Dirt Under the Fingernails

My son is dirty. It's like he came out of the womb with a magnetic field attracting dirt. I cut his fingernails tonight (while he was fast asleep) and found, as I have found for weeks straight, that he has dirt under his fingernails. Never mind that he is only able to bat his arms at toys and grasp what is placed in front of him, and has never come in direct contact with as much as a teaspoonful of dirt... somewhere, somehow he is picking up dirt in his travels.

Just today (you'd think we'd have this down by now) I came under fire at the changing table as Seth changed his diaper. A blowout and then a fountain, which required me to change clothes. Did Seth have to change clothes? Nooo. Which I find odd, since he was doing the changing and I was merely sorting laundry next to the changing table.

But besides being dirty, I think he is just the sweetest baby ever and can't get enough of him.



Our travels highlighted in the last entry went well. It was a tight squeeze but everything ended up fitting (despite the fact that I mandated we pack, according to Seth, "too many" receiving blankets, burp cloths, diapers and the like. We used all of them). We visited my grandmother (Josiah's Gi-Gi) who was tickled pink to meet Josiah. We visited his Nana Tammy in Quincy, who also enjoyed our visit.

Last weekend we traveled again! We fit it all in again! For Mother's Day weekend we visited my Dad, then went to Chelan where Seth and I were able to go wine tasting, Nana Tammy spent time with Josiah, and I got to see my friend Jen. Josiah also got to meet his friend James, who is almost 1 now.



Normally after nursing, Josiah lays back and has this contented smile that says "I can think of nothing better than how I feel right now." But today, he lay back and cried. I thought "oh my, he must have a bubble" so I burped him, he let out a few good belches and lay him down on my lap again. He cried again, except it was this new type of fake/real cry, where he does this combination of whining and crying for a few seconds and then pauses to look up at me and see if I'm still paying attention, like "You should really do something about this." I let it go on like this for a few minutes just to see if he was pulling my leg or really upset about something. I believe it was the former. So young to develop such manipulative behaviors! So now I'm sitting around thinking about which role model to blame for this early development, and how to make them responsible for what they've taught him. Was it Daddy or Uncle Luke, Uncle Brady or Nana T., Auntie Auntie or Grandma Christy? But probably it was me.

Preparing for Battle

So this weekend is the first long-distance trip with child, brave souls that we are... Just making the list of things to pack was intimidating! The stroller takes up most of the trunk. I have a feeling that the 'family' car we have will prove to be jam-packed on our road trips, even with just one child. My husband says "We'll make it work." Oh, the spatial imaging he is capable of. We will see, we will see. I will come out and say it... I'm still skeptical. I am daydreaming of a station wagon. Seth says "Forget about the station wagon, we need a minivan!"

In case you are having trouble picturing us with a minivan, I took the liberty of sharing some recent photos...

Even the best of plans can backfire!

Even the best of plans can backfire. After reading some comments from my previous posting regarding slings/wraps/infant carriers, I thought it necessary to share with you, the interested blog follower, my most recent experience at the grocery store.

This plan begins with a fact that I thought mattered very little at the time we picked out our car seat. I was interested in only a few key details concerning the car seat: Is it safe? Can I get the child in and out easily? Do the click-y things work consistently or do they stick? Is there a corresponding stroller that the car seat can click into? Amongst aisles of car seats at Babies'R'Us, after much research, we proceeded to pick out the perfect car seat. The one that "is the premier infant carrier for safety, comfort, and convenience" and "give[s] you confidence that your child is safely secured in your vehicle." (It was of little importance to me at the time the tiny print that stated: "Never place carrier in top of shopping cart. Carrier will not be secure and could fall causing injury to child.")

I did heed that advice in the manual, and brainstormed multiple ways I could avoid potential injury to my child in the unlikely event that I should need to go grocery shopping and actually use a shopping cart. The most feasible option was to carry the car seat in, place in the base of the shopping cart and proceed with my shopping. Another option was to carry the baby in the wrap-style carrier we have, freeing my hands and the cart. After a few grocery trips with a large car seat occupying the ENTIRE base of the shopping cart (with nowhere to place the items I desired to purchase), I decided to try the latter option.

The stage is now set for my 'best of plans' gone wrong story.

Mission: Go grocery shopping with baby and return with shopping cart full of groceries.

I tied on the wrap-style carrier before leaving the house to avoid parking lot stares as I struggled to put it on. All I would need to do is transfer the baby from the car seat to the carrier in the parking lot (way to think ahead!). The baby was asleep when we left and stayed asleep even through the transfer. I thought I was doing quite well! We shopped without incident for a decent amount of time. Eventually he woke up and looked around as we walked.

Then, in the coffee aisle, I hear a noise I know all too well by now. Not here! Not now! We were almost done!!!

As usual, after the foreboding sound, my baby is immensely happy and shoots me a beautiful grin. But my shirt is wet, and my waistband. And yes, it is poop. And I'm in the coffee aisle with a shopping cart full of groceries. And I was about to get some delicious coffee. And I'm hoping the wrap and floor are not wet too--they are not wet. I relish that I am alone in the coffee aisle and quickly slip the burp cloth from under baby's chin down to the diaper area. After adding the extra protection against further damage to my wardrobe and reputation, I make use of the wet wipes and hand sanitizer in my diaper bag, contemplating whether to exit now or go through the checkout line. I decided to go through the checkout line (I can't go home defeated), but without the coffee (so sad).

I never refuse help out to the car anymore, and the gal that helped was so nice. She didn't even notice that I was waiting for her to leave before taking my sweet son out of the carrier! But my sweet baby boy had one more present for me---as I began to transfer him from the carrier to the car seat he spit up all over my shirt (right where the burp rag had previously been, I might add). We went straight home.

Ah, adventures in the life of a new parent. I laughed all the way home! After all, it's nothing several wet wipes or a bath and a change of clothes for me and baby can't fix. (It helped that I hit the beer aisle before the coffee aisle... something well-deserved to look forward to after the clean-up!) Plus, it makes a great story to tell when my sweet baby boy is older. Below, a picture of my sweet baby boy.