Confessions of a Working Mom

Like most mommies, I wear different hats and take on different roles sometimes simultaneously.  I work as an optometrist for 5 days a week and I'm a mommy to a three year old. My husband and son are bff's at this stage of the game, and I'm enjoying every minute of it. I read parenting magazines and websites for advice and shamelessly Google the other stuff I do not know.   My go to websites are webmd and babycenter.com and of course Mamapedia.com. I unashamedly use technology to help me in my day to day dealings with my three year old toddler. At the ripe old age of two he developed an attachment to my iPhone (and I was not in any way a tech junkie - I held on to my "flip phone" for years before succumbing to the "free" smartphone offer from my cell phone company). He could swipe and open apps with more ease than his grandparents. He watches nursery rhymes on Youtube and plays with the calculator app (he loves to see numbers) and other kiddie apps I've uploaded.  I've read somewhere that it's harmful to expose your child to media at this age but frankly I think he learned how to count to 100 and beyond, forwards and backwards, and even sometimes in Spanish, via the Youtube songs he watches. This also goes for the "phonics songs" he sings featuring the alphabet and words. As his fourth birthday looms in February I look back on the adventures I've had as a new mommy. Here are my confessions (don't judge!)

1. My baby became fascinated with my iPhone so I purchased an iPod touch. He has his favorite nursery rhymes on Youtube and plays on the calculator.
2. He loves to look at pictures and videos of himself on our phones. "That's the baby!"
3. He still asks for "Mommy's phone" and I caught him once talking to Siri: "Text mama!"
4. "Balloon Baby School", "Phone4Kids","Tiny Piano" and "Shapes" take up a lot of memory on my iPhone.
5. My baby also knows how to get his grandparents to let him play with their iPad mini.
6. He turns off the TV while I'm watching Cooking Channel and we argue. "Mama wants to watch TV!" "Off the TV!"
7. He started learning numbers early on via our condo elevator buttons. Also "L is for Lobby and R is for Roof!" He knows how many floors are in our condo, and how many floors are in our parking garage.
8. His bedtime is really late (10:30 pm CST on an average day) because I pick him up from my in laws' house after work (usually past 7:30 pm) and arrive home around 8:30 pm. He takes two hours to play, eat a second dinner, and then calm down for the night. Most kids I know sleep around 8 pm.
9. My "me time" is usually after the baby and the husband are snoring safely in bed, usually past 11 pm. The "me time" is fraught with decisions: shower? dinner? pee? poo? sleep? All at once? It's a daily battle.
10. He went through a phase where he wanted to wear the same shirt two days in a row. I even tried to switch duplicate shirts (a clean one for a dirty one) but he caught on. Epic fail!
11. I'm still comfort-nursing him to sleep most days then transferring him to his toddler bed. When he wakes in the middle of the night I pick him up and put him in the bed between my husband and me.
12. Bath time is love/hate at this stage. If he's in a good mood he will go in the bath enthusiastically. Other days require bribery/coaxing/wrestling and it's not pretty. Sometimes I wipe him down with a washcloth if I'm too tired to wrestle.
13. At an early age he recognizes the following logos as we drive past: Dunkin Donuts, Subway, McDonalds.
14. I used to want to wean him from nursing and now I dread when he will eventually stop asking for "dudu."
15. Potty training has been a challenge. I have to catch him with his "poo face" and hustle him to his potty and/or the toilet to go poo. Bribery is involved: "If you make 40 poos, you get a big giant..." "Balloon!" "Yes!"
16. I let him play with the buttons and lights in my office, especially the buttons that make the exam chair go up and down. Wheee! 
17. I dread him growing up and getting a girlfriend, moving out, learning to drive, etc. He won't need mommy anymore!
18. He knows the way going to: 1) grandma's house 2) the other grandma's house 3) playschool even while riding rear-facing in the car seat. So when he's crying about not wanting to go to school I can't even trick him.
19. He's fallen off our bed a few times. Thank goodness no real harm done! (Fingers crossed)
20. I'm a little overanxious if his temperature is above 98.6 on the Exergen thermometer. 99 degrees? Break out the Tylenol!!
21. A busy day at the office is sometimes easier than a full day of watching my energetic toddler.
22. There could be no "adult" food in my fridge but plenty of: oatmeal, pasta, corn, noodles, and apple sauce.
23. He usually eats his meals while playing with his iPhone/iPod. It keeps him seated longer than just a meal by itself. Restaurants with free Wifi rock!
24. I discovered Triple Cream cured his eczema so I smear it on everything!
25. I yearn for peanut butter. And pad thai. And Reese's peanut butter cups. My home is a peanut free zone due to baby's  peanut allergy.
26. Sometimes I have the feeling that I really don't know what the heck I'm doing.
27. After a long day watching my toddler, bathing him, feeding him, making him nap, and cleaning up after him, he runs to the front door to greet my husband: "I love you daddy! I miss you daddy!"
28. I cuddle him a little longer than necessary after he falls asleep and needs to be transferred to the toddler bed.
29. Waking up to toddler hugs and kisses is the best feeling in the world.
30. His picture is my Facebook profile picture. 
31. It took 3+ years for me to feel physically and emotionally ready to have another. A mixture of excitement, anxiety, and hope. Bring it on!