This post is long. I haven't blogged in two weeks and there is much to discuss. Don't say you weren't warned.
We are almost back to normal around the Sinclair household. The last two weeks have been insane, and while I never want to be that person who wishes away her days, I was SOOOOOOO ready for this weekend to get here. I left last Tuesday for market and flew in at 10 on Sunday morning. Being gone that long from Dan wouldn't have been so bad except that he had to fly to Colorado for work training at 3 on Sunday afternoon. And did I mention that he didn't come back until Friday at noon? Yuck. No thanks to being a single mama. It is soooo not my bag.
Anyway...
So last Tuesday I left for market with Grace and stayed the week in Dallas. It was Grace's first time on a plane ride and I must say that for as much as I dreaded it, she was fabulo-so! My mom was precious; she flew in at 3:15 to help me fly with her and our plane for Dallas left at 3:45. That was the day of the really
neat hail storm and we barely made it to Dallas. When we got on the plane, we were lucky enough to have the last two rows to ourselves, so I nursed Grace when we took off, she fell asleep, and woke up right before we landed. It was wonderful.
Market was great this time. So much to see and I ordered a lot of fun new things for the store. The worst part was leaving Grace all day while I had appointments, but she had some much needed bonding time with Mimi and Auntie Am. Amber is getting married in August (what!?!) so we had fun Wednesday going downtown to check out the venue and staying up talking about all things wedding.
Saturday night was going well until I decided to start packing and left Grace in the middle of my mom's oversized king bed. She was sitting up and playing and I ran to the living room to grab some things off the table. I heard a thud, but thought at first it was her sippy cup. No way did my child who can't crawl make her way to the end of the bed and fall off in the 15 seconds I was gone. I was sooooo wrong. I turned my head to see what the thud was and there was grace, on her back, on the tiled-concrete floor. She started screaming, and I started screaming, and then we both started crying. I spent the next 10 minutes alternating between guilt and near-hysteria, sure that I had done irreparable brain damage to my child. She finally calmed down when I gave her to my mom; I am sure I was making matters worse being that I could not do the correct parent thing and act like everything was fine so that she would be calm. Who does that anyway, when you are sure that you are going to pick up your baby and blood will be dripping from her half peeled back scalp? Not me. I guess I need to revisit that parenting chapter. All was well within 20 minutes, although I kept thinking of her lying there and would well up and cry every few seconds until I went to bed. I know it is the first of many falls and bumps and scrapes and bruises to come, but man, I don't feel ready for them.
Sunday was an experience all in itself. We were an hour early to Love Field, which turns out is not enough time to check your bags and get yourself, baby, mother, frozen breastmilk, unfrozen breastmilk, stroller, carseat, diaper bag, and 2 carry-on items through baggage and security. I started crying when I saw the line for baggage check; I just knew we were going to miss the flight and if we did, I would be flying in at 2:15 and Dan's flight left at 3. I had to be one of
those women who asked the people in front of us if we could jump in line because our flight left in five minutes and we hadn't even begun to make it through security. Grace thought it was a blast to run through the airport and while I can admit now how funny the situation was, I was not laughing at the time. Actually, I was sweating and praying while I ran down the terminal ahead of my mom who still had to manage getting the stroller and milk past the ever-so-thorough TSA. Somehow we made it to the back row of the plane and mom joined us a few minutes later. The rest of the flight went much like the first; just swimmingly.
We spent a few hours with Dan on Sunday before he had to leave and then the week began. I had to open and close the shop every day, which I haven't done since Spring break, and I don't want to do again. I must repeat; I don't know how you 40 hour work week moms do it. Leaving Grace was horrible, knowing I wouldn't see her for 9 hours and that the next day held the same routine. But we made it, and finally the weekend has come!
Here she is with Dan after he was gone for the week. She was so sweet. She kept smiling and touching his face.
Grace turned 7 months on Thursday. I need a new way to say, "where does the time go?" but that is the question I keep asking!
A few updates:
She L-O-V-E-S her feet and has recently started sucking her toes.
She rolls everywhere and will not stay on her stomach for longer than five minutes at a time. Which leads me to my next update...
Because she still hates her stomach, we are nowhere near crawling. She scoots and will eventually make her way to the toy we put in front of her, but she doesn't have much interest in being on her tummy.
Carrots are her new favorite food. She can almost finish a stage 2 container and we are going to start greens this week. Should be some good fun.
She still laughs, giggles, babbles, and coos all the time. No new words (and by new words I mean "mama") but she doesn't say dada much anymore, so I guess it's okay.
We bought her a new high chair and she looks too big in it! I used to be able to set her on the table or counter in her bumbo but she has started pushing off with her feet and arching back and the last thing I need is her laid out on the kitchen floor!
(Is it me, or does she look five miles long in this picture?)
We are going to buy her a big girl car seat this week. I cannot carry the infant seat anymore without straining my back (I know, I'm a lightweight) and we take her out to carry her in places anyway, so we are ready to make the move. Any suggestions of what to buy?
She CONSTANTLY moves her hands and feet in little circles. If she is on our hip, in the stroller, in her hi-chair, car seat... doesn't matter, she is moving. So cute.
That about covers the last two weeks. Next week we are back to normal and I can't wait!
