What was I about to say?

All day, everyday, there are moments when I think, "Oh, man! This is totally what my next blog post will be about! I can't believe this is happening!" Then the day moves on and I run out of two-hands-free moments to type. Then a beautiful, peaceful moment opens up... like right now. Bill, Bean, and Peanut are sound asleep. I've had coffee. I've checked my email and the Facebooks. Now I can finally write. But alas, I cannot think of a DARN (I have a child now, people) thing that I wanted to write about. I cannot let this two-hands-free moment pass so I find myself writing about the fact that I can't remember what I wanted to write about. Isn't parenthood amazing?

There was something about becoming a master of using one hand to eat, cook, type, etc. There was another thing about using my toes to move things around the house. Oh and there is a whole post waiting to happen about how the time of day to do household chores has completely changed (When is the last time you went grocery shopping at 8:00 AM or deep cleaned your kitchen at 10:00 PM?). Perhaps I should keep a little notepad around my neck.

This two-hands-free moment has come to an end. The Bean is squawking for attention.

Bonus chapstick and other happenings

The New Year has brought many exciting things in the shape of a 2-month-old baby. In no particular order:

1. The Bean is now smiling for real (not just when she toots).

2. She is starting to chat with us. Some might call it cooing, but we know that she is communicating big important thoughts.

3. Her brain has not quite grasped what her hands are for, but her mouth certainly has. That loud sucking noise you hear coming from the back seat/bassinet/other room would be my beautiful daughter trying to fit her entire fist into her mouth and often succeeding. My favorite thing is when she is nursing and tries to get her hand in her mouth at the same time. Nice try, kiddo.

4. I am officially a diaper snob. People always say, "Oh, with my first born I had to have the name brand diapers, but then I came to my senses with my second and bought the store brand." Screw those people. I will probably, eventually become one of those people, but until then I am a Pampers woman! (Side note: Don't be fooled by the shiny, well-known Huggies. Huggies are for chumps... and by chumps I mean babies who are not capable of the amazing amount of poop the Bean can produce. Pampers are the only thing that can contain her awesomeness.) I did the economical thing and purchased the store brand. She had them on for about 30 minutes until I realized they were total crap and that I was not going to get any sleep tonight knowing that she had them on. At 9:45 PM I realized all we had were a whole bag of crappy store brand and 4 Huggies and NO PAMPERS in the house. The Huggies could have gotten us through the night with a blowout or two, but then what tomorrow? So at 10:00 at night I embraced my diaper snobbery and went to Target for my favorite diapers. Actually it was a diaper/wine run to Target. Wow.

5. Apparently infant skin is not really made for the dry weather typical of DC this time of year. How did we discover this you might wonder. Let me tell you.... We flew to and from the Northwest for Christmas and the Bean handled both plane rides like a pro. Slept the entire way in both directions. We had been back in DC for about an hour when she started screaming and crying. Nothing we could do would calm her. She continued to scream and cry off and on all night long and into the morning. "Well, that's what babies do" you might say. Not this baby. She just doesn't cry. I'm not saying that to flaunt, I'm just saying this crying/screaming was uncharacteristic of her behavior. So into the doctor we went. Everyone's first assumption (by everyone I mean mine, Bill's, my mom, the advice nurse on the phone, and the doctor) was that her little ears gotten hurt during the landing. But the amazing Dr. S (who we love) ruled out ears, nose, throat, and any other kind of sickness. I mentioned her dry skin off hand and he said no baby lotion, stick to Vaseline. Then he looked a little more closely at her body and said, "Oh yeah! Let me give you something a little stronger." So we left with a prescription for some cool ointment. The directions: cover her literally from head to toe with the ointment and vaseline at least twice a day. After one day of this she stopped crying/screaming and proceeded to sleep for 7 HOURS that night! Dry skin. That's what the problem was all along. So now we have the world's most slippery baby, but her skin is to-die-for soft and creamy. Makes me think I should take a dip in vaseline twice a day as well. The side of my face and neck, my hands, and hair are now consistently covered in a thin film of vaseline all day long. And when we kiss the Bean, TADA! Chapstick! My lips have never been so hydrated! It is going to be a very greasy winter, but we will all be happier for it.

6. We hit the child care jackpot! My cousin, Meg, will be coming to live with us for three months to take care of the Bean while I'm at work and Bill's at school. Then my mom is coming out for the remaining two months until I'm done teaching for the summer. I cannot tell you how relieved we are to be leaving her with family. I think it will make going back to work a little easier (if that is even possible). You know, I always said that I don't think I could be a stay at home mom, but I think I was wrong. I think it would be pretty wonderful. It really is so funny how much we say about parenting before we are actually parents. I had all the best intentions when I said, "Oh, I could never not work," or "I can still do a million after school activities with a baby. No problem!" Ha! I laugh at my pre-baby self. I had NO idea. Who could ever leave this?