Michelle Horton
The Strange Sleeping Habits of Babies
It’s important to remember that newborns just spent their entire existence crammed into a cozy womb, involuntarily swaying and occasionally engaging in some (amniotic) water aerobics. Once space got tight, maybe their left arm tended to get stuck over their heads, or maybe they liked to stretch out their right leg — right there into your rib — because that’s how things felt comfy.
But then they bring those weird sleep positions out here in the real world.
Like take my son when he was an infant, for example. He liked to sleep with one victory arm straight up in the air. All the time.
I May Not Have Gone Where I Intended To Go
There are a lot of quotes about motherhood circulating around the Internet — like, for instance, “No one else will ever know the strength of my love for you. After all, you are the only one who knows what my heart sounds like from the inside,” which I saw on some Facebook-posted someecard that punched me right in the gut.
But this quote best sums up my experience so far:
5 Reasons I LOVE Being an Aunt
I already knew that I loved babies — especially babies from my genetic pool — but man, you guys. I had no idea how much I’d love being an aunt. Of course it doesn’t exactly compare to the primal love of a mother and child, but there’s a very special and unique bond between an aunt and her nephew.
Life After Hip Dysplasia
After over four months strapped into a brace for 23 hours each day, Benjamin’s hip dysplasia is finally improved enough to start the weaning-down process.
AND HE COULDN’T BE HAPPIER ABOUT THIS.
He’s still in the brace for naps and bedtime, but his waking hours are now beautifully, wonderfully unrestricted. Here’s a little peek at how that went:
Everything Changes
I found this buried under pages of unpublished writing from the first few post-baby months as a new mom, and I think it perfectly sums up the unique and unexpected ways that a baby can change you…
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It’s the mantra of motherhood, echoing through the decades: “Everything changes.” I’ve even said it myself because, really, those two words about all a new mother can muster when faced with the enormity of her new life. Fear mongers warn of being awake for 56 consecutive hours, screaming cries that last for three months straight, and breasts that whither from a D cup to an A cup. I was warned, “You’ll have empty tube socks in your bra.”
Lovely.
I was expecting the physical changes and an increase in daily responsibilities — like, I’d have to pack some diapers before I left the house, and I’d have to put little locks on my kitchen cabinets. But those weren’t the real changes. Here are 10 ways my life changed in the first few months as a new mom:
