It seems that this little girl is being frightened by someone else entirely.

Photo Credit: Star Foreman

A good work friend of my husband’s is having his first baby in July.  He and his then-girlfriend were kind enough to send us a gift card when our daughter was born, so of course I am going to get them something.

But what?

I’m torn because I know that as a first-time mom, she will definitely need a bunch of “practical” items, some of them she may or may not even know she needs yet.

I sort of pride myself on being the person who can be counted on to get a useful baby gift, rather than some weird baby book that the person might not even like, or things like thick, wintry socks for a baby born in August.  Trust me, I’ve seen that.

For some reason, this time I keep leaning towards cute.

I love cute things, but I rarely buy them for babies other than my own.

But my head keeps telling me that I’m being selfish, and to get something that can be used many times, rather than a froggy hooded towel.

Persuade me…

So these pictures have surfaced of Beyonce’s baby bump looking a bit worse for wear as she is sitting down.

And I will be honest, in the pictures it looks a little weird.  I know my baby bumps didn’t move AT ALL, no matter what I did.

I will be suspending judgement for the time being, but I did a little research and came up with this:

Beyonce on August 29, 2011 at the MTV awards.

Compare to this picture on September 7, 2011:

Now listen, I am certainly no pregnancy expert but does her bump actually look smaller in the picture taken a week after?

Maybe it was the extra fabric on the dress giving it some extra shape or something, but I will admit that it has me scratching my head a bit.  Supposedly there is a rumor floating around that she is having a surrogate carry her child.  If that is the case, which I’m not saying it is, I feel badly for her that she would feel she has to put on a charade.  Enough people use surrogates these days that I don’t see why there would be an issue.

What say you?

Last week I asked what you thought about the attempt to make circumcising infant males illegal, and a fairly overwhelming majority of 86% felt that it was an issue that should not be legislated.  Only 10% felt that it should be made illegal, and I have to admit that I side with the majority on this.  I know there is the argument that it is an unnecessary surgical procedure performed on an infant without their consent (which is sort of par for the course for infants) but it is also a religious/cultural thing for many, and I personally don’t feel comfortable stepping over that line and suddenly making an important religious ritual illegal.  Just my two cents.

Today I RSVP’d for a baby shower for someone I don’t know that well.  Her mother is a good friend of my MIL’s and she is a sweet person, I just feel a teensy bit awkward because the last time I saw them was my wedding, almost ten years ago.  However, obligations are obligations.

According to this article in the Washington Post, researchers

… found that a lack of sleep led not just to poor performance on tasks that require “innovative thinking, risk analysis, and strategic planning”—though studies have shown all those to be true—but also to increased deviant and unethical behavior in both groups. Examples included rudeness, inappropriate responses and attempts to take more money than they’d earned.

And that is why my friends who are also mothers of young children and I have decided to go ahead and form a posse.  We’re toying with the name “Bad Muthas” but someone else suggested “Bad Mamma Jammas” and I’m sure we’ll have an argument about it before the final decision.

We will go around town with our strollers, terrorizing the locals with our rude behavior.  Why, when we order something at the local Starbucks, we WILL not tip.  

Then when someone asks us about how our day is going, we will point to our “special snowflakes” and ask them how they think it is going when we have to deal with twenty pound dictators all day long.  We will then rough them up and take their wallet.

Membership in the posse will be terminated once your child starts sleeping through the night, no exceptions.

We can’t afford the chance that one of our number might act ethically due to getting enough sleep.

When you see the stroller brigade coming your way, be very afraid.

Well, it actually has already happened, as the toymaker who concocted the Bebe Gluton is now bringing the concept to American shores.

Introducing Breastmilk Baby!

I’m putting the video after the jump because there are some pictures of actual breastfeeding in the ad, so NSFW…

(more…)

No, my daughter isn’t into heavy metal.

At least, not yet.

But what she is into is banging her head on whatever convenient hard surface is nearest her when she gets angry or frustrated.

Here’s how the scenario plays out:

1) The Munchkinette doesn’t get something that she wants, whether it be a toy or to remain in my lap or a gazillion other things that upset her.

2) She proceeds to cry very loudly.

3) I don’t really pay any attention to her.

4) That of course, makes her even more angry.

6) She will then bend over from the waist and begin hitting her head on the hardest, most painful surface that is nearest her.  This ranges anywhere from concrete to tile to marble to drywall.

7) She then hurts her head.

8 ) She then starts crying even louder because her head also hurts, not to mention that thing she is still angry about although she’s probably sort of forgotten what it was at this point.  But she’s STILL MAD.

9) Looks to me for sympathy.

10) Sees me shake my head and tell her that if she didn’t hit her head, it wouldn’t hurt.

11) STILL MAD.

12) Continues crying until distracted by something else.

This occurs almost every day, sometimes multiple times a day.

Her brother never pulled anything remotely like this.  Usually if I told him to stop doing something or that he couldn’t have something, he would whine and move on.  No throwing himself to the ground, no screaming.  He really only had a few tantrums, and those were over relatively quickly.

My daughter, though, is an entirely different story.

I’m beginning to think that my daughter, as much as I love her, isn’t very bright.

You get a celebrity baby picture!

Awww, look at that cute little guy!  I think I seriously need to nom on those toes.  However, Louis seems as if he has already learned to hate the paparazzi.