13 months later

Now that I have a child in double-digit months (14 in a few days!), I've realized how different things are from a year ago with a small infant.

• Life is so much easier. 

To get out the door, all I have to do is make sure he has a sweatshirt/jacket on, sometimes put his sneakers on, grab the diaper bag, and hand him his cup of juice for the ride. 

Oh, and the bear. Always the bear.

It used to be that I would have to time my departure on Harrison's nursing schedule (oh wait there never was a schedule), and consequently nurse him the very moment before I was supposed to leave, make sure I was home no later than two hours from when I left so that I could nurse him again, and usually change his outfit once before we left because he had spit up all over himself. 

Also, with an infant, you can't just set them down and go on with your business. For the first few months, you have to carry them in that damn car seat carrier, which weighs no less than 247 pounds, while also lugging around the diaper bag, that you've packed FULL of bibs, pacifiers, rattles, and obviously- diapers. Quick trips to wegmans can never be quick, because you have to configure the carseat carrier in the shopping cart, which is practically rocket science. 

Plus, if you had my child, you had to be holding him at ALL times. That shit is not easy. When do you find time to make a sandwich? Never, that's when. 

• I laugh like all day.

Can you tell why?

Not that I never laughed with a 3 month old, but the laughing has reached new levels. And actually, I used to cry a lot because all Harrison would do was cry, so I'd even go as far as saying laughter has replaced the tears. 

I'm going to take a second to brag, which I normally never do since what 20-something is going to be like, "I am so jealous of her life as a stay-at-home mom. I wish I never had the freedom to go out and spent all my money on diapers". However, while that is all true, I guarentee I laugh more than all ya'll. What's that phrase, laughter is the best medicine? Because it seriously is. Harrison makes me laugh all day long, and I finally am really happy to be where I am in life. I realize that sounds horrible, because it took me almost 14 months to become a happy parent, but guys, I was working with the devil child, ok? 

And for some not-so-positive changes:

• the poops have reached a new level of rancidness. 

Breastmilk poopies smelled like roses compared to what I'm working with now. Although, to quote the great recording group, Outkast, "roses really smell like poo poo poo". Solid food diapers are easily the worst smelling things to enter my nostrils. 

• Feeding this child is costing us a small fortune.

Kid loves to eat. 

Evidence

  

Especially the most expensive food items, like raspberries. The cost of feeding him for the most part of his first year was free. Free is always better. 

But the fatter the happier

On a daily basis, how often do you laugh?