Baby Smells

Ahh, morning... the twitter of birds, sunlight drifting through the windows, the scent of poopy wafting on a gentle breeze and coming from the general direction of my soft, sweet baby girl. This is no ordinary poopy smell, either. This poopy is both stinky and slimy and sticky and monstrous. You see at some point in a baby's life they begin to create what I like to call toxic waste. Not all the time mind you, but in CiCi's case about once a day, usually in the morning between the hours of 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. Talk about an eye opener...

Of course, changing said diapers is much easier now that CiCi smiles and coos the entire time instead of curling the paint with blood-curdling screams as soon as air touches her bare behind. This makes the whole experience more pleasant, despite the contents of the diaper or my state of mind at the time. Of course, poopy odors do not constitute the entirety of baby aromas. Sour milk burps, wee smelly farts, and milky spit ups also occur on a regular basis.

But, without a doubt, my favorite baby smell is the one that magically lingers on CiCi's skin no matter what. That baby smell that one can't quite describe. Maybe it's the baby shampoo or maybe it's just her natural aroma, but it is soooo delicious! I sometimes just have to sit and drink it up while she is in my arms. I know one day it will be replaced by an older kid smell. I don't know what that smell will be, but I can't imagine it being as sweet as the one she has now.

My First Mother's Day and Other New Mom Stuff

My mom and CiCi.


MIL and CiCi.

My husband must be trying to spoil me, because he showered me with gifts on Mother's Day. We went to a lovely restaurant in Highlands with my parents and my MIL. CiCi was with us too, of course. The food was great. The cards and gifts were wonderful, but, to tell you the truth, I still don't feel like a mom sometimes. I mean, all the signs of motherhood are there. You know, the flabby abs, the dark circles under my eyes, the few extra pounds of baby weight (OK, maybe more than a few). But motherhood still feels a little surreal. It could be the sleep deprivation that causes this. I look at pictures of CiCi's birth and think, "Wow! Who is that big, puffy woman with that tiny baby?"


Don't get me wrong, I love being CiCi's mommy. No doubt about it. It's just getting used to this new me. After CiCi was born the fluctuating hormones sometimes made it hard to cope with the physical and personal changes in my life. And the "encouragement" I received from random strangers and medical personnel didn't exactly help. At my six week postpartum appointment I attempted to address my weight loss concerns with my doctor, whom I actually really like. Most of the time. She said, "If you were breastfeeding I would tell that you'll lose the weight, no problem. But I don't know. Your hair, however, will fall out at six months no matter what." Gee, thanks. At least I have something to look forward to. Oh and thanks for the added guilt trip about breastfeeding. I really needed that.


The next day hubby and I were taking a walk around the neighborhood with CiCi, and we bumped into a neighbor lady. She struck up a conversation with us, and, turning to me with a meaningful look, she said,"You know I'm the Mary Kay representative for the neighborhood and we're having a meeting on Saturday. We're doing makeovers." I could feel a full blown case of postpartum psychosis coming on. I envisioned giving her a makeover with a hammer and a chainsaw.


Despite those incidents ( and a few others) I am recovering my dignity. The pounds are coming off (Ha, Dr. Potter!), and I do wear makeup when I'm not taking casual strolls around the neighborhood (Ha, Mary Kay lady!). Perhaps next Mother's Day I will be able to look in the mirror and say,"I know that lady. She's C.R.'s wife, Cici's mom, and myself. Hang, Mary Kay!"

Pictures for the Pictureless

The following are some pictures from our first few months with CiCi. I will post some more recent pictures soon. Enjoy!

Waiting in the hospital for the big moment!

Sleeping like a baby...

A daddy's girl if I ever saw one.

Squeaky clean!

Whew! Playing is hard work!

My Life As Mommy

I started thinking about how much my life has changed in the past few months and realized I needed to give all my friends and family a heads up on mommyhood. I know some of you may be experiencing it in the future and you may find my mishaps and milestones inspiring. Actually you'll probably find them more amusing than inspiring. Or you might be only slightly scintillated, but at least you'll know what's going on.

My little CiCi is only two months old, but it feels like I've had her for a lifetime. This week she discovered her hands and feet. She also discovered that she likes having her Mommy hang over her crib when she goes to bed at night. She is really good at keeping one eye open to assure that I don't leave before she falls asleep.

She gets craftier by the day. She proffers her most beautiful smiles right before bedtime. I think she knows it works better than screaming at the top of her lungs. That's generally when I get on the internet to see if they auction off babies on Ebay. Even in those dark hours I am astounded by the fact that I am her mother and she is my child. God's blessings sometimes come in small, diapered packages that often spit sour milk all over my lap.