Three Regrets So Far


By and large this baby thing has gone pretty well so far, but if I had to do it all over again, there are at least three things I would change:

•  Why in heaven's name did I get the useless Medela Swing pump? It's a Discman-size pump that does one boob at a time, requires both hands and has no suction? I totally screwed up my supply and wasted tons of time on that thing. I wish I'd invested in the big Medela Pump In Style (and the hands-free pumping bra) before the baby was born (and started pumping colostrum at 40 weeks pregnant), instead of waiting until I went back to work. Total error in judgment, all to save money (and because I was clueless).
• I knew perfectly well that push walkers are the thing to help an almost walking baby get going, and I browsed the Haba walker and the Radio Flyer walker on Amazon a million times, but never bought because it seemed too pricey. Kept thinking I would find one on CraigsList or something but never got around to it. Months pass. The baby seemed to be in full pre-walking mode by 10 or 11 months, but by 14 months we're still waiting on first steps. Diapers.com convinces me to get the Fisher-Price Bright Beginnings Activity Walker. He takes off immediately after refusing to bear weight on his feet for months and is walking in four weeks. Argh!
• Last but not least, I wish I'd been studying baby sign language this whole time. I did some basic signs (more, all done, change, diaper, food, milk) all along because that's what Mommy & Me told me to do, but man, I wish I'd been studying and using other signs all along. It is so amazing to see your kid identify something he can't verbalize yet by using a sign. You suddenly realize what he's seeing and thinking in there, even though he's not using spoken language yet. For example, when the kiddo sees steam, he signs "hot," and I just think that's awesome. Anyway, I'm currently on this remedial tear where I'm desperate to learn all the animal names (and a bunch of other nouns) so I can use them when talking to Jackson, and I wish I'd used the early days of his babyhood to learn more dang signs!