Taking Care of Baby

I will make this post short. Taking care of your baby doesn't mean just taking care of your baby. You want your child to grow up in the happiest, healthiest home possible. That means taking care of the whole family. That means taking care of daddy. Ladies, the man in your life has needs too. Find out what those needs are. And make ways to meet them if you have to. He certainly needs to help you find or make those ways. But if one of (or neither) of you is clear about what those needs are, I guarantee your relationship will suffer. Baby comes first right now, but remember who was there first and who will be there when baby goes out on his own.

Ain't Nobody Got Time For That!

I do apologize for the delay. What's it been, 3 months or so? To be honest, I forgot for a while. And then I went through something very personal and painful, which I may talk a bit about in the future. I'm still dealing with some things, but I will try to get back into blogging as well.

-

Scenario: you have company coming over. Your house is a mess because... Well, when do you seriously have time to clean? The problem isn't that your house is a mess. You're a mom. You can live with that. The problem is that it looks messy. What do you do?
Here are some things I do to try and make my place look cleaner when I have an unexpected guest.

Living Room
Clear off the couch. However you can. Pile it up on the floor next to the couch of you have to. Just clear off the couch.

Kitchen
Move the dirty dishes from the counter to the sink. Doing them is better of course, but there's not always time for that.

Bathroom
This one is pretty good. Close the shower curtain. Most of the clutter is there any way. Easily can make the bathroom appear 50% cleaner. Also, if you have the time, just wipe down the counter.

Bedroom
Make the bed. Even your floor can be covered in clothes and baby supplies. You look like one organized chick if your bed is made. Or if you're really lazy/busy (as I often am), just pull over the top blanket/comforter to make it look like the bed is made.

Make sure all your closets and cupboards are closed and you're set. If you'll excuse me, I have some "cleaning" to do.

And God said, "Let There be Gloworms."

... and He saw that it was good.
Thank God for gloworms. And all things that allow me to keep my sanity when raising my little boy. Here are a few objects I don't know how I'd love without:

Gloworm
Makes sense given the title of the post. Benjamin absolutely LOVES this thing. He'll be crying, I'll turn it on and show it to him, and he'll stop. It's a quick fix that doesn't last, but it gives me that one minute of quiet that I need to figure out what's next. I also have it playing when I'm bouncing him to sleep.

Playmat
Let's say I really need to throw in a load of laundry. Well, my little BabyB0t does not like it when he can't see me. Unless... I set him down on his little jungle themed playmat with the toys hanging above him. It makes music and the little toy animals move. He's so entertained, it takes him 10-20 minutes to even notice I'm gone most of the time. I just check on him every few minutes and he's one happy camper.

Bouncer
I need a shower every now and again, but I'm not going to set my son on the bathroom floor. And I can't take him in with me because something tells me that would make shaving my legs a bit difficult. The bouncer allows me to bring him into the bathroom so I can keep an eye on him while I get clean. And he gets quite the concert. The bouncer is also useful in the kitchen when I want to get some dishes done or possibly even make lunch.

Infant Carrier
I always feel good about myself after a walk. I enjoy doing it and it's good for me. Even with a baby who's fussy most of the time right now, I can usually count on him to stay calm enough for a walk outside. Benjamin loves facing forward in the infant carrier outside. I get to work off some of this extra weight and he gets to explore and experience new things... or fall asleep. Win, win.

Bottle
When all else fails... I give in. I know, shame on me. When he won't breastfeed, sleep, or play, is freaking out and I still don't know what to do, I give him a bottle. It calls him down so I don't feel like my head is gonna explode. As much as I would like to be able to say I exclusively breastfeed, 4-8oz of formula a day helps me stay sane. And that's kind of important to me...

There you have it. Everyone is different and that includes babies, so I'm sure these don't work for everyone. But those are some of the things that work for us... for now, anyway.

Who Are You and What Did You Do With my Perfect Baby?

I have an easy baby. Well, I had an easy baby. He was an angel; fell asleep on his own, was awake fairly often but didn't need constant attention, ate all the time but didn't have many problems, etc. I started to think, "hey, maybe this baby thing isn't so hard..." Punch me now... When he hit two months old, everything changed. Now, I look at my son and ask, "where is that easy, content child I brought home from the hospital?" He cries more, sleeps almost never (it seems), is hungry most of the time but refuses to eat, and his daddy or I have to be in sight at all times when he's playing on his own.
At first, I was kind of freaking out. Did his shots make him sick? Is he not getting enough food? Did I hurt him? Am I doing something wrong? Nope, nope, nope, and nope. Like people of any age, he's just changing or going through a phase. He's beginning to develop his awesome personality. He likes specific music and has favorite toys. And when he's hurting (like when he's teething), it comforts him to know that mommy and/or daddy are there for him as soon as he needs us. It may not be very convenient when I'm trying to get stuff done, but nothing is impossible given some extra time and help. And if I'm still stressed out, I just have to remember that it won't last forever.

There's an App For That

Let's face the facts. We live in a world where our phones are smarter than us. They know and can do pretty much everything. Except dance... yet. I did have Siri sing to me back when I had the iPhone 4S though. For the things our phones are not already programmed to do when we get them, there are apps. Apps to play games, watch movies, make movies, calculate exactly how much we should leave for a tip, read the news, put cheap looking filters on photos of our breakfast that we took with a decent 8MP camera... you get the point. So with so many apps out there, there's got to be a few useful for new moms.
Aside from the medical ones we mostly use to freak ourselves out like WebMD and iTriage (both available for iPhone and Android), a couple really stand out to me. Baby Center has two different apps one is for pregnancy, the other for after you give birth. The first is called "My Pregnancy Today." The second is called "My Baby Today." I like them because of the calendar section. There's something to read every day for your babies first year. About milestones, what's normal for you or your baby, activities to do, and an amusing post just to make you laugh once a week. The forums can be helpful, but be prepared to get attacked if your post or question is even the slightest bit controversial. I prefer to lurk the boards under a different screen name to read and occasionally comment on amusing stories. I believe both apps are available on iPhone and Android. And free!
Another that I only just recently discovered is the "Parenting: Ages & Stages" app. Good from pregnancy all the way through school. I love everything about this app. It's mostly articles that have to do with the age/stage your child is at. The blogs in the blog section are good. And there's a very convenient section that keeps you up to date on product recalls. It's my new favorite app. Also free and available for both iPhone and Android.
These are just a few that I've found useful lately. I love my smartphone and I love my baby, so I love these apps.

Introducing BabyB0t!

Hello, hello (as the Beatles say)! This post is simply an introduction to the blog, to me, and of course to the magnificent BabyB0t!
The purpose of this blog is to inform and perhaps occasionally entertain. Then again, I do have the cutest baby ever (said no mother in history before me ever). Maybe this blog is simply an excuse to post pictures of him. You'll never know. Mwahaha...
I am the author, known as Chelsea or Ch3ls3ab0t. I'm 20 years old. I love my little family (consisting of myself, my husband, and our little boy), my home state & my birth state (love to travel, but need a place to call home), everything Disney, music/movies (appreciating and making), lots of nerdy things (i.e. Doctor Who, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, minecraft), and my God.
And now the moment you've all been waiting for. Ladies and gentlemen, the spectacular BabyB0t! Benjamin will be three months old on June 8th. I'm already planning his first birthday party. He's a blast... when he's not teething. His favorite things are snuggling, going on walks in the infant carrier, having people blow in his face, and his gloworm.
So, this concludes our little introduction. Pleasure meeting you. More to come soon!