Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Potty training?

I don't mind changing diapers, but I think it's going to get old soon.  So, I am wondering, when can you start potty training?  I have heard horror stories of three year olds who are still not potty trained!  My baby still has soft, liquidy poops.  Imagine a three year old?!  I wouldn't want to be changing that!  I want to start potty training my daughter as soon as she can stand on her own.  Is that too early?  Could I even start training now?  I have also heard of something called Elimination Communication.  This is part of Attachment Parenting, of which I am a half-believer (i.e. I breast feed, baby wear, and attend to babies cries, for the most part), so I can only get on board with this part way as well.  Can the pooping over the toilet part help?
Again, just like all things baby, there is a TON of literature out there.  Why are babies, and kids in general, so hard to figure out?!

Monday, August 13, 2012

There are some things that having a baby definitely changes, like your body, and your relationship (see my last post).  I hoped, however, that not all things would change.  I hoped that the things that have made me, me would still be the same.  I hoped that my likes, dreams, and hopes would remain.  Yesterday, I realized that it is possible.
I went running yesterday.  Sure, that is no big deal.  I am training for another half marathon coming up very soon.  I have done them before.  But now, I have a running partner.  A tiny, sometimes fussy, always beautiful, running partner who prefers to be pushed in a stroller rather than run beside me.  Well, actually, she probably would run if she could, but she just can't, yet.
I have posted before about the comradery that happens with runners.  Now, trying to get my body back and get back into shape, I haven't seen that.  It seems I belonged to a different group.  One that had eluded me until now.  Until yesterday, anyway.
I was running along, pushing my baby, and passed a group of runners.  I silently wished I could be one of them again.  Running in a pack of adults, all with a common goal.  When they ran by, one of them asked me if I had a "motor" in my stroller.  When I replied that it was "just me", they all congratulated me and yelled well wishes my way.  Even though it was different, it felt really good.  Just like the old days when I would get a nod or wave or encouraging comment from a fellow runner on the trail. 
Although I've gone from being a gal training for my first marathon to help get a killer bod, to a gal training for a marathon to get my bod back.  Things have changed, but are still the same, only now I have a little cheering squad.  Emphasis on little! 

Friday, August 10, 2012

bonded?

Kids change a relationship.  People always told me it would, but I didn't believe them.  They also said that about getting married, and that wasn't true.  My relationship didn't change much at all from before I was married until after.  But, it did change after the arrival of our first child.
At first, it made me love my husband so much more.  We bonded when I was pregnant, and in the first few weeks as we marveled at our new tiny bundle of joy.  She was so tiny, so helpless, and we were clueless, so we bonded together and supported one another.
Then when we had to face real life again, and my husband went back to work, our relationship changed again.  This time, however, not for the better.  We began to resent each other.  It was hard.  He resented that I wasn't working, and I resented his resentment.  Not to mention that I felt like he wasn't helping out anymore.
Then, I went back to work.  At first it was just one day a week, but that really helped.  I felt like I was contributing, and so did he.
Now, our baby is growing and changing.  She is fast becoming a person with a personality all of her own.  Her laughter and talking bring us both joy, and now we are bonding again.  We laughed together the first time we fed her and she mushed her fingers in some avacadoe, and it was all over her face.  We gushed at each other the first time she rolled over.  With each new milestone, we bond again.
Sure, there are still times when we fight, argue, and resent each other.  We fight about two things - money and the baby.  But, in the end, she was made with love.  Our love.  I can only hope and pray that we will be able to love so much more that she will have a sibling some day!