1 Mother 2 Another

I don't usually post over the weekend,
but thought this warranted a news bulletin. Several of you have
written to me to make sure I'd seen this recent news story, which
tells me I'm not the only mommy out there who would be interested
in this.


Veggie Booty Snack Foods has issued a voluntary recall of all size
packages of Veggie Booty due to concerns of salmonella poisoning.
51 cases in 17 states have been reported so far of salmonella,
though none have been directly linked to Veggie Booty. The company
offered a voluntary recall after the CDC notified them that several
infected persons had eaten the snack food. So while it's not a
proven link, it's best to go ahead and be cautious and throw your
supplies out.


The company is offering a reimbursement for any food you have to
throw away - call 1-800-626-7557 to find out more.

Thanks to all the parents who made sure I had the scoop! Click
href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19489593/ ">here to
read the whole story -

With warmer weather here, parents are
spending more and more time outdoors. I’m always one for
traveling light, and since I live in an urban setting I walk
everywhere. That means that the stroller is our primary mode of
transport for errand-running and park-playing, and that I try
really hard not to carry a diaper bag.


Every day before we hit the park, I get the stroller out and pack
it up. As I gather snacks, etc., for the day, Maddie unpacks all my
“regular” items – a helpful little “see
what you’ve got” sort of thing, I guess – and
then repacks them for me. I’m amazed at the amount of gear
I’m able to keep as a “permanent collection” in
my stroller and wonder if I’m the only one like this. Curious
how the obsessive-compulsive mom packs heavy yet travels light?
Here’s the breakdown:

To give Gamma a big thank-you for how much
she’s been helping out recently, Maddie and I decided to
surprise her at work yesterday with a plate of cookies.


In most cities, that’d be pretty easy – hop in car,
park at work, give cookies, go home. But in New York City, such an
endeavor is either time-consuming and involving several modes of
public transportation, or costly as you pay $40 to park for an
hour. Being unemployed, we chose time-consuming.

Maddie’s been practicing her Jedi
Mind Tricks on people again – a trick she used to use before
she actually spoke English. Back in the babble days, she’d
stare intently into your eyes and wave her hands before you while
speaking hypnotically, as if willing you to understand and obey.
These days, with a common language between her and the other half
of the conversation, she’s become much more direct.

When I was pregnant with Madeleine,
everyone told us, “The first two weeks are the hardest. If
you can survive the first two weeks, you can survive
anything.”


Everyone lied.


I’m not sure where this myth got started – probably
some first-time, sleep-deprived parent who couldn’t imagine
it could get worse. But the truth is, the first two weeks are
relatively easy. Newborns are in this intense sleep/eat mode, an
almost hibernation, for the first couple of weeks, and are pretty
basic in their needs. Yes, there’s the “how do I change
a diaper” crisis, and yes, the whole
nursing-for-the-first-time thing is very traumatic and yes, as a
first-time parent, the sleep deprivation is a huge shock those
first two weeks. But you know what’s worse?


Week three. When baby becomes more alert and colic kicks in.

Madeleine takes her role as Big Sister
very seriously. I think she hovers around Cora more than I do, and
would probably inadvertently smother the poor kid if I didn’t
hold her affection back sometimes. I see Maddie mimic me whenever
Cora needs tending to: if Cora starts crying and needs to be picked
up, for example, I’ll start pacing with her and gently
bouncing her only to notice Maddie’s rushed to her doll
cradle, picked up a dolly, and placed the dolly over her own thin
shoulder, energetically patting it on the back and saying,
“It’s ok, dolly.” She’ll watch me closely
and follow me around until Cora’s once again calm, at which
point Dolly’s miraculously better and back in her own cradle.


Maddie still loves holding Cora and begs for a chance several times
a day. She also helps give Cora a bottle any time I’m out and
Daddy’s on duty, and will solemnly hold the bottle firmly in
Cora’s mouth until the bottle’s bone dry. But by far
the cutest Big Sister job Maddie’s selected for herself is
Pacifier Duty.

You know how, when you have a second child, you think about how much money you’ll save because you’ll be able to use all your old stuff again?

Ok, set that thought aside for a second and think about this: remember how, when you stopped nursing your first child, you swore you’d gleefully burn all your nursing bras, so much did you hate those stretched-out, fugly, sour milk-stained things?

See where I’m going with this?

First, a little back story:


We decided to follow the AAP’s recommendations for toddlers
and keep Madeleine from watching any television before age 2. My
husband, raised on Sesame Street, has been straining at the leash
to introduce Maddie to some of his favorite childhood memories, and
her second birthday presents included more than one DVD.


Now that she’s over the magic age, we are slowly allowing her
to watch select programs. And at this point, I have to confess that
I didn’t watch much Sesame Street growing up: I was in ballet
class after school from a pretty early age and missed the whole
“kid t.v.” thing. And since one of our television rules
is that a parent has to sit and watch with Maddie rather than using
the t.v. as a babysitter, I’m getting exposed to Sesame
Street for the first time as well.

When planning Maddie’s recent
birthday party at the zoo, I had one big worry: what to do with
baby Cora. She’s still in the “potted palm”
stage, meaning that all you have to do is carry her around and
water her periodically – she’s not a huge attention
drain. But my concern was being outdoors for such a long period of
time, and how I’d deal with her sun exposure. I did a recent
href="http://www.1mother2another.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=564&Itemid=46">
blog on sunscreen and bug repellent for toddlers, but as
many of us know, sunscreen is not recommended for babies under six
months due to the fragility of their newborn skin. I guess too many
chemicals seep directly into the bloodstream, or something. So I
was left worrying about how I’d keep her from burning for
several hours.

Let me start with the one thing I DIDN’T forget about nursing: at first, it hurts. And all those books that talk about the joy and peace and easiness of nursing forget to mention that fact. I’d even go so far as to say that most of those books actually make it sound like you’re doing something wrong if it hurts. And sure, there’s lots that can go wrong that causes nursing to be painful. But I have yet to meet a woman who didn’t go through a week of sore, cracked nipples with a newborn, proper latch or not.

So believe me, I was prepared for the pain, since I’d vowed the first time around to never forget that tidbit. But there was plenty about nursing I didn’t remember, including:

For everyone who’s been reading my blogs which rhapsodize endlessly on Maddie’s love affair with her sister and who have been wondering when the other shoe would drop, I think I see it falling from the sky.

Madeleine’s starting to realize that, while Baby Sister is a fun toy and good for a snuggle, she’s also a potential rival for Parent Time or, even worse, a Lap Usurper. Madeleine’s beginning to see the downside to having a sister, and wondering if she’s going to regret this life change.

When Maddie was born, the hospital sent us home with a new-parent packet that included a handy little sheet for recording feedings and diaper changes for the first week. We were instructed to fill it out in detail and bring it to our one-week check-up. In addition to space for noting feedings and changings, it helpfully described what the poop should look like each day (black tarry, brown tarry, yellow seedy, etc.) and how many wet and poopys we should have that first week.

When those seven days were up, I continued using the sheet of paper, making notes in the margins for feedings and changes. I found the written log to be not only comforting (look! I am keeping her alive!) but helpful in my sleep-deprivation; I couldn’t remember from one feeding to the next what time I’d started or which breast was used first. I also found solace in seeing my life laid out on that timetable: there was actual proof as to why I was so exhausted all the time, and even a rough pattern emerging.

Since Madeleine was a c-section, the whole vaginal-birth-and-recovery thing was totally new to me. And just as I mentioned in a recent labor blog, I definitely learned a few new things:

Maddie’s second birthday is over and
done, and has left a field of wrapping paper and AA battery-laden
debris in its wake.

I have to tell you, I really enjoyed
Madeleine’s first birthday, but it didn’t even compare
to her Birthday Weekend Extravaganza that we just witnessed.

Madeleine’s second birthday is
coming up and we’re celebrating this weekend with a few
friends at – where else – the zoo. Nana and Papa are
flying into town and it’s going to be a big shindig, I
guarantee it.


I remember how I felt last year at this time: weepy, nostalgic, not
wanting to see my baby grow into a toddler. I was digging in my
heels and being dragged kicking and screaming into Maddie’s
toddlerhood. This time around I stand in disbelief: where has this
year gone?

Since Madeleine was a c-section, I went into Cora’s birth as a first time laborer. I took a Lamaze class with Maddie, a refresher class geared specifically towards VBACs with Cora, and read all my books. I’d coached my girlfriend Abby through both of her births, and felt confident I knew what was in store though I’d never experienced it.

What can I say? I learned a few things. As much as you know that there’s a difference between reading about something and experiencing it first-hand, you don’t really get it until you go through it. Here are some of the fun facts I discovered I’d missed in all my research:

As I mentioned in an earlier blog,
Maddie’s first meeting with Cora was an unqualified success.
This didn’t happen by accident, though: we spent a lot of
time talking to friends about what worked with new siblings, and
getting advice on how to help Maddie transition during the
pregnancy. I now pass this advice along to you!


First, a recap of the pregnancy –