Mom Hair

Hair doesn't define you. I tell myself that a lot lately ... but it's hard for me to believe, since I've had super duper long hair ever since high school. I'm trying to talk myself into going shorter.

The addiction started when people sitting in the desks behind me in school would say how pretty my hair was long. Those were the first compliments I ever remember getting about my looks while I was growing up, and boy, did they stick! Long hair = beauty, that was all there was to it. I'd found my niche.

Since then, I've had it trimmed, occasionally a couple inches shorter than what I was used to, which would make me go home and cry.

But as I get older - and especially since I've become a mother - I look around and wonder why most girls and moms my age don't grow their hair out long. Isn't long hair the ultimate statement in glamour? Carter says it's not.

Carter yanks on it every time I hold him, which, sadly makes me want to hold him less. He uses it to pull himself up and puts it in the same category as keys and remote controls - toys that aren't supposed to be toys. I solicit Matt to get him in and out of his car seat. Even pulling it back into ponytails and buns doesn't work, the weight of it pulls on my scalp and makes my head ache. Styling it feels like a waste of time when a couple tugs from the baby flatten my curls right out.

On YouTube a few weeks ago, I declared it was time to get it cut. But, for the most part, I chickened out. I love my hair. I hate it too. I sometimes wonder why I still have it this long. I've got to figure this out before he pulls the rest of it out. Or maybe I can just hang in here a few more months, and he'll eventually stop with the pulling ...

Baby Snacks!

It's about friggin' time! Carter can snack!

Our "Exclusively Nursing" ball and chain has been unlocked. I no longer have to nurse or make sure I have a bottle pumped before we go out somewhere. We don't have to rush back home or find a place to nurse when sudden hunger strikes him. These cracker-looking snacks

called Baby Mum Mums are my saving grace (recommended to me by someone on Formspring, Thank you!).

I handed Carter one when he was 5 and a half months old, he started nibbling on it like he'd been an exquisite fine diner his entire life. No practice needed, it was crazy! He looked ridiculously proud of himself and was trying to play it off like it was nothing at the same time.

They're completely organic, dissolve in the baby's mouth and come in

little individual packages so you can just throw them in your purse or diaper bag.

I haven't seen them in grocery stores - not even at Target, and Target usually has everything. We found ours at Whole Foods.

I'm so excited about these!

This blog is being posted with intent to jailbreak the rest of you who are slaves to breast milk. xoxo!

Gone Solo

I've heard that babies should learn to play independently, but I'd shoved this thought aside, thinking moms just try to enforce this so they can get some downtime. I had no problem providing hours upon hours of entertainment until Carter was ready for personal space.

But the other day, I came across an entire article in my American Baby magazine about how babies who play by themselves develop confidence in themselves and strong creativity. It even went as far as to say that

solitary play is crucial to brain development. Crucial? You know me - I was immediately on board.

I grabbed a handful of toys, "Carter, sit nicely and play by yourself."

But it wasn't that simple. Carter whines. Constantly. He even whines when he's just woken up from a nap and his stomach is full. He might sit and consider one of his toys for 30 seconds or so, but then he's back to whining.

I returned to that article. At the bottom of the page, it suggested toys that will inhibit creativity and independent play: non-motorized cars and blocks. Within 24 hours I was at Target scoping out the toy aisle. Since when does a little toy car set you back $3? Expensive or not, I'm a mommy on a mission - my baby now has 5 new little

plastic cars and a heap of 50 wooden blocks.

He's in love with those blocks. The cars are less of a hit, but I think he likes them. But there's one thing I came across accidentally that trumps the new blocks and cars and silences the whining for 10 minutes at a time --Mothers of 7 month olds everywhere, stop what you're doing!-- I handed Carter a wet burp cloth, he's a pig in mud.

Now we just have to get the independent sleep thing worked out, and this baby is set for life.