It's been a while.

Well, at 8 weeks postpartum I vowed to start a mommy blog, a special place I could share all of the exciting, and sometimes awful, moments I experienced as a first-time mom. After two posts, I got distracted. This happens a lot. I'll be texting one of my friends and all of the sudden, my son wakes up from a nap or falls down and I stop what I'm doing to tend to him - only to forget to text my friend back for two days. That's kind of what happened here; my son learned to crawl, then walk, then he fell over a few (hundred) times, woke up from God knows how many naps and interrupted everything I've attempted to do since he was born. So my apologies friends, I got distracted.

But now I'm ready. I'm ready to share mine and my son's life with the world. I'm ready to talk about my experiences as a first time mom, and I'm ready to write for myself again.

Since the last time I wrote, I have (semi-) "gone" back to work (I work from home, part time and I honestly still mostly identify as a SAHM), I have cried on the floor because I was so sleep-deprived and I just couldn't get my child to sleep, I have called the advice nurse at my pediatrician's office probably more times than necessary AND I have lost all of my baby weight - and then some (a rather large accomplishment considering I gained 54 pounds while pregnant, and I'm only 5'5").

My son was an early walker, so at 14 months he has now pretty much perfected the art. After a particularly nasty fall, I remember calling the pediatrician's office. He falls quite a bit, as babies do, so I don't usually bother, but this time he had hit the tile floor, face first and experienced (what I would later find out was just reflux) "spitting up" after. So I called. I remember the pediatrician telling me very sternly what my son could and couldn't do. It's actually funny to me, though I admit slightly frustrating in the moment when I was trying to make sure a trip to the ER wasn't necessary (it was too late to see his doctor.)

Pediatrician (on-call, not ours): Well he couldn't have hit his head that hard because he wasn't running.

Me: No he was running.

P: But he's 14 months. They don't run at that age.

M: Well, maybe not exactly like full out sprinting, but he was definitely running.

P: No, they don't. Which means unless he hit a corner, he wasn't going fast enough to really get hurt.

M: Um, ok.

I am not writing this to shame Western medicine. Overall, I would say I support Western medicine. Though the slightly crunchy tag does still apply. I'm writing it because it's funny. It's funny how different kids are and how much people want to press them into a little tiny "this is how kids are" mold. My son started walking at 10.5 months (and I DID NOT push him to do it. In fact, I secretly hoped he'd wait a little longer.) So by 13.5 months when this occurred, he was most definitely running. A skill I attribute to having a dog. Since he was 8 months old it has been his sole purpose to get that dog - and at 10.5 months he took two wobbly steps from the couch to the pen and finally achieved the most terrifying day of our poor dogs life. Now, he chases him relentlessly, pulls his hair our and takes his toys (though I promise we really, really are trying to break these habits). Mostly, our dog - a 4-year old Black Mouth Cur (read 90 lbs.) - loves him, and they play. Occasionally, our dog runs to the garage door and begs to be given a break from his energetic little brother.

I'm looking forward to keeping this up more and sharing my experiences with a toddler. Hopefully he doesn't fall down and distract me for an entire year again.

- N.

P.S. It's probably worth mentioning the following:

I breastfed my son for 13 months, our last session was Christmas Day, and I stopped pumping 1-2 weeks later. The transition was easier (for him) that I expected.

We cloth-diapered for one year, until my son gave up breastfeeding, started eating full blown meals and his digestive system started acting more like a full-grown man's. I mostly attribute this change to the weaning.

I made his own baby food the entire time he ate pureed baby foods, and occasionally do still make purees to spread on his toast or mix into his cereal.

He is vaccinated.

Slightly Crunchy: giving in to some of the earth-preserving, "granola-esque" qualities that are often associated with mothers such as cloth diapering, breastfeeding and organic baby food-making, but without fully embracing the "make-your-own-clothes-wear-organic-deodorant-all-natural-everything" lifestyle.