Tuesday, July 21, 2009

A Different Libby

I have been a Mom for almost two weeks. How time flies when it is all spent looking at a little sleeping person. I still am not used to the title of "Mom" and when someone says "You're a Mother" I usually stand there waiting for the last word of the sentence. While I am not quite inhabiting this new role like a second skin just yet, I have learned quite a few things about myself, and about how morphing into a Mom has changed me.

1. People interpret carrying a baby as a sign to make small talk. It does not matter where you are, or what you are doing, if you have a baby with you, people will approach and want to talk about said baby, or others of the baby kind. I could be performing brain surgery AND getting a pelvic exam, and if I had Meg with me someone would approach to talk about how small she is, and how their babies were so much bigger.

2. No one wants to talk about me any more, and I really couldn't care less. I like talking about myself. I know, that comes as a surprise seeing as I have a blog named after me and all. However, since Meg was born the closest anyone has come to asking me about myself is to inquire how much sleep I am getting because of her. I don't mind though, because in my mind there is nothing more interesting than Meg. I don't even look at myself in pictures any more to judge how crappy I look. Instead my eyes just instantly go to Meg, and she always looks awesome.

3. I can do a lot of stuff in my sleep. I already knew that I can eat in my sleep, and talk, make phone calls. In the past two weeks, though, I have learned I can also change a diaper, swaddle a baby, make a bottle, shower, dress, and do my hair, and drive to work. Oh, and I am pretty sure I produced most of today's news in a strange state of REM. I'm not sure if I am writing this post in my sleep. I will let you know when I wake up.

4. You can never have enough onesies. At this writing Meg has approximately 10,346 onesies. She has enough that she could wear four a day 70 years and never repeat. I know this because she wears about four a day, and we aren't even through half of them -- and those are just the newborn size. There are a multitude of reasons she goes through so many onesies a day, but the main one is the fact she is a messy eater. She cannot go through a bottle without spilling some on herself. It makes me so proud. I can hardly wait until she is spilling on Old Navy shite t-shirts just like me.

5. Being a parent is better than I ever imagined. I actually stole this one from Ryan, but I would say I have to agree. After all the years of trying to have a family, having one really rocks, though not necessarily in the way I thought it would. It's less about me, and more about us. I don't know. I don't think there is any way to really explain it without sounding like a Hallmark card written by a douchebag. It's really hard, and if I think about the whole "rest of our lives things" I get freaked, but I feel like I am doing the most important and rewarding thing I have ever done. See? Totally douchey.

I am sure I will learn a myriad of other things in the coming months and years. For instance, I will have to learn to do Meg's hair, which is, honestly, the task that freaks me out the most. I have already ordered a number of products and books to help, but I am still worried. Maybe I'll just ask the next person who stops me on the street if they know how to do African American hair...

15 comments:

Amanda said...

I am glad you are enjoying it as you have taken to it quite well.
Meggle is wonderful.

Anonymous said...

And can you believe that THREE weeks ago, you didn't even KNOW you were going to BE a mom?? How crazy that your life has changed so much in just a short amount of time!!! Wonderful!!

*Akilah Sakai* said...

Yup. You pretty much turn into a superhero within 24 hours. I read somewhere that moms are superheroes without capes. It's so true!

Don't worry about the hair thing, you have a lot of time where you can just slap a bow or one of those elastic headband thingies in there.

After that? Do what I do. One ponytail! You can slap a bow on that sucker afterwards to match her outifit and call it a day.

Shannon said...

So awesome to read these words... I have felt the same way and never really knew how to express it! My husband and I waited for YEARS and he underwent pretty major stuff to bring our first one into the world. The second one was a breeze... NOW... I cannot have anymore kids and find myself longing for just one more! I just did a blogpost about it! Happy Motherhood!!!

calicobebop said...

Seems you're a natural at this "mom" thing!

Samantha said...

I am in love with this list. And the fact that you can make it after only two weeks on the job! :)

Princess Stupidhead said...

yep, smile every time I read these latest entries. Oh, I was obsessed with your tweets during "the waiting period." Dear god, I aged at least 3 months or so.

Having a girl is a great way to expand on your hair style techniques. African American hair is especially fun because you can (eventually) use beads and such. I love the beads and braids but I understand they aren't for everyone which was so apparent when a co-worker came back from her honeymoon with dreads and she was so very white and blonde. wrong. That's all I can say.

so yeah, headbands and lots of little pony tails. also? Braiding is easy when you don't try it on yourself.

There you go. More than you needed. As usual. Sorry

Anonymous said...

You really have to let me know which newscast you write for because I have a feeling it's about to get a whole lot more hilarious!!

Congrats again on Meg! She's darling!

Kim said...

I'm surprised you have been able to contain yourself and not put a bunch of silly props like sunglasses and ridiculous hats on Meg.

Nik said...

Libby. I just found out about Meg. Congratulations! I'm so happy to hear how wonderfully it's going. You'll do great hair, I'm sure. Congratulations to you and Ryan!

Rassles said...

Oh, congrats. I'm glad she always looks awesome.

Unknown said...

I hope it doesn't sound stupid (3 weeks later) to say CONGRATULATIONS.

Yeah, don't worry about the hair. Conditioner will be something you come to know and love. Can you braid? Kidding. I'm with Akilah--ponytails, bows, and headbands seems the easy way to go.

*Akilah Sakai* said...

You'd better be with me, Summer. Me and my kickass truck can take on that Hemi any day!

Oops! I'm all off topic. Libby, I have awards for you over on my lil blog.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock said...

My sister was so sad that, when she cut her baby boy's hair for the first time, it was no longer soft like it was when he was born. He's also African-American and 16 now, so hair's the least of her worries. ;)

I love how babies always look awesome. It's like they're slathered in awesomesauce.

She Said said...

The best thing ever is that she has parents that love and cherish her. The rest will work itself out. :)

And I'm uber impressed that you can do SO much on such LITTLE sleep. Kudos to you and your multi-tasking skills. Mine escaped me when... dammit, the kids interrupted me, where was I?