Doctor's Office

When Little L. was a baby she used to scream and cry the moment we walked into the building. Her baby six-sense must have told her that something painful was coming. It was the really bad kind of cry too, the kind that rips right through your ear drums. As a mom, a new mom, it was so painful to hear her cry that way that sometimes I cried along with her a tiny bit.

Baby J. is much more laid back at the doctor's office. He loves the attention and coos and smiles at the nurses who all tell me how he's just the cutest little thing--and I agree. Where Little L. used to stiffen in terror, Baby J. playfully bats at the stethoscope and looks into the Dr.'s eyes and smiles. Despite Baby J.'s big smiles I still think about the way Baby L. used to cry. I still have a big knot in my throat the whole time we're at the doctor's office.

Yesterday, when it was time for Baby J. to get his shots, the nurse walked right in and asked me to lay Baby J. on his back and hold his little fists out of the way. She was quick--super quick. Bam, bam, bam, three shots. Three big loud screams from Baby J. "Okay, we're done here," she said cheerfully and walked just as quickly out. Baby J.'s happy, smiley little face had crumpled into the saddest thing I'd ever seen. Maybe it's even worse that he doesn't cry the whole time, I thought. With Little L., I was kind of used to her crying… this is worse…definitely worse…

As soon as I picked up Baby J. and hugged him close, he cooed and smiled. Even with tears still in his eyes he smiled through those tears and clung to me tightly.

The Fingerpaint Debacle

I should have know better, right from the start. Baby L had been grumpy all morning long. She protested getting her diaper changed, she refused her pieces of french toast, even when I dipped them in yogurt, and she arched her back and tried to escape when I bundled her into the baby carrier for a walk with her doggy, Indigo.

But then, while she took her nap, I discovered a grocery bag full of baby-friendly non-toxic finger paints hanging on our coat rack. This is the answer to Baby L's cranky mood I thought.

When L woke up, I plopped her in the high chair. "Guess what I have for you!" I announced gleefully. She didn't look very interested.

I squeezed a small dab of blue onto her highchair tray. She looked at it, stuck her finger in it and pushed it around a little, and then looked at me as if to say, "Yeah, so...?"

So I added some yellow. Still no big reaction.

So I added some more... and some more...

I don't know what I was thinking, really. She's only eleven months old, after all. I should have seen trouble coming... but I added one more squirt. And Baby L, with the swish of her tiny little fingers had a mouth full of fingerpaint.

Needless to say, I freaked. I immediately stuck my fingers in her mouth and scooped out as much paint as I could. I grabbed a nearby wash cloth and cleaned out her mouth, with L screaming at the top of her lungs, of course.

Moral of the story: Paint looks just like food to babies. Next time, I'll just use food.

Different Kinds of Cries

There's the

fire engine,

you know,

the five alarm fire?

Sometimes it's a

grouchy

yelling-at-mama,

"Hey!" type of cry.

There's the rolling,

sort of lazy cry,

not really crying,

just complaining.

Sometimes there are syllables

"Ning ning ning," or "Raa raa raa,"

a tiny lion roaring in her den.

Then there's the

real cry.

The scared, truly hurt, in pain cry.

That one

makes me cry too.

* Day 24 of the KidLitosphere Poem-A-Day Challenge for National Poetry Month.

Stubbed Toes and Other Minor Ailments

trip

and

fall

nosedive

headache

charlie horse

paper cut

black and blue

pins and needles

thorn in my side

pain in the neck

burden to bare

* Day 14 of the KidLitosphere Poem-A-Day Challenge for National Poetry Month.

What I Was Thinking About At The Office Today

Someday L. will fall down
And get scrapes on the heels of her hands
The kind of scrapes with little pieces of gravel stuck inside

And I might not be there to give her a kiss
Or hold her tight when she cries

* Day 8 of the KidLitosphere Poem-A-Day Challenge for National Poetry Month.

Tooth Pulled

Good riddance
One less tooth to worry about
Didn’t really hurt that much
Hardly even notice it’s missing
No one will even notice it’s gone

* Day 3 of the KidLitosphere Poem-A-Day Challenge for National Poetry Month.

Life-After-Baby for Doggy: Another Small Moment

Indigo smells. He smells worse than he as ever smelled before. Ever. Do I dare guess what he smells like? Dead animal? Vomit? A combination of the two?

He looks sad. His big brown eyes gaze up at me through his wiry fur. I feel a pang of guilt. The last time he went to the groomer was when I was home on maternity leave. Baby L. is five months old now, and I've been back at work since January. He's looooong overdue. His sleek, short fur has been left alone so long that he now resembles a small bear.

And he STINKS. Oh, I feel terrible for him. Poor Indigo. I don't think he's been getting much sleep. Ever since L. started sleeping in her own room, he doesn't know where to put himself. He starts out in his old spot at the foot of our bed, then moves to his own doggy bed in our room, then out to the floor in the hall between the two bedrooms, then finally out to the couch in the living room, where he's more comfortable. Right now he's dozing on the floor in the hall between bedrooms, sprawled out, all four legs out straight, like he's playing dead.

What IS that smell? Ew. I look at Indigo. I can't help thinking he's hit the doggy version of rock-bottom. His fur is matted in a few places, poor dog. I know what I need to do. I need to look under his tail in case, well, you know why... I check, and sure enough. Leftovers from his last bathroom break are stuck in the fur under his tail. Ack!

I scoop him up, tell him I love him, and stick him in the shower for a good long doggy bath. He presses against my arms to hug me while I wash his back. I think it's the most attention he's had since the baby was born. I have plenty of time while Baby L. is asleep, so I give him a good long scrub, with the nice smelling doggy shampoo. I dry him off with his special green towel that we only use for him, and I brush him for a long time. He shivers with happiness at each brush stroke, and licks my hand to say thank you. By the time I'm done with him he looks, and smells (thankfully) like a brand new dog.

** Picture taken after his bath **

Street Smarts for Babies (& Grown-Ups Too!)

In my neighborhood there are a few streets in particular that make me nervous when I’m out and about with the baby and dog. The corner of Metropolitan Avenue and Graham Avenue is notorious for traffic, big trucks, unruly bicyclists, and frequent accidents. Meeker Avenue, which runs under the BQE is not well lit at night, and is home to the ramps to the highway, where cars race through red lights and speed down the three lane avenue. My own street, Grand Street, is noisy and congested, and the lights take so long that impatient pedestrians rarely wait for the lights to change to cross the street – they just walk right out into the slow-moving traffic, signaling to drivers, “Please-don’t-hit-me” with their hands as they cross in front of city buses and Mack trucks.

Now that I’m a new mom, I’m much more careful about crossing the streets around here. All the safety rules that I learned when I taught babies, toddlers and preschoolers at the Burlington Children’s Space have been coming back to me, one by one. Here’s a quiz to find out how street smart you are when walking your little one around the ‘hood.

Safety Quiz!

1. Do you always look both ways? Even on one-way streets? Bicyclists in our neighborhood sometimes do not follow the rules of the road, and don't always ride in the correct direction on one-way streets.
2. Do you wait for the lights to change? Even if you have jaywalked your whole life, it’s never too late to change.
3. Do you stay on the sidewalk while you’re waiting? And do you stand back a foot or two from the street? Cars jump curbs all the time. Haven’t you ever noticed how beat up the trashcans and light posts are on street corners? What do you think has been running into them and leaving dents? Squirrels?
4. Do you hang up your phone while walking with your child? Talking to your child while you’re on your walk helps you stay focused on your little one, and incidentally, helps develop their ever-expanding vocabulary.
5. When passing in front of parking garages or blind driveways, do you slow down and look in front of your baby’s stroller to check to make sure there isn’t a car careening out the drive? Some garages have a bell or horn that goes off when there is a car on its way out – but with all the ambient city noise its easy to not to hear it, even when the alarm’s sounding five feet ahead.
6. Do you watch out for taxis? (That’s a no-brainer).
7. Are you careful about passing dogs? Even the cutest dogs might be fearful of small children. And no matter how friendly your own doggy may be, it’s better to ask the adult if it’s okay for the child to pet a dog.
8. Do you put the stroller’s brake on if you need to stop to dig something out of your purse? Even if the stroller doesn’t appear to be rolling away? Better safe than sorry!
9. Do you use the crosswalks? Crossing the street between parked cars when you’re walking with a baby or small child isn’t the safest thing in the world.
10. Did you teach your babysitter? If you have a babysitter or nanny who will be taking your little one for walks, it might be a good idea to take at least one walk together.

How did you do? Did you get all ten? For more ideas on neighborhood safety visit Stroller Patrol. Call me overprotective, but I suppose you can never be too careful. I’ll be making sure to look both ways the next time I’m crossing a one-way street.

Puppy Love

When Daddy B. and I were expecting our daughter, Baby L., we received tons of advice about how to help our dog, Indigo, adjust to his new life. Anybody who knows us knows that Indigo was the center of our attention. He pretty much ran our household, controlling everything from what time in the morning we woke up, to our weekend activities, to how late we stayed out with friends at night. He seemed to need constant cuddling, snuggling, playing games, tugging on his favorite rope, fetch, doing tricks...

When we moved all the office furniture and books out of Indie's "bedroom" to turn it into Baby L.'s bedroom, Indigo was incredibly upset by the change. He cried and moped around for days during the switch. That room had always been "his," from the time he was a puppy. So, during the months leading up to L.'s birth, we made sure to play with Indigo as much as we could in the baby's new room. We even gave him treats in there so that he wouldn't think of the baby's room as a bad place in the apartment, and when L. was born, Daddy B. brought home a hospital blanket for Indigo to sleep on before Baby L. and I came home from the hospital so that her scent would be familiar to him.

I'm and avid reader of doggy-lit. I read dog-centered websites and books. I watch dog-related shows and movies. You name it. From all this research, I've pulled out four essential things you can do to help your doggy and baby love each other:

1. Right from the beginning, teach your dog to always stay calm near your baby. That means no playing with the puppy near her when she’s in her play-gym, no tug-of-war next to her while she swings. And no more playing with baby with one hand, and throwing the ball to Doggy with the other. While it might seem perfectly safe to get your pup all excited while you're holding your three month old safely in your arms, you may want to reconsider. By keeping the dog calm near the babe, you can establish a routine that will keep your baby safe as she grows older and you can't be right next to her and the dog every minute.

2. Give your pup his own special place(s) around the house. It could be a dog bed, the rug he likes to curl up on for naps, or his favorite spot on the couch (or all of the above). Don’t allow the baby (or her toys) in his spots, so that they don't have her scent. We keep Indigo's dog beds baby-free (yes, he has several dog beds around the house - though he sleeps in ours at night).

3. Early on teach your child to be gentle to your dog, so he can trust her. Be especially careful when your baby and dog are new to each other. Over the years your doggy will learn to put up with more and more poking and fur-pulling, but let him learn to love your baby first – that way he’s more likely to be patient with her later on.

4. Doggies love routines – just like babies! Make sure that there are times in the day that you give your dog some attention. Maybe you always do a couple tricks with your dog when you come home from work, or maybe you always snuggle with him after his morning walk. Our dog knows that after Baby L. falls asleep, we’re all his. He comes looking for some extra lovin’ as soon as she’s asleep, and sticks to us like glue for the rest of the night.