On Second Thought...

Before having Corbin, I had this irrational fear of diaper rash cream.  Every time I would see moms coat their fingers in that stuff and then wipe it all over their babies behind it made me cringe. All I could think about was the microscopic poop shards that were now all over that moms finger and then the amount of things that finger would then touch.  My how times have changed.

Corbin never really had a problem with diaper rash until his 3 week stint of diarrhea, in which no matter how many times I changed his diaper (about 10-15 a day) I could not keep the diaper rash away. Out came the beloved cream. At first I didn't like it. I was suddenly that mom rubbing her finger all over her babies bum and it was kinda nasty. By the end of that 3 weeks, I didn't even give it a second thought. In fact, I actually became quite fond of good ol’ Boudreaux' Butt Paste because I saw the difference it made for my little guy, and I actually would sometimes change his diaper, just to reapply cream! Now the reason I tell this story is because this is not the only incidence in which I have changed my mind on. Here are just a few…

1)    Co-sleeping. Never in a million years did I think my baby would sleep in bed with me. For SO many reasons. Now obviously, this didn’t start until Corbin was a little older (about 5 months) and several precautions were taken in order to keep him safe (not that I am saying it was a good idea). It all started when Corbin got his first cold. He was miserable at night. So we were miserable at night. Finally we just brought him in to lay by us so that he could get some sleep. And so it began. He liked sleeping in our bed, and that’s where he was going to sleep. So every night, about 3 hours after sleeping in his crib, he would end up in our bed. It was that, or be up all night with him. We chose sleep. Just recently Corbin has decided that he likes his crib better than our bed (kids are so strange sometimes). That first night that he wanted to stay in his crib was pretty bad. I was having some serious withdrawals and missed him so bad. It was ridiculous. Sean and I knew it was for the better, and nearly every night since then he has slept in his crib. We still bring him to our bed around 6 or 6:30 every morning, so that Sean and I can get our Corbin cuddles in for the morning.  And by cuddles I mean Corbin pinches our faces until we finally decide to get out of bed.

2)    Sleeping through the night. While on the topic of sleep, let’s just talk about this. Before Corbin was born I thought for sure my child would be sleeping through the night by 9 months old. Corbin is pushing 10 months, and has never once slept through the night (our night schedule), he has had some really good nights that are pretty close though. And that’s ok. Obviously, I will greatly appreciate the night that he decides he doesn’t want to wake up anymore, but until then I’m ok with him checking in on us once or twice (preferably once). If he is 5 years old and still wakes up to eat at night, then maybe we have a problem. But right now, I think it’s fine. I usually woke up at least once a night to get a drink before he was born anyway, so what’s the difference? Some of my most tender memories with Corbin have been at night.

3)    Nursing. I never really gave any thought to breast feeding before I had Corbin. I knew that it was what was most healthy for the baby and that I wanted to breast feed, but that’s all I had really thought about it. I know that nursing is different for every woman and is different for every child. Some women don’t breastfeed and that’s totally ok! I feel really blessed to have had a very positive experience with nursing Corbin. I think that I am having a harder time with Corbin nursing less and less, than Corbin is. It is such a sweet time that only Corbin and I share and I am really going to miss that.

4)    Frustration. When I was pregnant, I had this perception of myself always keeping calm and never getting frustrated with motherhood. While motherhood is the second best thing that has ever happened to me (marrying Sean is first), I have definitely been frustrated with it. Nights especially. Corbin went through this stage, from birth to about 8 months old, where he slept….not at all. He would kick his legs like a madman in his sleep and it would wake him up.  We were up every 2 hours, every night. It was hard. And some nights were especially exhausting and I would definitely get frustrated. Luckily I had Sean to help with those long nights. He is such an awesome husband and father!

5)    Social Media. When I was single I would see all these girls posting about their marriages and kids every 4 seconds online. While I wasn’t completely annoyed by it, I wasn’t really a fan. I just thought people should keep their personal lives personal. And I would always think, “Your baby is kind of cute, but not 10 instagram photos cute.” Well, I’m that mom now. I think my baby and husband are the most adorable people on this planet and everybody should share in this joy I have! Haha. I try and keep it to a minimum, but sometimes Corbin is just too cute to resist sharing. I take only about 20 pictures a day of him, whatever. #firstchildproblems  

6)    Time. It used to bug me when moms would post all this stuff about time flying so fast and how they can’t believe how big and smart their 7 month old is. What? They are only 7 months, chill out. But once again, as Corbin is almost a year I keep wondering how in the world it has been one year when it feels like just last week that I was lying in a hospital bed, celebrating our first anniversary while welcoming Corbin into this world. I can’t even fathom how big he is and how proud I am of him for everything he can do. I am one of those people.

7)    Words I never thought I would say, yet have said multiple times now…

       I got a straight 4 hours of sleep! I feel awesome!

       Corbin, don’t touch your poop! 

     Don’t suck on my shoe!
I miss Corbin sleeping in our bed. 

    I kind of like the smell of spit up, it reminds me Corbin.

       Do not climb on the toilet!

     And then he gave me a huge kiss and wiped his snotty nose all over my face and itwas so cute!

It’s so crazy to me how much we change in such a short time. I am not even the same person I was last year, last month, or even last week. I have really enjoyed most stages of my life (Jr. High not so much) but this is by far my favorite thus far. 

Just having a snack while mom takes me on a walk...

Picnic at the park

We tried to use hair gel on him...FAIL. Obviously. 

With his new found mobility....we have quite a mischief maker on our hands.  

He doesn't always like taking naps...but he usually likes waking up from them. Usually. 

Just some ferry fun and seeing dolphins for his first time. Not that he cares or remembers. :)

La King's was closed for Mardi Gras so we ended up at Star's Drug Store which proved to be a total win 

Corbin giving Grandma some birthday smiles. Such a wonderful lady and we were so happy she came in town to visit us for her birthday. I couldn't ask for a better mother-in-law. 

We read books about 5 times a day. He LOVES books. 

My kid can blow snot bubbles. What can yours do? 

Climbing on Dad's guitar. His second favorite toy, just behind books. 

We built a pillow fort :)

And we played in it for hours. 

And then Dad came home and all the fun started over!

Just some Red Robin folks. We are starting him young.