Bringing up baby

If you had an infant in the 1950's, baby care was about setting up a schedule of feeding, changing and putting down in the crib. I guess I was difficult and cried for months. At the hospital I slept when it was "time" to eat, and back at the nursery I woke up and cried for another 4 hours. Or maybe I had a tummy ache. I still have a card with Baby Suzanne's astonishing formula recipe: Karo syrup mixed with canned, condensed milk. Who knows what I wanted, but eventually I stopped crying. (I seldom cry now, so maybe it worked.) Anyway, no one remembers being a baby.

Parents loved their babies then as much as now, and this was considered the right way to raise them. So I'm just pointing out how things change. Now moms don't worry about spoiling their babies with attention and feeding. For the first year and beyond, they are fed exactly as nature intended and as often as they like. The moms lug them around in slings and carriers, and seldom use playpens. I think all the attention makes babies feel secure and loved. Isn't Nova happy? This is wonderful, although it's a great deal of work. Hey, maybe those 50's mothers were on to something? (Just kidding, Amanda!) And who knows how Nova will raise her children someday. But you can bet she will have different ideas than her mom.

On another baby subject, Amanda and Tom have weathered Nova's first illness. We believe she had a virus called roseola. It was a bit scary with rash and high fever, but it just ran its course without complication. Nova is smiling again this week, and she has two new front teeth to show off. She cut them while she was feeling miserable anyway. Good job, Nova.