Baby Boy has dozed off, so I’m trying to sneak in a quick post while I have the chance. Over the last week, I’ve had several ideas for posts in my head, but of course now that I actually have a few minutes to sit down and write, all of it is forgotten!

September means back to school for many people, and for us it meant Baby Boy’s 3 month birthday. Both of these milestones have resulted in me trying a  few new things with Baby Boy, which I thought I’d share.

Baby Boy Becomes a Dumbbell

The first new thing, which I’d been anticipating since before Baby Boy’s birth is that we have entered the world of mommy and baby activities with twice weekly baby and me fitness classes. I had no idea what to expect, but so far I am happy to say that the experience has been great!

The classes themselves are very similar to normal aerobics/boot camp type classes, if you can get past the occasional woman sitting on the floor breastfeeding or changing her baby. The babies spend most of the class lying on pilates mats around the perimeter of the room, though there are many opportunities to incorporate them into the workouts if we so choose (instead of using hand weights). Baby Boy was a bit fussy during the chaos of our first class, so I ended up doing quite a bit of the lunges and squats with him in my arms.

What surprised me the most is that the classes are a real workout. I am wiped when class is over, and am sore for several days afterwards. I had gone to prenatal pilates and yoga right up to my due date (actually, even past my due date), so thought I’d kept myself in pretty good shape. However, once I realized that it had been 3 months since my last prenatal fitness class, it was no surprise that I am feeling sore and out of shape.

Each class ends with a short discussion about a baby or parenting  related topic. I’m hoping as time goes by that in addition to the fitness benefits for me, and the change of scenery for Baby Boy, that we can both make some new friends.

Baby Boy Becomes A Guinea Pig

The other big new thing that Baby Boy participated in this month was being a subject in a study conducted at one of the local universities. Shortly after Baby Boy was born, in addition to getting mailed coupons for diapers and several containers of formula, we received a letter from a psychology professor soliciting babies for his various research studies.

I filled out the enclosed card with Baby Boy’s pertinent information and mailed it off, and a few weeks ago I got an email asking whether we were able to take part in a study on memory in babies. Baby Boy and I went in on two days this week and he got to look at pictures of different shapes and colours. After the second visit, I felt strangely sad that we were done, so when the researcher asked me if I’d be interested in future studies, I said we definitely were, and now we’re heading back in next week.

The cool thing is we’ll get copies of all the study results, and it’s neat to think that we are contributing in our own small way to what science knows about babies.

Baby Boy Becomes a Mallrat

On the way back from our testing at the university, I realized that our route took us right past the mall, which I’d last visited just before my due date to stock up on nursing tops and baby books. So, I thought it would be fun to pop in, do some window shopping and grab lunch.

Overall, the mall trip was a success, though I did have a moment when it briefly felt like a total disaster. I decided it would be best for both of us to go to the bathroom before lunch, which led us to one of the mall’s finely appointed nursing rooms. The nursing room was a large space where only women and children were permitted. It contained a pretty deluxe change table, lots of bench seating, and several comfy armchairs where mothers could nurse. There were also several family size washrooms, and a tv playing a children’s show. Pretty cool!

After doing my business and changing Baby Boy, I sat down on one of the benches to give him his bottle. Near the end of his bottle, I heard the tell tale gurgling sounds of a bowel movement. It sounded pretty big, and sure enough when I lifted Baby Boy off my lap, there was a nice yellowish wet stain down the front of my jeans. Lovely!

I took him right over to the change table where I found that he had poop all up his back (and strangely very little actually in his diaper). I had to change him out of his fancy “going out” outfit and into the sleeper which I frantically managed to dig out of our diaper bag, while dabbing baby wipes at anything and everything. As this was going on, Baby Boy took the opportunity to pee all over the front of his soiled onesie, on his thigh, and on the counter next to the change table. Then he started wailing like there was no tomorrow.

At one point during this chaos there was a woman waiting for the change table, but mercifully she decided to go elsewhere. I finally managed to get Baby Boy somewhat cleaned up and calmed down, and at this point I was ready to surrender and just go home, but by now I was starving so decided it was best to stick with the original plan and eat lunch at the mall before going home.

Thankfully, Baby Boy stayed calm and quickly fell asleep in his stroller, and the rest of our mall experience went very smoothly.

And there it is, a glimpse into some recent moments in this mom and baby’s lives!