Sunday, February 10, 2008

Aubsession





Pretty much the only time I hop to people’s blogs that I don’t know is when I can’t sleep. How far removed I end up from my own site is directly proportional to how long I’ve been up for. If I end up on the site of a friend of a friend of a friend of my friend, you can bet it’s 4 am, I’m eating ice cream, and begrudging Zach for being asleep. On one of these nights I stumbled across a site of a married couple who are expecting their first baby. Their blog is pretty entertaining albeit a little bit shocking at times. One of the husband’s posts has had me thinking for a few weeks.

“As I have previously stated, the majority of this blogs readers are females who write blogs of their own to keep grandparents and others up to date on what is happening with their kid. I do not want this blog to turn into a scrap booking project. You will never see pictures of the baby’s first poop or discussions about whether Carter’s or Baby Gap has cuter onesies. I think that having a kid and a boring blog are not mutually exclusive, therefore I will still be posting my thoughts from time-to-time trying to offend people and keep the blog lighthearted.”

Touché – he pretty much pegged me. By the way, Baby Gap has cuter onesies. But I see his point, I remember being like that prebaby. At many a baby shower, I would sit in complete boredom while people shared labor stories, critiqued Happy Feet and made comments like – cucumber and ginseng wet wipes are the best! Words would be thrown around that I had never heard, meconium, pitocen, lanolin….I promised myself that I would avoid these mom conversations, that I wouldn’t let these things define me, that I would be MELANIE first, who was also a mom, and not a MOM who was named Melanie. But you should hear me now – I might as well open my conversations with “What’s your labor story?” I feel like I’m part of this exclusive club whose language I can finally understand! And I’m eager to finally be able to join in those “boring” conversations. “There’s a great sale and Janie and Jack!” “Pampers Swaddlers are the best diapers!” “The Peg Perego Aria it totally worth the extra money.” “Yah-huh – babies can have yogurt before a year.”

The comment that having a kid and a boring blog not being mutually exclusive and my prebaby baby shower thoughts are what has kept me from posting about Aubrey this past month. I was trying to find aspects of my life that were fun and interesting that didn’t involve Aubrey, to see if I had a life outside of momhood. But….I’ve found that having a baby and not writing about her and having a boring blog are also not mutually exclusive, at least in my case, so I’ll go back to posting about Aubrey whenever the urge hits (which is often). And you know what? It’s okay. It’s okay to be obsessed with my adorable little girl, to constantly post about her and assume people are as interested in her as I am. She’s the cheese to my macaroni, why fight it? Anyways, that guy also made fun of large flower headbands, so maybe he’s not as credible as I first thought!

So here are all the things I’ve been dying to share about Aubrey…


The flatness on the back of her head is gone and her bald spot is beginning to disappear

She can sit up for a long time on her own

She has a tooth! Tooth O if you’re a dentist

She’s eating all the first foods, which I am not enjoying. Carrot spit up is ruining her outfits, I go through tubs of oxiclean trying to salvage.

She is super talkative, lots of da-da

When I take something away from her that she’s playing with (like my cell phone or paper) she throws a full on fit – starts crying until I give it back to her. She’s not even 7 months, she seems too young to have developed such an attitude. The only thing I take comfort in is that she’s too young for that attitude to be a result of faulty parenting techniques by me, it must just be her personality. Actually, that’s not comforting at all.

She’s starting the army crawl, just a little

She loves to giggle


Aubrey fell asleep in her carseat at church a few weeks ago - she never falls asleep anywhere she can see people, so this was unusual and she fell asleep in the cutest way!



19 comments:

BusyMama said...

Amen, sister! Motherhood is all-consuming and that's OK! I just try to remember that other people may still be in the "bored with all things parenthood" category and take that in to consideration when we're around them. Aubrey's adorable, Mel - you guys did good!

Melissa Hodgen said...

Ah, Mel, you'll always be Melanie to me. Just remember to have balance in all things. I love the video of Aubrey. It looks like she's trying to do leg lifts with Zach push ups. We can't wait to see you guys. One question...why did you have your camera at church, or was it your cellphone camera?

Heather B said...

Oh, I TOTALLY know what you mean about those mom conversations. I love 'em too (NOW!). I guess we can't expect a man to understand?? I also try not to blog too much (twice a day?) about my baby, but it's hard. It helps when I remind myself that this is a record of her life, better than any journal I've ever kept, so if people are bored, OH WELL! I know I'll forget lots of little details about her life, so that's a good enough reason right there.

And that car seat picture is SOOOOOO cute.

Libby said...

I love Aubrey and I love hearing about everything she does...it is all adorable!
So, it seems like you can't sleep quite often. You just can't fall asleep? I don't understand and I feel really bad for you! Can you say "ambien"?!

Libby said...

you are hilarious by the way!!

Jana said...

I told you, I am giving Ellie yogurt. Geez. :) You were right,I was wrong. Blah blah blah! :) And I totally love your posts about Aubrey. They always make me smile. Just wait for baby #2. Talk about labor stories? Then you will have TWO stories to tell. And compare to. The motherhood conversations only get worse with each number of kids. And neglect. That too worsens. :)

Jana said...

Also, all Aubrey needs is a blanket over her head to really fit in with all the other babies. :)

Michele said...

Never trust anything re:babies that comes from someone who hasn't had the pleasure...they cannot understand and it isn't really their fault. It is just one of those things that have to be experienced and for the record you could post cute pictures and videos about Aubrey everyday and I bet everyone would be tickled pink!

noelle said...

i think it's awesome. post away! and anyway, it's your blog. that means you get to write WHATEVER. YOU. WANT!!!!! :)

the pic of her in the carseat is so perfect! i just wanna scoop her up and squeeze her!

Rachel said...

AWWWW. I find it is most interesting to read about people's children so keep the Aubrey posts coming. That video was so cute how she looked at you when you laughed. she loves her mommy. also, the aria is TOTALLY worth the extra money. no question.

Kimberly said...

Aubrey is so cute and such a little sqeaker! She sounds like she's going to be a little fireball, full of spunk.
The cheese in my macaroni surprises me with her personality all the time. When she's frustrated she lets out a huge "I have been possesed by a demon" sigh or moan or groan have not decided exactly what to call it. I usually call them the Moany Roanies. I just shake my head and ask Rhett what happened to our sweet baby who coos and giggles and says Da,da,da in various intonations. We think she's the cats meow regardless.
I pretty much blog about Maeryn all the time and try to mix it up with other things in-between. Some people waite for what seems an eternity to have the opportunity to always talk about baby's and motherhood and actually be able to finally enjoy it. So brag it up with Aubrey and love every minute! I'm excited to know more so keep it up:)

Cherie said...

Hi Melanie!! Your little Aubrey is absolutely adorable! :) And I love all of your comments....I couldn't agree with them more :) I hope everything is going well with you guys!

Rachel said...

I do love Taylor. if Luke was a girl he was going to be Taylor. Dan and I are pretty bad about liking different names.

Amy said...

I think you have us bloggers pegged to a T. I just never would have stated it so cleverly. I think it's perfectly normal to have an Aubsession about your kids. They are our whole lives now. A world without them would just be boring. Don't forget too that you always will have your own identity. What's up with not being able to sleep, that's not good.

Kimo said...

Ditto! I love to see pics and hear stories of your little "cheese"! And you make me laugh with all your comments, so keep 'em comin'!

Brooklet said...

I loved this post. And I think being a mom is part of us now, so why wouldn't we talk about it??

Gina said...

That was a great post! Aubs in the car seat is awesome!

Paige said...

Wow! You got a lot of responses to that blog entry! I too love reading about your baby stories and they aren't boring at all. In fact, I read a quote the other day "through Motherhood I joined the human race". It seems that that guy just hasn't joined yet and will soon realize that all that stuff isn't boring and it's OK for your child to be your life. You are a great writer by the way. You are actually one of the few blogs that I read rather than just look a the pictures. Anyway, I can't believe how much Aubrey in developing!
Oh, and those boots Brooklyn had on were real Ugg boots my sister got for her for Christmas. I think they were $35 or something, so I'm trying to get good use out of them. They are truly adorable though - I don't even have real Uggs!
Paige

audrey said...

i love you i love you i love you. you have always been hilarious. i have favorite bloggers and definite unfavorites. you are NOT on the latter list.

i'm in transition phase from the pre-baby to the baby... wish me luck : ) due in a couple wks!!! ahhh... here comes the world of spit up and wet wipes and little butt cheeks and...