Just smile and nod

I can hardly believe it but my son is nearly 9 months old. Time has flown faster than I ever thought possible and I've learned more about myself, my husband, babies and life in the last 9 months than perhaps I had in all the years leading up to Asa's birth.

One of the best ways I'm able to judge how far I've come as a parent is to compare myself to parents with children who are younger than mine. I know 9 months isn't a whole lot and I know all the parents with adult children who read this will probably scoff, but the truth is, I know more than the first-time parent of a five month old, a three month old, a 6 week old, a 1 day old, and I know way more than a girl who is still pregnant with her first. I find that, like most (not all but MOST) of the mom's I spoke with when I was still pregnant, I tend to smile and nod and show as much support as possible for the delusional ideas that newer moms have ...

I'll sleep when the baby sleeps.
I'm a stay at home mom, I can take care of the baby and do the chores and look fabulous and still put out for my husband four times a week.
I can work from home and take care of the baby.
My husband has to work so I want him to sleep and I'll do all the baby stuff overnight (as well as all day long).
Being pregnant is fun.
I'm a baby expert because I've read 'some random book that is adding new delusions to the ones I already came up with on my own'.

Having just gone through the newborn days I can say that I almost never got to sleep when the baby slept. I used that time to do little things like eat, or wee, or shower. If I could have I would have eaten in the shower while weeing, but it just wasn't feasible. I generally had to choose between one of the three and then turn my attention to trying to squeeze in some chore or closing my eyes for for a few minutes before the baby woke up. And honestly, I got off easy, Asa was an easy baby. 

Too all those moms who haven't had their babies yet, I'll tell you what everyone told me but what I was too tired to actually listen to: Take advantage of your freedom now. Go out. Run errands. Go away for the weekend. Enjoy getting in and out of your car without having to strap someone else in. Wear pretty clothes (soon they'll be covered in spit-up, baby wee and then baby food). To all the moms who are just a few months behind me, enjoy smiling and nodding at the mom's behind you. To all the moms ahead of me, thank you for smiling and nodding at me, you could give me advice but once again, I'm too tired to listen to you. Plus, I'm sure I know better than you anyway, after all I've been doing this for nearly 9months, how much more could there possibly be to learn??