Most of the time Brian can calm Adriana when she’s fussing, but sometimes she just cries and cries, and then when I take her she calms right down. Usually I think it’s because she knows that if I am holding her, she is going to get some milk. One night recently, Brian went to Adriana when she first woke up (an hour after I put her down–it’s the most predictable thing about her sleep), but after awhile I went in because she wasn’t calming down. As soon as she was in my arms, the crying stopped, and I sat down to nurse her. Sitting there in the darkened room, I suddenly remembered one evening when she was about a week old. We were eating dinner in shifts because the baby, in spite of a full tummy and a dry diaper, was a bit fussy, and after I finished my soup, I took Adriana from Brian and the crying stopped. She relaxed against me, and I paced the room with her in my arms until she fell asleep. Eventually I sat in the armchair and just held her while she slept. I think it may have been the first time I felt competent as a mother. (more…)

Benjamin has always been the type of baby/toddler that is very happy and content when Mommy is around, but never really wanted to stay and hang out with anyone else. OK, that is an understatement…Benjamin would kick and scream and tear the house down if I even thought about going anywhere without him for one second, so I always included him in everything that I did and that was fine for us. Lately, he has been fine with hanging out with Daddy and Mom-Mom (my mother-in-law) for short periods of time and I think it’s a result of him beginning to attend Montessori school for several mornings each week and also the natural maturity and independence that comes along with turning 2. Of course, I am OK with that, whew, I actually get to eat a meal with two hands and use the bathroom in peace every now and then, and oh goodness, I can take a leisurely shower…this is heaven! I always said that I wouldn’t mind leaving him with other people as long as he is happy and he is so, I am too.

OK, so yesterday evening I had a Junior League meeting and I decided, what the hey, let’s see if Mom-Mom is around, because at the last meeting that I took him to, he was running around the place yelling and screaming and chasing after this dog that was there (someone brought their puppy) and saying “pup-py, pup-py, PUP-py” about 45,668,797 times and frankly, I think I was the only one who thought this was cute (although if the puppy is welcome, I can’t see why the obnoxious toddler isn’t welcome, but I digress) so I wanted to spare everyone of the Benjamin experience. I, being the prepared mother that I am, took him over to Mom-Mom’s house with a thrown together bag with his pajamas and favorite Lightning McQueen bubble bath and some random cars and left him for a fun evening with Mom-Mom.

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Hi Divas,

Here at Divas N Babes, we are on a quest to find the perfect Mommy tool, you know, Mommy’s Best Friend, the one thing that you could NOT function without. For me, it’s my BlackBerry, I totally have to have all of my tasks and appointments in one place or I will forget them and I need to be able to communicate all of the time, because let’s face it, with a Benjamin (he’s in a toddler category all his own), I do not get much sit-down-at-the-computer email time.

We are planning a Mommy’s Best Friend giveaway for the Holidays so we want to hear from all of the mommies out there…what is the one (or two, or three!) thing that you cannot live without? What makes your lives easier?

Looking to hear from you…

For a while I thought I wasn’t going to handle Adriana growing older well at all. For most of September, she no longer seemed to be the pleasant baby she had once been. She was always cranky, even when we were both well-rested, and that wasn’t very often, as she was waking every hour or two all night long. I missed the easy baby she’d been a couple of months ago–the one who didn’t fuss all the time and wasn’t always getting into things. (more…)