The Ridiculousness Continues...

When I posted about the "Terrible Eights," I may have forgotten to mention a few key issues I have with my now-eight-month-old.

Issue 1:  I like my sleep.  Apparently, Stretchy does not like me to sleep.  This is apparent in the fact that she wakes up more now than when she was a tiny infant.  Like every 3 hours.  Or less.  Last night, SEVEN times... SEVEN.  Let me just write it one more time for emphasis:  SEVEN.  Which, according to my awesome new toy, the fitbit, means out of the 8 hours and 15 minutes I was "in bed" I only slept for FIVE. AWESOME.

Issue 2:  I like to eat breakfast.  Apparently, Stretchy does not like me to be full and would prefer I was starving all day.  In the past, I was able to make my breakfast and eat it while Stretchy ate hers.  Now, since she refuses to eat breakfast, I must either eat my breakfast (tasty warm oat bran) while playing on the floor (resulting in oat bran covered carpet and/or toys) or let it get cold and gross on the table and throw it away when it becomes inedible.  Thus, I am now looking for new breakfast options... I am also hungry.

Issue 3:  I like to walk in a comfortable and upright position.  Apparently, Stretchy prefers that I walk with an extra 18 or so pounds on one hip so that my spine looks like a fish hook and I'm practically hobbling after a quarter mile. Obviously neither stroller we have is comfortable or exciting enough for her.

Here is evidence.  Yesterday I planned on taking a nice relaxing walk by the golf course at the Saratoga State Park.  Stretchy started out happy enough in her stroller.

We even saw a bunny.

This is us in the same spot on the way back.

What's different?  Aside from Stretchy being out of the stroller, I look unhappy tired like I love my baby so much that when she screamed her head off as if her arms were being torn from her body, I carried her an entire mile rather than let her suffer in the torturous stroller.

Issue 4:  I prefer people did not think I abuse my child or endager her in any way.  Stretchy, on the other hand, seems to want people miles away to think that I am either lighting her on fire, or letting her be mauled by wild animals.

Evidence:  In the parking lot after we returned from the previously described walk, I placed my seemingly comforted baby in the safe confines of her carseat so that I could pack up our belongings and take her home.  No sooner had I put her down than she began screaming so loudly and inconsolably that I immediately picked her up for fear that someone in the vicinity would hear her and call 9-1-1 or rush to her aid and call CPS because surely a child can only cry like that if she is being severely injured or mistreated.

My only other option seemed to be to set her in the grass while I put the stroller away.

This was a miracle decision on my part because A) she stopped crying, B) she seemed happier than she had in the past few days, and C) we had an activity to entertain her for a good 30 minutes.

I also got some really cute pictures...

A Beautiful Sunday

As we get used to having a baby, we've started doing a few more "normal" things.  MiniM.E. and I have made a few trips to the grocery store and we've been out to see a few people and had some people over.  Still, during the week- for the most part- we stay in.

Not that I don't like sitting in my house all day, every day, trying to recover while constantly feeding or changing a crying baby while still getting a few important things done like laundry (so MiniM.E. has clean clothes since she only has a few outfits that fit her tiny peanut body right now) and dishes (so that I can eat cereal and ice cream- why don't we have enough bowls??).  Seriously though, I love being home with MiniM.E.  I wouldn't have it any other way.  And even though she can be pretty demanding sometimes, every time I look at her my heart melts and I feel like I would do anything for her.  SO... I'm really not complaining.

BUT, it is nice to get out of the house and get some fresh air.

Sunday we decided to walk around downtown- our first big stroller outing!  The weather was gorgeous and MiniM.E. seemed to enjoy being pushed around and shown off to interested strangers.  We even got frozen yogurt (which hopefully MiniM.E. got to enjoy later- how does that work, anyway?).

After our downtown excursion we had a few stops to make in Wilton (the town with all the shopping essentials like Target and Wal-Mart- we'll be making lots of trips there, so it's a good thing MiniM.E. likes riding in the car).  Since we'd already been out for two hours, it meant we had to do an in-car-feeding.

Let me share how my thought process went:

"Wait, where is the burp cloth?  Oh, on my knee.  Check.  And that moisturizing stuff?  Crap.  On the nightstand at home... oh well..."

"Okay, how to I get the baby underneath this feeding cape thing while holding her with one hand?"

"What the ----?  Why did I have to wear a shirt whose material sticks to the material of the feeding cape?  How am I supposed to see the baby?"

"... Come on MiniM.E., I know we're in a strange place, but latch already!"

"I'm too hot... and thirsty... and do you think people driving by can see my boob?  What if they walk next to the car?  Then do you think they could see it?  This stupid cape is in the way!  Maybe I should just take it off... but no, there are cars driving by... why couldn't Target have a bigger parking lot?  Or a special breastfeeding parking lot... or better yet, a special feeding room near the restrooms like at BuyBuyBaby??"

It was a pretty trying experience.  But we got it done, and MiniM.E. was happy and let us run our errands and even rode back in the car without getting too fussy.


Long story short- downtown Saratoga was awesome.  Feeding a baby in the car was not.  And now we have laundry detergent and diapers.

Not yet...

Yesterday was not "baby day" either.  We went on another super long walk at the Saratoga Park, which was beautiful, but did not encourage her to make an appearance :(

Today... more baking and cooking and cleaning... I'm running out of things to "nest," so she better get here soon!

Still Waiting...

I thought the baby might actually come on her due date if she was like me and had a type-A personality, but maybe she's lucky and will be more laid back, like her dad... I guess she likes it in there, because we're still waiting...

I ate the pineapple.  Didn't really work.  I don't really like spicy food... so that was out.

Yesterday we did go on lots of long walks though.  But we're still waiting... so I guess those didn't help either.

We did find a really cool nature preserve near our house though, and I can't wait to go on walks there with New Baby once she arrives.

The foliage still hasn't peaked here, but the weather was gorgeous and the sun was shining and it was a pretty fantastic day for a walk in the woods.