You know you're a Mommy when...

I'm trying to keep this list different from the ones I wrote in May '09 and  November '08. Tomorrow's post is a similar style but is focused on having two children under the age of two.

1. You're in your car listening to a children's CD for several minutes before you realize that you are alone in your car and can listen to your favorite radio station instead. :-)

2. You spend as little time as possible at work. (I used to spend FAR more than the required number of hours in my office each week. Now I stay the minimum required most of the time.)

3. One of the prime considerations for where to go on vacation is how long it will take to get there.

4. You find yourself saying the same phrase many, many times a day (such as lately I say "use your words" very frequently to Nadia as I am trying to extinguish the "fussing as a way of communicating" habit).

5. You will do various things (open and close car windows, pass back pretzels one by one, etc.) to try to keep the toddler in your car awake while you drive home so that she'll still take her nap.

6. You have been known to grade papers, email, or read a book at 2am and other hours of the night that previously were reserved solely for sleep.

7. You've said things such as "No, we don't eat ice cream for breakfast."

8. You know how many grams a dry diaper weighs.

9. You've learned to function of far less sleep than you ever thought possible.

10. You'd much rather shop for infant or toddler clothing than clothing for yourself.

11. You sing songs like "Old MacDonald" while taking a shower (to keep your toddler from crying).

12. You carry a lot more stuff to work than you did before (an electric pump, ice packs for the EBM, etc.).

13. The idea of having an internal clock takes on a whole new meaning as you are very aware of when it is time to feed your baby without looking at a watch or a clock.

14. You can recite books such as Goodnight, Moon from memory.

15. You wonder how many years it will be until you experience one morning of sleeping in until 7am.

16. You've become adept at typing with one hand while nursing.

17. Children's songs you heard for the first time a few months ago now run through your head All The Time.

18. When you reminisce about a first kiss or the first time you first heard the words "I love you," you might be thinking about a precious little toddler rather than your spouse.

19. You find it very entertaining to watch your toddler in her crib on the video monitor.

20. Little smiles and/or giggles melt your heart and make your day! (I had to repeat this one!)

P.S. Here's a 42 second video clip of Ian playing in his gym. I've been trying to get a good video of him the last two days. I've seen him smile more and heard him "talk" more in his gym at other times (when I didn't have the camera near me), but this was the best video of the ones I took the last few days. It's Ian's debut on youtube, LOL! I want to do better about recording videos of both kids in the future. For example, how How Nadia has said her name has evolved over the past few months. I wish I had recorded all the stages. She's only recently begun pronouncing the "i" ("E" sound) in her name.


The burp cloth is under his head because I am learning from experience! I was given these (cloth diapers) at a baby shower for Nadia. I never used them with her, but let me tell you we are making VERY good use of them with Ian. We keep them all over the house and frequently are washing them as they are well used.