Well, it is hard to believe that we have had Rachel for almost a month!  Time is just flying by so fast!  In the last month, I've learned so much.  I thought maybe I'd just share some of the lessons that motherhood has taught me so far...

 

1.  New moms must lose at least 15 IQ points in the first month.  I'm not sure if it is because they are so tired...or if it is the mind's only defense as it listens to songs like "Do your ears hang low" or "If you're happy clap your hands" playing repeatedly from various toys.  Maybe you just need to "dumb down" a little to be content to play with stacking cups all day.  I don't know.  But I do know that I'm a lot more forgetful than ever and intelligent conversation is sometimes difficult.  I also have found myself clapping and exclaiming "good boy" when Greg does something like bring me a glass of water.  I really must stop doing that!

 

2.  There is about 4 times more laundry to do when you go from a couple to a couple with a baby.  I don't know how that happens.  It makes no sense that adding one very small body to the family could cause so much laundry to stack up...but it does.  I do laundry every day now, instead of once a week like before baby.  Go figure.

 

3.  I never used to be one to have "pet peeves."  Now I DO have a pet peeve... public places like restaurants that do not have baby changing tables!  My gosh...I had no idea how aggravating it is to need to change your baby's diaper and there is nowhere to do it.  I also hate restaurants that don't have highchairs. 

 

4.  I am no longer quite as judgmental as I may have been in the past about parents with small children.  I used to think things like: "I'll never have baby stuff lying around the floor in my home...it will all have to stay in the baby's room."  Or "How can that parent allow their child to eat food off the restaurant table...what about all the germs?"  Or "I'll never let my baby eat Cheerios off the floor."  Or "I can't believe those parents let their child drop food on the floor in a restaurant like that!"  WELL...I'm now guilty of ALL of those things!  Yes, Rachel eats Cheerios off our living room floor.  She drops food on the floor in restaurants.  Our living room is somewhat littered right now with baby toys.  And even though I do have little disposable plastic placemats in the diaper bag...sometimes I'm just too lazy to pull them out and Rachel will eat food right off the table in a restaurant!  (**Note: When I say "restaurant", usually I'm referring to places like Taco Bell... NOT some really nice 5-Star restaurant.  I'm actually too terrified to go to any really nice restaurant with a 13 month old!).

 

5.  Dry-clean only clothing may as well be packed away to be worn again hopefully in a couple of years.  Not a day goes by that I'm not wearing formula, baby food, baby spit-up, etc.  Gosh, more than a few times Rachel has happily wiped her nose on whatever I might be wearing.  And no, I don't immediately go change my clothing when that happens.  Our laundry problem is bad enough as it is!

 

6.  There is nothing more wonderful than rocking your baby at the end of the day... looking into her sweet face and realizing you love her more than you ever knew was possible.