Jennifer\'s Baby's First Year Blog

It's amazing that something has sweet as your little baby could make such an awful stink isn't it?

And I am guessing that you've noticed that no matter what brand of diaper pail you have, whether it is a Diaper Genie or Diaper Champ, yours stinks to high heaven after a while just as mine has.

If you are looking how to cure your smelly diaper pail, I've got a few tricks to share with you.

What about you? What do you do to help prevent or mask the smell of your diaper pail?

Recently, I've had an influx of emails from readers all caught up in comparing themselves to other parents. Parent who feel guilty. Ashamed. Frustrated. Mostly because they've taken a single snap shot view of other parents around them, and they wrongly have assumed everyone is doing it better than they are.

It's a hard place to be. I know because I've been there. Thankfully, I've reconciled they fact that I am no Super Mom, and, quite frankly, I have no desire to be that. I don't need to put that kind of pressure on myself.

If your goal is to do it all exactly right without mistakes, let me clue you in on something. The quest to be the "perfect parent" is a futile one. It will leave you overwhelmed, confused, and guilt-ridden.

The better quest for the true "Super Parent" is not for perfection, but for information. While certainly a great part of parenting is using your gut instinct, sometimes you will need some help. There is so much you need to know about parenting a child and about supporting your partner. That information will not just fall from the sky like a pop fly to center field. No, you have to actively pursue it past the warning track and straight into the outfield wall.

That is where this About Baby's First Year can help. This empowers you with the ability to make educated decisions and gives you suggestions on how to develop a compassionate and supportive spirit. Whether you are looking for help on baby's development, activity ideas, budget tips, or even how to make time for your spouse or partner, you'll find information here to help you achieve that.

Truly, one of the keys to excelling as a parent and as a partner is being informed. Understand that it does not matter if you use the same information to make a different choice than the family down the street. It is not always black and white. about doing the "right" thing, but about doing what is right for your family. When you can grasp that difference, you free yourself from doubt, guilt, and the fear of doing something wrong. You will still make some mistakes - that is inevitable. However, you will know that you not only did the best with what you knew but also strove to learn as much as you could at that time. When you achieve all that, you can fully enjoy the role you play as parent and partner. In the end, that should be your ultimate goal.

Best wishes and happy parenting!

Undoubtedly, for the earlier months with your baby, you will be preoccupied with a few things. The most pressing of which is simply loving and getting to know your baby, as well as embracing your new role as parent. Sometimes new parents find themselves feeling that they have been dropped into new surroundings without any roadmap to guide them.

There are times when dads specifically feel a bit lost during this change. Mothers are often seen as tipping the scale of the nurturing parent, while fathers are portrayed as the bumbling parent who cannot fasten a diaper correctly. It is quite possible for any man -- even one with no infant experience -- to break free of that stereotype. With some foresight and planning, the scale can be balanced and fathers can accept the roles both of the nurturing parent and of the attentive partner. In the process, not only will dads bond with their baby, they will also be able to help relieve some of the burdens on the mother.

Here are some insights and tips for new fathers.

• Breastfeeding Classes for the Couple
• The Prepared Father: Breastfeeding 101
• Advice for Expecting Fathers
• Getting Help After Birth
• How to Choose a Pediatrician

Whether it is your first Mother's Day or your 21st, it's a wonderful day to be pampered and appreciated. Moms may want to capture those moments by completing a Mother's Day Scrapbook.

The article at the link above provides great tips for adding sentimental journalling to your scrapbook as well as ideas for great pictures and scrapbook embellishments.

Don't miss the opportunity to capture those precious memories!

The calendar is going to turn a page tomorrow, bringing us to May. May means Mother's Day is soon upon us. Have you thought about what you will get the moms in your life?

• Mother's Day Custom Photo Jewelry
• Great Gifts for Mom
• Gift Ideas for the New Mom

So I realize that my "baby" is technically a toddler and not a baby, but she's still under 2 years old. It occurred to me (rather painfully and obviously) that I no longer can use the excuse that I am caring remaining "baby weight."

And so with motivation and determination that I have not felt in years, I have been a well-eating, well-exercising machine the past 8 weeks. The rewards of my success: 18.25" inches loss and 22.8 lbs shed.

One of my favorite thing to eat for lunches are low calorie wraps. I try and keep things jazzed up and not get stuck in a rut. So I've combed through healthy eating magazines, searched through blogs, and found and adapted the recipes below to suit my nutritional needs (and palate). All of these are perfectly portioned for one person, and can be whipped up in a jiffy. Hope you enjoy them!

Other Low Calorie Wrap Recipes

• Caesar Salmon Wrap
• Shrimp and Avocado Wrap
• Black Bean Wrap
• Turkey Wrap
• Chicken Salad Wrap
• Tuna Wrap

Ever wonder why you seem to hear certain baby names all the time, but are surprised that the name isn't as popular on baby name charts? Well, the reason just might be related to how many different spellings there are for a particular name.

Take the name Jayden for example. From 2000 to 2009, the Social Security Administration ranked it as the 51st most popular boy's name, accounting for 88,351 boys born in the United States within those years. However, did you know that during that time there are 15 different spellings of the name to make the Top 1000 Baby Names Chart?

Yep, you read that right. 15 different ways to spell the name Jayden: Jayden, Jaden, Jaiden, Jadon, Jaydon, Jaeden, Jadyn, Jaden, Jadon, Jaydon, Jaeden, Jadyn, Jaydin, Jaidyn, Jaydan. When you group all the different spellings of names together, it not quite doubles the number of boys born with the name to 168,388. The name Jayden with different spellings actually manages to fall in to the Top 20 boys' names for that time period. That doesn't even consider the fact that Jayden has also become a popular name for girls (and there are a few more spellings currently unique to girls).

Other boy names that make significant jumps in popularity when combining the popularity of different spellings together include (names listed below according to most popular spelling to the least):

• Aiden, Aidan, Ayden, Aden, Adan, Aydan, Aaden,Aydin, Aedan, Aidyn, Adin
• Landon, Landen, Landyn, Landin, Landan
• Eric, Erik, Erick, Aric
• Caden, Kaden, Cayden, Kayden, Kaiden, Caiden, Kadin, Kaeden, Kadyn (notice a trend here with the names ending in the "aiden" sound?)
• Brayden, Braden, Braeden, Brayden, Braiden, Bradyn, Braedon
• Brian, Bryan
• Connor, Conner, Conor, Konner, Konnor

And that's just a few examples. If you are curious about how different spellings of names affect name popularity, browse through my revised list of most popular baby names from 2000 to 2009.

• Page 1: Boy Names, 1-100
• Page 2: Boy Names 101-250
• Page 3: Boy Names, 251-400
• Page 4: Boy Names, 401-550
• Page 5: Boy Names 551-700
• Page 6: Boy Names, 701-935

Soon to come: a look at the popular of different spellings for girls. Any guesses on which girl names are actually more popular than what current name lists would have it seem?

Though I still have some fairly big patches of snow on the ground at my house, I am happy to usher in spring, and so is my baby! Spring, mud puddles, and babies make for great afternoon romps and outings.

However, did you know how tough it is to find good quality baby rain coats? Many stores only size them for 12 month olds and up. But I've done the research and created my picks for the Top 5 Baby Rain Coats. My absolute favorite: The Mud Buddy. You've got to check it out!

I am happy to say that it isn't April yet, and hubby and I managed to get our taxes filed and submitted. A few years ago, we took steps to make sure we organized our records throughout the year. That made filing a great deal easier.

Something has changed since our last little munchkin was born and our first child was born. The IRS not accepts some breastfeeding supplies as a tax deduction. The AAP pressed the IRS to include breastfeeding supplies under flexible spending accounts and health accounts, and in February 2010, the IRS approved the decision.

That's something for breastfeeding moms to keep in mind. Save your receipts and take advantage of it!

If you haven't noticed, we've got some serious baby name trends going on right now that deal with the ending syllable of the name. Can you think of a few examples?

Here's some for thought:

• Madison, Addison, Mason, Jackson. See the full listing: Son Baby Names
• Isabella, Arabella, Bella. Isabel, Anabel, Maribel. Full list: Bell Names
• Kaitlyn, Evelyn, Jazlyn, Emmalyn. Full list: Lyn Names
• Hailey, Bailey, Riley, Emily. Full list: Lee Names