for the entire month. Really, are the moms that cool? Good thing I could put myself on the wait list. Hello, my name is Adaline and I’m on a wait list to go to a strangers house so my infant can sit on their floor and put her hand in her mouth. Good times.

The things we do for our babies is silly.

Our family move

I always knew moving to the East Coast was a possibility, but I never thought it would actually happen. But when Alex was offered a good job opportunity back in his home state, Maryland, our family had to pack up and move. The move happened fast once the decision was made, and within weeks we were living in a new state.

I use to think living on the OTHER coast would be an adventure, exciting and fun..OH not so true. It’s been two months and all I can say is, “its been interesting”. We arrived during a very hot and humid summer. I’m not a fan of humid. Where is my beautiful San Diego weather? We are living 15 minutes outside of downtown Baltimore in a small historic neighborhood. The nearest Target is 12 miles away. Everything is so far. Where is my Friars road? I miss having all the simple needs 5 to 10 minutes away. Starbucks is the only coffee house option and the nearest one is at least a 15 minute drive. I’m not even a fan of Starbucks. Where is our favorite coffee from Peets? I couldn’t enjoy one single ice blended vanilla no-sugar added drink from Coffee Bean all summer. Dunkin Donuts is their Starbucks, its everywhere. Do I look like I eat donuts?

Positive side..My in-laws are very sweet and a HUGE help. They have a gorgeous victorian home with plenty of room for us. It’s as if we have a live in nanny. Alex and I can enjoy a date night at least once a week. After the medical difficulties Olivia had in San Diego, time out alone is so appreciated. For now living in a new city will take some getting use too. Alex is trying to settle into his job at a large firm and I’m trying to figure out my job as a stay at home mom. Both have long hours.