He is now 6 months old and is an amazing little boy. He is literally growing before our very eyes. Speaking of eyes, yes, he still has blue eyes. We are used to it now, but still can't believe we have a blue-eyed child. He's still mostly bald, which Matt loves. His head and face are perfectly round and I just love to look at him.
Being a new mom has opened my eyes to something I have been wanting to blog about. Sadly, I have noticed how unsupportive and judgmental other moms can be. There are several parents magazines and groups that I 'like' on Facebook and they are always posting questions about being parents. 'How long did you breastfeed?' 'Do you co-sleep?' 'What is your must have baby item?' Stuff like that. I like to browse them and see if there's anything helpful. There are always some shocking responses. 'Any mom who doesn't do this is terrible.' 'If you use this product your child will become a psycho.' Ok, maybe responses aren't that bad, but I'm not too far off. The recent Time Magazine cover story on attachment parenting brought out the worst in some moms as well. I'm of the philosophy that what works for one family, may not work for another, so don't get so defensive about parenting. Every baby is so different! Moms should be out there cheering for each other, supporting each other - 'Hey, this worked for me, maybe it will work for you.' Being judgmental on Facebook, Twitter or in public doesn't help anyone. (Funny thing, I was in the middle of writing this and saw a mom on the beach smoking, near a no smoking sign, with her 1-ish year old. The kid was wearing a good sun shirt and sun hat, so that's good right? - God has the greatest sense of humor... We did share pleasantries). So, here's the thing... if you don't like what I'm doing please don't tell me. If I'm doing something that will seriously harm my child, please let me know (wait, should I have said something to the smoking mother...hmm, it probably wouldn't have made a difference - *sigh*).
There are a lot of ladies I went to high school with that have recently had babies, most are first time moms like me. I have loved Facebook in the last year for this reason. When someone posts about a challenge I do my best to say something positive back or let them know they are not alone and I feel their pain. I don't think it's always great to offer advice (unless they are asking about something specific), most of the time we aren't looking for advice - just a 'You're doing ok, mom.' If you see us new mom's (and experienced moms) in the grocery store or at a restaurant, just give us a smile, or tell us how cute our little one is (but please don't touch him), or just tell us 'you're doing great!' We'd appreciate it.
