A Little Bit of This, A Little Bit of That.

Since I am so badly overdue on writing, I am going to attempt to catch up on a few past events in one post.  So, bear with me here. 
I had my first baby-free trip in May.  I wish I could say it was to some far-off exotic locale with spa treatments and Michelin Star restaurants but, sadly, no.  It was to Wichita, Kansas for my cousin's wedding.  Let me tell you, at this point after 6 months of interrupted night time sleep, I would have found a mattress under the freeway overpass to be heaven.  So, the 2 nights of uninterrupted sleep (as well as the lovely wedding with family) made the trip so very worthwhile.  And, I have turned into an old lady apparently.  I used to relish the days of open-bar events.  I now find myself saying, "I can't drink too much wine or I won't sleep well!"  It is a wild moment when your parents stay out but you go back to the hotel to sleep. Oh how the times have changed!
I did miss my little gal like crazy and had these visions of an overwhelming happy little tyke when I got home.  Reality was slightly anti-climactic.  I guess you can't expect an Oscar caliber performance for a homecoming from a 6 month old.  However, I did get a big smile so that worked for me.

We then took our first road trip to my hometown of Kansas City.  Picture this, hubby, me, baby and 90 lb. lab plus a week's worth of luggage and one enormous dog bed crammed into the 4-Runner driving down the highway.  If anyone spotted us on the road they probably thought we were evacuating from somewhere.  Sophie did so great on the trip and it was awesome to have her home.  We did learn some lessons however: 1-An 8 hour trip to KC takes approximately 9 1/2 hours with a 6 month old
2-There is nothing more frightening on this Earth to Sophie than the jet-engined powered hand dryers found at major McDonald's rest stops along I-35.
3-You get alot of dirty looks from a lot of scary looking people when trying to change your screaming child's diaper in the restrooms of such rest stops as she is reeling from the terror of the hand dryers.
4-You decide that it is just better for everyone to change your child's diaper in the car for the remainder of the trip.
5-It is NOT a good idea to introduce peas to your 6 month old while on vacation. She didn't like them and they didn't like her (as judged from the 4 nasty diaper changes necessary on the ride home to Dallas!)

Finally, tonight is the first night of no night time swaddling.  In the past month the swaddle has become the bane of my existence.  My child has been breaking out of it like the Hulk but then turns into a crying mess without it.  Since she really can't have it both ways we began no-swaddle naps.  After a rocky beginning she finally seemed to handle it and possibly prefer it.  So, tonight is the big test.  Last night was a comedy of errors at best.  It reminded me an old "I Love Lucy" style comedic routine.  Baby breaks out of swaddle about 4 times before folks go to bed.  Mom (me), goes in and re-swaddles baby.  After 4th time mom says, "No more! Let's just let her be."  Folks turn out lights.  5 minutes later baby starts crying.  Mom goes in and re-swaddles, baby appears to be asleep, mom goes back into bedroom, looks at monitor, baby is free again and awake.  Now repeat this 4 times in a row with no break and you will get a taste of the fun I had last night.  I am officially OVER the swaddle.  Let's just pray that she is too. She has been asleep for and hour and a half and so far, so good. 


I will keep you posted!