1 Mother 2 Another

We’ve spent most of the week talking
about holiday gift ideas – shopping suggestions for both mom
and baby (and the occasional Dad gift thrown in as well!)


But what do you do if the holidays are breathing down your neck,
and the wallet’s a bit empty? Or where do you turn for gift
ideas for the family that truly has everything? Let’s dig
in.

As we continue this week’s series on
holiday shopping, I’m turning our attention beyond the toy
stores today; for toy recommendations see yesterday’s blog.


Toys are always appreciated (especially by the kids themselves!),
but there are other options out there that are fun, useful, and
don’t take up so much precious square footage.

This week I’m doing a series on
holiday gift ideas. I usually break my informative article series
up with alternating pieces about life with Maddie, but let’s
face it: the shopping clock’s ticking. So we’re moving
forward, and today’s attention is on toy shopping.


There’s a great website you can always refer to in a pinch:
href="http://www.toyportfolio.com/">Oppenheimer Toy
Portfolio. They rate toys by age range and I’ve
always found them to be right-on. It’s a great place to turn
if you’re overwhelmed. You’ll also find a few great
websites or catalogs and learn to trust the quality of those
stores. href="http://clickserve.cc-dt.com/link/tplclick?lid=41000000010845593&pubid=21000000000082989">
One Step Ahead href="http://www.constructiveplaythings.com">Constructive
Playthings href="http://www.sensationalbeginnings.com/">Sensational
Beginnings and href="http://www.fatbraintoys.com">Fat Brain Toys have
served me well.

Today I’m kicking off a series of
articles designed to make your holiday shopping a little easier.


Don’t worry; I’m not going to spend the next few days
telling you the “hot new toys” that your baby
“must have” or anything like that. But I am going to
try to steer you through the rocky waters of baby’s
Christmas. I realized last year that I had no idea what to tell the
grandparents Maddie wanted for Christmas; she certainly
wasn’t leaving any catalogs with circled items lying around.
And I had no idea what Maddie would like to play with until she
gave it a go!


So I did my typical obsessive mommy thing – I asked my focus
group for advice. They were so helpful that I returned to them for
her first birthday, getting great suggestions for toys she’d
quickly grow into that are worth the investment. Hence, these next
articles – passing on the wisdom I’ve gathered
together.


Keep in mind that these recommendations are purely anecdotal,
depending on what our kids have liked. There’s no scientific
research behind any of these suggestions beyond polling my friends.


And the best part of this week is that I’m going beyond toys.
I’ll cover toys by age group, other gifts for kids, and lest
we forget, gifts for mommies.


Which is where we start today – gifts for expectant and new
mommies. Scroll down, and enjoy. And remember two things: first,
you’re always welcome to turn to my href="http://www.1mother2another.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=14&Itemid=34#top">
Top 5s page for suggestions on gear, clothing, and more;
and second, you can always email an article to someone! Say, a
spouse!

Some of you may be puzzled that I’m
starting off the article series on holiday shopping with
suggestions for you, but let’s face it: once baby shows up,
you move from being the center of attention to the Glorified Diaper
Bag Carrier. So let’s give ourselves some front-and-center
time!

Obviously, I can’t make personalized
suggestions for you all as to what you’d most like to see
under your tree. I’d say that you should make it clear to
your loved ones if you don’t want anything mommy- or
baby-related, or you may end up with a stocking full of Buy Buy
Baby gift cards. But speaking as a pregnant mommy with a toddler at
home, I enjoy a bit of mommy-related gifts. And of course, I love
clothes. So I’m listing my favorite sites to find pregnancy
and post-partum clothing that goes beyond practicals, beyond Gap
Maternity, beyond those comfortable, “useful” black
pants that grow with you and go with anything. Want maternity
clothing recommendations in general? Check my href="http://www.1mother2another.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=14&Itemid=34">
Top 5s Page.

We’re back from our Thanksgiving
trip to visit family, and the one thing I can say with certainty is
that nothing went as we originally planned.


One day before we headed out, my grandmother died. Though this was
not entirely unexpected, I was devastated: my grandmother meant a
lot to me and I will miss her very much.

(Note: I originally wrote this entry a
month ago; I’m catching you up on my first trimester!)

I’m starting week ten in this
pregnancy, and that’s the only word for it –
harder.

I know I mentioned in an earlier blog that
I didn’t have morning sickness with my first pregnancy.
I’ve not hit the actual puking point in this one, but
I’m definitely dealing with on-the-edge nausea and managing
that seems to take up an inordinate amount of time.

(Note: I originally wrote this entry a
couple months ago – I’m catching you up on my first
trimester!)

Six weeks pregnant, and boy how different
the second time around is. I feel like I’m seriously
spreading, in every sense of the word.

Weight-wise, I seem to be at the same
place I was at six weeks into my first pregnancy, but boy does my
body look different. My old friend the Spare Tire has returned with
a vengeance. Remember that point in the pregnancy where you just
look dumpy? Well, I’m there.

How can my body look this different if my
weight’s the same? I tell you, my body’s embracing this
pregnancy like a long-lost Barkalounger – “Ah, there
you are, you comfortable thing you!”

(Note: I'm actually three months pregnant
right now. The following entry was originally written a couple
months ago, and I'm catching you up!)


So I’m pregnant again. Almost five weeks. I’ve
officially known for one day now, but I’ve suspected since
the very beginning, and known for sure since I went shopping two
days ago. You know how you can tell when you’re gaining
weight? And you see it start to appear in all the usual places?
Well pregnancy weight is a bit different. I mean, I’m on
vacation, so I’ve been sampling the local desserts somewhat
regularly, but that only accounts for a pound or two of
bikini-stretching. As I tried on clothing at the outlet mall the
other day, I realized I felt much heavier, much faster, than
chocolate explained. I pulled on a pair of pants in my usual size.
No go – in fact, laughably off base. I’d expected a bit
tight, but this . . . we’re talking barely pulling over the
hips. Then my eyes journeyed down from my waist and I saw-


Those thighs! I recognize those thighs! I haven’t seen those
thighs for over a year!

As you may have figured out from some of
my recent article topics, I’m pregnant again. I’ve just
completed my third month and have officially been given the OK by
my doctor to make it public. So there you go!


I’m pregnant!

So Madeleine’s hit this stage that I
can only pray is early-onset Terrible Twos. She’s discovered
she has a will of her own, and her choice does not always coincide
with Mommy’s choice. This makes for some very very very long
days. See, the more Madeleine understands what I’m saying,
the more I try to explain what we’re doing and why; I’m
making an effort to include her in our day rather than throw her
around like a parcel from place to place. The good side is that she
understands pretty much everything I’m saying; the bad side
is that she now feels free to disagree.

The week that the whole family was sick
recently, none of us felt like cooking. Even after our appetites
returned and we moved off of bland rice diets, mustering up a meal
from scratch seemed beyond our capabilities. If it hadn’t
been for the fact that I’m an obsessive food hoarder and had
a freezer full of “emergency” casseroles and sauces,
we’d have spent a fortune on takeout. As it is, I simply have
an empty freezer and have to start building up again.


I’m lucky, I know – I’m naturally organized and
enjoy cooking. I’m a good cook and don’t mind spending
time in the kitchen. Put that with an affinity for planning ahead,
making double recipes for sick friends or
“emergencies”, and I’m rarely without a meal
close at hand. If you’re not like me, you’re sending me
hateful thoughts right now and wishing I’d shut up. But the
good news is, help is on the way.

Unless you’ve been living under a
rock with no television for the past few months, I’m sure
you’re aware of the latest, must-have Elmo for this holiday
season – the TMX Elmo. Celebrating Tickle Me Elmo’s
10th anniversary, this version leaves all other Tickle Me’s
in the dust. He falls over. He screams with laughter. He rolls on
his side, kicking and screaming. And then he stands up and begs you
not to tickle him again.


Given our daughter’s current href="http://www.1mother2another.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=412&Itemid=46">
obsession (thanks one more time Uncle Daniel) with the
Red Guy, and the fact that we saw a TMX “performance”
online and thought it was pretty dang funny ourselves, Brian and I
cautiously jumped on the TMX bandwagon. We decided we’d keep
our eyes open for one, though we drew the line at paying above
retail price: no buys on Ebay, we vowed. We joined forces with my
friend Ingrid, who was also searching for a TMX for her daughter
Naomi. The two of us agreed to keep our ears open, and whoever
found them first would buy for both of us, if possible.

This week’s poll is up and running,
and I’m asking you to go back and visit the not-so-fun
memories of your pregnancy.


What was your biggest pregnancy “symptom”? Nausea the
whole nine months? Fatigue? Back pain? All of the above? I want to
know!


As always, the poll will be up all week, on the right side of my
home page underneath the different category buttons. You
don’t need to be a registered user to vote; simply click and
submit to have your voice heard!

For last week’s poll, I asked when
you first began putting anything “extra” –
blankets, stuffed animals, and so forth – into baby’s
crib. Fully half of you waited at least a year, while the rest of
you either had the crib filled from birth or waited about six
months.


We fell on the more cautious end of the scale – I think
Maddie was a good nine months before we began adding a blanket into
her crib. Up until that point, she slept in one of those sleep
sacks every night – on of the best inventions ever, in my
opinion. But right around nine months I realized that 1) it
wasn’t so much a sack anymore – Maddie’s feet
were stretching out the bottom of the garment, rather than allowing
it to hang loose like a blanket; and 2) since Maddie was pulling
herself up to standing, especially in the crib, it was only a
matter of time before she tried to walk in it, tripped, fell, and
had a traumatic moment. So we nervously introduced the blanket. And
to be honest, she’d been sleeping under the blanket for a
couple months before that during nap times – just never the
full night.

Yesterday we talked about traveling with
infants who are not yet mobile: babies who have not yet started
crawling, cruising, walking, etc.


In short, kids you can still muscle around and dominate relatively
easily.


Today we’re going to cover the munchkins who have, shall we
say, a will of their own and way to go about exercising it.

With the holidays fast approaching –especially that Family Gathering Marathon, Thanksgiving – I thought I’d write up some things I’ve learned about traveling with young children. Much of this was passed on to me by my Mommy Focus Group when I first started flying with Madeleine, but some of this was learned the hard way. For the purposes of simplicity, I’m splitting kids into two groups – babies who aren’t mobile and toddlers who are. So I’d apply this article to anyone just barely crawling or younger; tomorrow I’ll cover getting around with mobile kids.

First, the good news. Traveling with a newborn, while daunting, is actually easier than traveling with an older baby or toddler. Newborns and young infants sleep a lot and you don’t have any meal or snack planning to take into account.

The bad news, though, is that young infants are wildly unpredictable, aren’t usually on a schedule yet that you can plan around, and generally have the potential to make the trip a nightmare for your whole family and a plane full of strangers.

So last year Maddie href="http://www.1mother2another.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=216&Itemid=46">
refused to wear mittens. She loved the cold weather
(freak) and didn’t want anything more getting between her and
nature. Her naked little hands became so famous in the neighborhood
that the mailman took to calling her the Mittenless Wonder.


For some naïve reason, I thought this year would be
different.

This week's poll is up and running and
all about baby's crib.


With new info on SIDS being released this week, I was wondering
when everyone first started trusting baby in the crib with
potential suffocating hazards like a blanket. Did you go with the
crib filler from week one? Wait a few months? Wait a year? I want
to know!



As always, the poll will be up all week, on the right side of my
home page underneath the different category buttons. You
don’t need to be a registered user to vote; simply click and
submit to have your voice heard!

I’ve finally had a chance to look at
the results from my most recent poll – What was baby’s
first word?

And it’s good to know I’m not
the only one who got left in the dust.

Overwhelmingly, “Dada” was
baby’s first word, with “Mama” coming in a
distant second.

Before I got pregnant, everyone told me
baby’s first word is usually “mama”; I assumed it
was because that’s the person baby’s around the most.
After I had Maddie, though, the truth came out. I had mom after mom
confess to me that baby’s first word was
“dada”.

Why didn’t anyone admit to this
earlier?

The sun is shining, the sky is bright, and
my child feels better.


I have to tell you, last week was no picnic whatsoever, and we were
hit with a simple cold. I can’t imagine if the family had
been down with the flu or some ickier virus.


I was about 24 hours ahead of Maddie, with Brian following maybe
two days behind her, so we were good and spread out on the sick
scale. And Maddie and I have had a cold together once before, a
couple months ago, but let me tell you – this was way
worse.

Hey fellow moms.


Sorry I'm quiet right now - we're all three down sick with a very
nasty cold, and don't have much time to write. Up all night,
entertaining a crabby 16-month-old all day. Hopefully I'll be back
up and posting tomorrow!