New Mom Syndrome

This baby doesn't nap in his crib.  He likes to nap on our bed and I was perfectly fine with that until he acquired his newest skill of crawling over pillows.  Jake's colleague asked him the other day if we had dropped our baby yet.  No.  We have not and are not planning on dropping him anytime soon so we're trying to help him nap in his crib.  It's a work in progress...  

You know how some states are banning crib bumpers because of SIDS?  In all of the reading I've done before and after I got pregnant, no book has ever mentioned the real danger of these bumpers.  They are choking hazards.  Real story.  Ethan almost choked on those ties he is chewing on in the picture shown above (and below) but his legs get caught in between the railings when the bumpers are off.  And instead of calling for help this strong little boy just tries to roll his way out which not only doesn't get him out, but also threatens to break his leg in half.  Maybe I'm just being paranoid.  I fret over every little thing when it comes to my baby.  I'm worried that he won't learn to sleep in his crib and so he won't learn independence and so he will be unsuccessful in this culture that so highly values individualism and so his life will be ruined.  Do you get it?  It's called the New Mom Syndrome.

Ethan has recently learned how to drink from a sippy cup.  Thrice.  I was quite concerned the first time he had forgotten how to do it (after not being offered the sippy cup for a couple weeks) but then he showed me that he could figure it out and learn it all over again on his own.  So when he had forgotten how to drink from the sippy cup a second time (Bad mom?  I can explain.  I only offer him water and juice when he starts to get constipated.  TMI?), I found myself saying to him "It's okay.  Take your time."  As soon as those words came out of my mouth and into my ears, I was shocked.  Shocked at how laid back and relaxed I was.  I was shocked that I didn't fret.  Did I learn to be more patient over the course of a couple weeks?  I think not.  Instead, I knew that he will be able to do it in the end in his own due time.  It was a very good lesson for me.  I look at it as a remedy to my New Mom Syndrome.