What I wish I had known before my baby

 You know I like lists. I read this article  (item 20 is my favorite, and items # 7& 9, so true!) and started thinking what  I wish I'd known before. Here's my list:

1. It's OK to eat a lot while you're breastfeeding, you need a lot of calories to feed your baby...much more than during pregnancy, don't be ashamed to eat like a horse...this is one time in your life that you can enjoy excessive indulgence.

2. While buying clothes, don't go for cute, go for functional/practical...

3. Delegate: your husband is there to help you, your family is there to help you but somehow nobody will do anything unless you ask them to...think professional: divide tasks to conquer.

4. Talk to other parents, don't be ashamed to ask for tips and know hows...the perfect parents who look so on top of things are as clueless as you are...

5. Motherhood is a tangled web of guilt...You can blame yourself for everything bad that happens... Stop it right now...

6. If you are crazy enough to use washable diapers (yes, that's us), don't even think about it the first 3 months of baby's life...

7. Have a "me" time, go to yoga, go running, go get your nails done, WITHOUT your baby...If you have no family around, find a babysitter, it will be worth every penny...otherwise you'll lose it...

8. Give yourself a break everyday : When the baby sleeps, don't run around to finish all the house chores, stop, have a coffee, breathe, and savor 5 minutes of silence and doing just nothing...

9. Be prepared for the sicknessess that will come: Always have a paracetamol in the house...it's not cool to look for an open pharmacy on a Sunday night...

10. Don't feel guilty when you cannot afford the best or the most expensive baby item in the market (be it a stroller, carseat, furniture, clothes, diapers, etc)...Even if you can afford, most of the time, these things are not worth the investment anyway...

11. The first 3 months are easy, the baby sleeps most of the time.  Don't let these months fool you: it's going to get more and more challenging as he will sleep less and demand more.

12. Don't make any ambitious professional plans for after birth. You'd rather cuddle your baby than spend time in front of your computer or on skype meetings. You will see that even the most unambitious plans like going to supermarket will require much planning and organization.

I only have 12 for now...but have 5 more months to finish the remaining 8 :)

Blueberry is 7 months!

Where does the time go?
Who knows!!
I'm a little scared it's going to be always like that...3 years, 4 years, 17 years...I'll look back and say "how come"???

Red hair??

The biggest milestone of the past 2 months was food diversification:  He was less and less interested in my milk (was playing, turning his head), and more and more interested in actual food (when we were eating, he was opening and closing his mouth). So we said it's time. He tasted a bunch of fruits (pear, apple, banana, mango, peach) and vegetables (zucchini, broccoli, carrot, peas, leek, onion, potatoes), all with a lot of appetite and joy (yes, I said onions and broccoli). I think he is definitely a “bon vivant”, as the French say.

Food diversification at its best!

He has a high chair now and he sits with us on the table every time we eat.

He is a love bug, he cannot get enough hugs and kisses, and I take the blame for that...He shows his affection to me by sucking my chin and cheeks…and I melt…

Pasha with his first boots

Everyone (my family, claude's family, people at the crèche, my friends)  calls him "pasha". It's funny that we heard that coming from so many different people. I think he totally is a pasha :)

He cracks up when I make silly sounds, I sing made-up songs, and I kiss his belly button :)

He fake coughs...he knows that we will run to him if he coughs so he totally fakes it to get attention…


Every morning, with his little index finger, he presses the button on the coffee machine to turn it on (with some help from his dad)

He likes to touch people, which can be a problem on public transportation :)

He learned to clap his hands and we feel so proud that he was able to coordinate both of his hands to achieve that, a small step for the world, a big step for parents :)

Our someville baby learning about the American culture :)

Reflections, shadows, the texture of fabrics fascinate him.

He still gets up multiple times at nights and it is tiring!! We were hoping that now that he is less sick it would get better…but no, it didn’t. Parents out there, any tips would be appreciated!!

Confession

Blueberry is at the crèche, I have a presentation in the Netherlands next week so I have to work...but I so don't feel like it

I miss him...I'm spending my time looking at his pictures...

The sickness break from the crèche was a little hard on me, it's almost like we restarted our adaptation...

For the first time in my life I feel very unambitious, I actually don't see the point of presentations, articles, publications, working late at night...I haven't touched the subject of my presentation since his birth.

I was so tempted to cancel this presentation because I know I'm going to ridicule myself and get grilled by the "experts".Who am I to make a  presentation on a subject I barely know on a topic I don't really care? Plus my mother brain works very slowly for poop-unrelated issues. So I won't even be able to pretend like I know what I'm talking about. But...the mama warrior in me decided to go for it, despite all my fears, I'll just do it, for all motherkind

I think I'll go pick him up early today...maybe I should cancel my talk...

We made it!

My blueberry and I survived 2 sicknesses and 4 days without claude.I feel and look a little bit like the woman in the picture though.

I had a chat with the director of the crèche to discuss what we can possibly change so that he does'n't get sick as often. I wanted them to know that we were not fine with this situation. It was a challenge for me to remain cool on the phone without sounding like I'm  doubting the conditions of the crèche (I do, but they shouldn't know that). Anyway, we talked and now we have an action plan.  I'm such a successfull proactive mama, go me!

And finally...I noticed I haven't been updating the blog with blueberry photos...So here's my sick bébé...

Sick but still smiley..Oh, how I love him!

He hit his head on the corner of our chair, poor thing :(

Update

Thank you for your comments and mails of encouragement.

Mean virus!

Sevan is doing better. We saw our  pediatrician today and she said that she was impressed by how fast he was recovering. I didn't think it was fast but apparently, around 6 months or before + RSV = hospitalization in most cases. He has very little stuff left in his lungs, his breathing is almost normal, no fever, better appetite, we'll keep on doing the aerosol and kiné to be on the safe side.


Bad news  is (yes, it never ends) he has yet another ear infection.

The pediatrician told me that the immune system of babies makes a "V", so very good at birth, rock bottom around 6 months and up again thereafter. She said a virus every 3 weeks is normal for a baby who goes to a crèche. I'd be so happy with one every 3 weeks, our average so far is 1.3 virus per week. 

As on myself: I got a little break this saturday. I declared it my spa day, I first took a long shower, which even involved the use of my scrub *gasp* , then I paid a long due visit to Zara and ladies and gentlemen even used the fitting room and I bought myself very breastfeeding unfriendly tops, that's right!!

It was good...

Now I hope that energy will carry me over 2 sicknesses to beat and 4 Claudeless days...

RSV

This sickness is emotionally draining...There's no cure nor injections...You just wait for the virus to run its course. It may take about 10 days...

We started the kiné, he cries and coughs without a stop during it...I don't like it!

We are doing aerosol, he hates the mask, we're doing it without the mask but still he is not comfortable at all, I don't like it!

At this point the usual pain killer we give him is losing its effect after 2 hours, now we are alternating that one with another one, I don't like it!

He squeaks in pain, he has no sleep at night, sometimes he coughs so much without a stop that I worry about his breath, I don't like it!

I try to breastfeed in little amounts but more often,  he barely eats anything, I see him getting weaker and thinner everyday, I don't like it!

I'm really questioning my choice of sending him to a crèche, feeling incredibly guilty, I don't like it!

I think I need a break...

50 shades of sickness!

Mama is about to lose it!!!!!
Now, we got acquainted with the Respiratory Syncytial Virus, Sevan has bronchitis!

I couldn't pull myself to go to the emergency this time.  Claude who went to the hospital came home with at least 5 different kinds of drugs and a scary looking machine that is on the left. It comes with a mask. It is for a procedure called aerosol...

Now, we are waiting for our kiné to come. She is supposed to do something like this, which looks very violent to me.

I'm eating all my worries one Belgian chocolate at a time. Go home RSV and leave my child alone, we don't like you!!