Lately I've noticed something that people always ask that really irritates me.
"Is she a good baby?"
It's kind of like when I was pregnant and people would constantly ask me, "How are you feeling?" Both of those questions are so generic and obviously not meant for a "real" answer, just the generic "oh great!" kind of answer.
I'll admit, M2 does really well in public 98% of the time. She sleeps or quietly plays in her carseat at restaurants, wine tastings and community events. At friends houses she will ham it up and be a fun and happy baby. The ladies at our church childcare center just love her to pieces. She is a pretty happy baby and we just love her little personality that has been forming. She usually reserves her fits for when we are at home, so for that I am thankful. But I have not forgotten the dark days. The months of reflux and colic we suffered in the beginning. 5+ hours a day of screaming/crying. The many many nights of multiple feedings (she didn't start really sleeping through the night until almost 6 months). I am glad that her reflux was finally taken seriously and she was put on the right medication. One thing I've really learned from this experience is that if I have any future children with issues outside the scope of normal, I will need to be uber agressive at getting the pediatrician to help.
Switching gears....
I try really hard not to judge other parents for the decisions they have made for their children. It can be hard not to, and hard not to sometimes compare my child to those of friends. Not many friends of ours have children yet (a few couples are pregnant now and due later this spring/summer). We know two couples who had a child around the same time as us. One couple started feeding their baby cows milk when he was 7 months old because they felt that was OK. The other couple waited until 7 months to start their baby on solids and they are very slowly introducing foods to her. There are pros and cons to both of these decisions, and personally these are not choices I would make. I keep trying to remind myself "different strokes for different folks." Child rearing is not one size-fits-all, and really most of us parents are just trying to do the best we can do.
Last night at Easter dinner I was chatting with a woman who is in the TTC phase. She was really excited and has been doing a ton of reading research into various baby related topics. I was polite and nodded my head and smiled when she made super opinionated comments about all the things she "will" and "will not" do when she has a baby. She'll learn, oh yes, she will learn. If only I had a dollar for all my "wills" and "will nots" I pledged prior to M2's birth that have gone out the window... hahahahahahaha.
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