Tuesday, when my car broke down (more on that later), Meg and I ended up sitting outside my office waiting for Thomas to rescue us. It was 100 degrees out. No way we were sitting in the car. But because we hadn’t intended to be outside, I hadn’t put sunscreen on her. Or brought a hat. I felt bad as she ran around in the sun. What kind of mother doesn’t bring the sunscreen and a hat “just in case”? What mother doesn’t slather her child in sunscreen every morning whether they’re going to be outside or not? As I’ve heard a million times (from my dermatologist), you get a lot of sun exposure from just being in the car and walking in and out of buildings. I myself put on Neutrogena 70 SPF on my face every day (on the recommendation of my dermatologist), and if Meg happens to be nearby, I might dab some on her as well. But not often. What kind of mother am I? Well, according to the Environmental Working Group (EWG), a good mother. The mixed messages keep on coming…
Check out 9 surprising facts about sunscreen here.
Here is a CNN video and a summary on the subject. (I apologize if you don’t like following links. Summary: according to the EWG, likely all of the sunscreen you own is a “high health hazard” to your child and might even increase the risk of cancer. I know!)
Meg has only worn sunscreen 3 times this summer, because her mother hates the outdoors that much and NEVER takes her outside. If we do end up going out its only for a little while, so I just put a big hat on her. She has an adorable one that makes her look like a Southern Belle. I guess by not taking her outside, I’ve been saving her from the evils of sunscreen. Once again, laziness pays off!! I am pretty ticked, though, because I just bought a new bottle of sunscreen on Sunday. Its Wal-Mart brand, so I’m guessing its not on the safe list. (Its exactly like this, but generic brand). I bought the sport (i.e. waterproof), because the only time we really use sunscreen is to go swimming. The EWG recommends you “avoid” it, because it has a “high health hazard.” We haven’t used it, but when we brought it home the safety seal fell off, so I don’t know if I can return it. Why is it when I finally feel like I’m getting with the program (i.e. buying new sunscreen, since you’re not supposed to use anything that’s been open for more than a year), it suddenly turns out I’ve done the wrong thing?
We’ve been using travel-size tubes of this because you can buy it for a dollar in the travel-size section at Target, so we all got some in our stockings at Christmas from my Grandma. Its also listed on the EWG website as having a “high health hazard.” Not what you want to hear about something you’ve recently slathered on your child.
I can’t find the Neutrogena I use on my face everyday (it looks like Neutrogena might have tweaked it and are selling it under a different name. I bought it probably six months ago), but the closest I could find is also listed as a high health hazard.
I guess I’ll be going to Wal-Mart this afternoon* to try to return the new bottle and get some Johnson & Johnson Baby Sunscreen Lotion, SPF 40, which is on the “recommend” list. But I’m only doing that because we haven’t even used it and it seems stupid to open a new bottle when it supposedly has a “high health hazard.” At least they said my primary use of a hat as sun protection for Meg is the “right” thing. For now.
*And of course, by “this afternoon” I mean hopefully I’ll get this done by State Fair time (only 27 days to go!!). After all, I’ve been meaning to buy the sunscreen since summer started, but only did it a few days ago. And until I get to the store, I'm going to keep using our travel-size Coppertone sport. I hope that doesn't make me a terrible mother!
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Not a good day
I didn’t feel well Monday. Yesterday, I woke up feeling even worse and decided to stay home. The plan was to let Meg sleep in, take her to day care, then come home and go back to bed. Unfortunately, when Meg woke up, she had a fever. Too high to go to daycare. I gave her some Tylenol and she fell back asleep. She woke up an hour later and felt great. Tearing around the house like normal, nothing wrong with her, great. I, however, still did not feel well. She was getting into everything. I’m chasing her, trying to eat crackers to settle my stomach. Believe me, it did NOT make me want to get pregnant. The last thing I need is 18 weeks of morning sickess + toddler.
I finally couldn’t chase her around anymore, so we watched some TV. Friends, actually. She’s only 13 months, so we can watch my shows for a little while yet, right? There weren’t any bedroom scenes or anything like that.
By noon I decided that, even though she seemed to feel fine, I should take her to the doctor. She’d had a low fever for at least a little while every day for the last week. She had two new teeth, so it was probably just that, but what if something else was wrong? We’re both home, doing nothing, and I’m already missing work, so it’ll be the easiest day to go. We left around 2:30. First we had to go to the daycare and pay for the day even though she wasn’t there. Fun! Then we went to the doctor and got there at 3 for our 3:20 appointment. A little earlier than I like, but whatever. We were there until 4. You know what the doctor said? She’s fine. Nothing wrong with her. Must be the teeth.
On the way home, I decided to stop at my office. I’d brought my laptop home on Monday, but left the power cord at work. I often do this, because I rarely use it enough in one night to run out the battery and it’s a lot easier to not have to crawl under my desk to unplug/replug the cord every day. So I drive to my office, show the baby off, and grab the cord. We go outside, get buckled in, and the car won’t start. Click, click, click, won’t start. UGH!! I called Thomas, who had to come get us (20 min from home). He looked at the car, but couldn’t figure out what was wrong. I took Meg home in his car while he waited for a tow truck.
At this point I was exhausted, still feeling sick, and Meg was starving. I gave her dinner, changed her diaper, then had to go pick up Thomas before eating myself. The car had been towed further away from home, so it took us 30 minutes to get there. By the time we got home, I shut down. I ate a little and went to bed.
Today I'm at work, still feeling like total crap, but I didn't want to take another sick day. I sure hope this week gets better!
I finally couldn’t chase her around anymore, so we watched some TV. Friends, actually. She’s only 13 months, so we can watch my shows for a little while yet, right? There weren’t any bedroom scenes or anything like that.
By noon I decided that, even though she seemed to feel fine, I should take her to the doctor. She’d had a low fever for at least a little while every day for the last week. She had two new teeth, so it was probably just that, but what if something else was wrong? We’re both home, doing nothing, and I’m already missing work, so it’ll be the easiest day to go. We left around 2:30. First we had to go to the daycare and pay for the day even though she wasn’t there. Fun! Then we went to the doctor and got there at 3 for our 3:20 appointment. A little earlier than I like, but whatever. We were there until 4. You know what the doctor said? She’s fine. Nothing wrong with her. Must be the teeth.
On the way home, I decided to stop at my office. I’d brought my laptop home on Monday, but left the power cord at work. I often do this, because I rarely use it enough in one night to run out the battery and it’s a lot easier to not have to crawl under my desk to unplug/replug the cord every day. So I drive to my office, show the baby off, and grab the cord. We go outside, get buckled in, and the car won’t start. Click, click, click, won’t start. UGH!! I called Thomas, who had to come get us (20 min from home). He looked at the car, but couldn’t figure out what was wrong. I took Meg home in his car while he waited for a tow truck.
At this point I was exhausted, still feeling sick, and Meg was starving. I gave her dinner, changed her diaper, then had to go pick up Thomas before eating myself. The car had been towed further away from home, so it took us 30 minutes to get there. By the time we got home, I shut down. I ate a little and went to bed.
Today I'm at work, still feeling like total crap, but I didn't want to take another sick day. I sure hope this week gets better!
Friday, July 9, 2010
Kleenex
Meg, like all other children, tends to have a perpetually runny nose. I try to keep a pack of Kleenex in the diaper bag. This morning she handed me this:
This is the third time she has torn apart a pack of Kleenex. I can't bear to throw perfectly good Kleenex away, so I've used nothing but partially shredded tissues for the past month. Each time she's found them in a different place: a drawer in the bathroom, my purse, the diaper bag. Oh well - at least it kept her quitely occupied for 15 minutes!
And I went into the living room to find this:
This is the third time she has torn apart a pack of Kleenex. I can't bear to throw perfectly good Kleenex away, so I've used nothing but partially shredded tissues for the past month. Each time she's found them in a different place: a drawer in the bathroom, my purse, the diaper bag. Oh well - at least it kept her quitely occupied for 15 minutes!
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Crib update
It turns out the side of the crib that wasn't latching had just gotten off-track somewhat. Maybe that's not the correct way to describe it. I don't know. I just know that after I jiggled it into place this morning, it locked in the upright position securely and stayed that way. I spent awhile jiggling it the way Meg often does and it didn't slip out of position again. I'm sure drop-side cribs aren't as safe as non-drop-side cribs, but I am now confidant our particular crib is just as safe or unsafe as the day we bought it.
However, that doesn't mean I'm happy with it. I've been putting off doing anything about it for awhile, because, as Mama Fuss said in her comment yesterday, I am also "pretty casual about...the overall panic of people freaking out about what might happen." I figured it was a bummer we'd ended up with a drop-side crib when I didn't really want one and that I should probably do something about it. But 'do something' was pretty fuzzy... But when the crib started acting up last night, it really freaked me out.
Today I dug through Meg's room and finally found the stack of instruction manuals the lady we bought the crib from had given us (we pretty much bought ALL of her baby stuff - crib, toys, etc. - everything but the infant carrier/stroller, which we purchased new). I found the manual for the crib, so now I have the manufacturer and style. I looked around on their website and they don't have anything listed about recalls or disabling drop sides, but the site says there is a lifetime warranty on the cribs and that the store it was purchased from can repair it (supposedly for free). They don't say whether "repair it" includes disabling a drop-side feature. I hope so. I'm going to go to the store tomorrow and see what I can find out. There's also an 800 number for customer service, but its too late to call tonight.
I'm just annoyed by this whole crib thing, because the crib was one of the things I thought we did well. I thought purchasing the crib from this lady was:
1. Frugal
2. Green
3. Protected our baby from breathing in the fumes emitted when a crib, or especially a mattress, off-gasses
4. Allowed us to have a more expensive crib than we might otherwise have
5. Left more room in the budget for an expensive/safe travel system (i.e. car seat)
6. Allowed us to have the exact "look" (color, style) that I wanted, which might not have been available at the time or in our budget
7. Helped this other woman out: she was selling all the baby stuff so she would have enough money to buy her kids a couple Christmas presents.
I mean, how could we go wrong? Well, we've found out. If we can't disable the drop side, we'll definitely think long and hard about buying a new crib. Which blows pretty much all of these reasons out of the water.
1. Frugal? No way. Buying a used crib, THEN a new crib is definitely more expensive than just a new crib.
2. Green? Um. I suppose if we were going to buy a new crib either way, there's not much of a difference, but maybe the woman could have sold the crib to someone who wouldn't later buy a new crib.
3. Off-gassing? Well, we did get a mattress out of the deal and will continue to use it even with a new crib, so I guess this one is still a win.
4. More expensive crib? HA! Who knows what we will buy if we get a new one, but I'm guessing it won't be as upscale. Think Target, not baby boutique.
5. Car seat? Well, we did buy a travel system that was on the expensive side, but we probably would have anyway. Besides, my mother-in-law got it for us as a gift.
6. The "look"? I'm thinking they might not have exactly what I want at Target. Bummer.
7. Helping the woman out? Well, we did do that. Its something at least.
Of course, if we do find a way to disable the drop-side feature and keep using the crib, I guess it was still a pretty good deal. We'll see...
However, that doesn't mean I'm happy with it. I've been putting off doing anything about it for awhile, because, as Mama Fuss said in her comment yesterday, I am also "pretty casual about...the overall panic of people freaking out about what might happen." I figured it was a bummer we'd ended up with a drop-side crib when I didn't really want one and that I should probably do something about it. But 'do something' was pretty fuzzy... But when the crib started acting up last night, it really freaked me out.
Today I dug through Meg's room and finally found the stack of instruction manuals the lady we bought the crib from had given us (we pretty much bought ALL of her baby stuff - crib, toys, etc. - everything but the infant carrier/stroller, which we purchased new). I found the manual for the crib, so now I have the manufacturer and style. I looked around on their website and they don't have anything listed about recalls or disabling drop sides, but the site says there is a lifetime warranty on the cribs and that the store it was purchased from can repair it (supposedly for free). They don't say whether "repair it" includes disabling a drop-side feature. I hope so. I'm going to go to the store tomorrow and see what I can find out. There's also an 800 number for customer service, but its too late to call tonight.
I'm just annoyed by this whole crib thing, because the crib was one of the things I thought we did well. I thought purchasing the crib from this lady was:
1. Frugal
2. Green
3. Protected our baby from breathing in the fumes emitted when a crib, or especially a mattress, off-gasses
4. Allowed us to have a more expensive crib than we might otherwise have
5. Left more room in the budget for an expensive/safe travel system (i.e. car seat)
6. Allowed us to have the exact "look" (color, style) that I wanted, which might not have been available at the time or in our budget
7. Helped this other woman out: she was selling all the baby stuff so she would have enough money to buy her kids a couple Christmas presents.
I mean, how could we go wrong? Well, we've found out. If we can't disable the drop side, we'll definitely think long and hard about buying a new crib. Which blows pretty much all of these reasons out of the water.
1. Frugal? No way. Buying a used crib, THEN a new crib is definitely more expensive than just a new crib.
2. Green? Um. I suppose if we were going to buy a new crib either way, there's not much of a difference, but maybe the woman could have sold the crib to someone who wouldn't later buy a new crib.
3. Off-gassing? Well, we did get a mattress out of the deal and will continue to use it even with a new crib, so I guess this one is still a win.
4. More expensive crib? HA! Who knows what we will buy if we get a new one, but I'm guessing it won't be as upscale. Think Target, not baby boutique.
5. Car seat? Well, we did buy a travel system that was on the expensive side, but we probably would have anyway. Besides, my mother-in-law got it for us as a gift.
6. The "look"? I'm thinking they might not have exactly what I want at Target. Bummer.
7. Helping the woman out? Well, we did do that. Its something at least.
Of course, if we do find a way to disable the drop-side feature and keep using the crib, I guess it was still a pretty good deal. We'll see...
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Drop-side Cribs
Does anyone know if all drop-side cribs have been recalled? I thought I read somewhere you can get some sort of kit and make the crib no longer drop-side. Maybe I'm confusing it with window blinds. I don’t know the brand or style name of our crib. We bought it (well, my mom bought it) from a co-worker of my mom’s. It was originally an expensive crib from an upscale children’s furniture store in town. I could ask my mom to ask the lady for the brand/style of the crib, but, well, knowing I should do something and actually getting around to doing it are two very different things.
Anyway, the crib was used for two kids. That’s not that many, right? It should last awhile. But now I’m thinking maybe we should have just bought a new crib. I didn’t especially care about drop-side or no drop-side, but if given the choice, I probably would have gone without, because you're not supposed to have them anymore. And I don’t need it. I’ve never used it – when Meg was little we had the mattress at the highest setting and there was no need to lower the side. When she started standing up, we lowered the mattress all the way, but I still have no problem reaching in. I guess I’m just too lazy to lower the side. Which may be the problem. While I never lower the drop-side, I do put most of my weight on it as I lean over it to reach Meg. When she wants out, Meg also puts all her weight on it.
We noticed tonight that one side was sagging. We pull the drop-side all the way up and try to latch it. It seems like it went into place, then a couple seconds later, it falls down. The front side of the crib is now lopsided – one side locked in, one side sagging down. It can’t be very safe. I’m really hoping there’s some way to fix this. I never really worried about having a drop-side crib. Yeah, yeah, I thought, they’re not as safe. Whatever. It will be fine. But now the stupid drop-side is broken, so it is not fine and I’m quite annoyed. We (well I) would like to have three kids. Will this crib last us through two more??? Should we have bought a brand-new one? Is there some way to fix it? We’ll definitely turn the drop-side towards the wall so Meg can’t use it to escape, but I still don’t think its safe enough for future kids if we can’t get it to latch anymore.
Anyway, the crib was used for two kids. That’s not that many, right? It should last awhile. But now I’m thinking maybe we should have just bought a new crib. I didn’t especially care about drop-side or no drop-side, but if given the choice, I probably would have gone without, because you're not supposed to have them anymore. And I don’t need it. I’ve never used it – when Meg was little we had the mattress at the highest setting and there was no need to lower the side. When she started standing up, we lowered the mattress all the way, but I still have no problem reaching in. I guess I’m just too lazy to lower the side. Which may be the problem. While I never lower the drop-side, I do put most of my weight on it as I lean over it to reach Meg. When she wants out, Meg also puts all her weight on it.
We noticed tonight that one side was sagging. We pull the drop-side all the way up and try to latch it. It seems like it went into place, then a couple seconds later, it falls down. The front side of the crib is now lopsided – one side locked in, one side sagging down. It can’t be very safe. I’m really hoping there’s some way to fix this. I never really worried about having a drop-side crib. Yeah, yeah, I thought, they’re not as safe. Whatever. It will be fine. But now the stupid drop-side is broken, so it is not fine and I’m quite annoyed. We (well I) would like to have three kids. Will this crib last us through two more??? Should we have bought a brand-new one? Is there some way to fix it? We’ll definitely turn the drop-side towards the wall so Meg can’t use it to escape, but I still don’t think its safe enough for future kids if we can’t get it to latch anymore.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Overnight diapers
Well, I finally caved.
Each morning Meg wakes up with an extremely soggy diaper. Sometimes it has expanded so much, the Velcro straps are barely hanging on. But I’ve resisted “overnight” diapers, because, come on – are they really better? A regular diaper (barely) gets her through the night, why pay twice as much for an overnight one?
I’m a coupon/sale/deal freak and my specialty is diapers. I get my diapers cheap. Like 10-12 cents apiece. And they’re good diapers – like Huggies or Luvs. (I know Luvs are considered “cheaper” diapers, but they fit Meg’s body type better than Huggies (less leaks), so I try to get them when I can. Generally, you can find tons of coupons/sales for Huggies or Pampers, but very few for Luvs or other discount brands). Overnight diapers usually cost 30 cents apiece, sometimes more. I have a huge diaper stash - like, 6 months worth of size 3 diapers - in my basement, all bought super-cheap, so I wasn’t really interested in buying more diapers, and expensive ones at that.
But, Saturday morning and Monday morning when I went to get Meg from her crib, her sheet and sleeper were soaked. That has got to feel so icky. Because of the holiday weekend we’d all slept in, so she was in the diaper longer than usual (like, um, 12 hours – 8 pm to 8 am. I’m a terrible mother). But I knew the day was coming when we’d need overnight diapers. Sigh. Thankfully, Amazon has a deal right now, so I got Size 3 overnights for 24 cents each. I took the plunge and ordered them last night.
I subscribe to the feeds of a lot of couponing blogs. This morning I checked my email and found a blog letting everyone know about the cheap overnight diapers on Amazon…and how the size 4 are cheaper than size 3. I could have bought size 4s for 18 cents each! Meg is a solid size 3 (she’s still just shy of 20 lbs), but still. I’m sure we could put a size 4 on her. I’m ticked. I went back and bought TWO boxes of the size 4’s. But still. Now I’m all mad. At least I didn’t buy two boxes of the size 3’s! They should arrive today, so I’m excited to try them out tonight and see how much of a difference there is. I suppose if we love them, I’ll order more size 4’s, because, you know, I don’t think we have enough diapers in the house…
P.S. Confession: The buying-cheap-diapers thing is a problem. I figured I was pushing it with the size 3’s (seriously, you should see how many boxes I have), so last week I bought Size 1 Swaddlers. I’m not pregnant. Our next child will probably (if everything goes according to our plan – which is a big if) be born in like a year and a half. Or more. But they were Swaddlers! For NINE CENTS EACH. I couldn’t pass it up. If we never have another baby, I’m sure someone in our family will.
Each morning Meg wakes up with an extremely soggy diaper. Sometimes it has expanded so much, the Velcro straps are barely hanging on. But I’ve resisted “overnight” diapers, because, come on – are they really better? A regular diaper (barely) gets her through the night, why pay twice as much for an overnight one?
I’m a coupon/sale/deal freak and my specialty is diapers. I get my diapers cheap. Like 10-12 cents apiece. And they’re good diapers – like Huggies or Luvs. (I know Luvs are considered “cheaper” diapers, but they fit Meg’s body type better than Huggies (less leaks), so I try to get them when I can. Generally, you can find tons of coupons/sales for Huggies or Pampers, but very few for Luvs or other discount brands). Overnight diapers usually cost 30 cents apiece, sometimes more. I have a huge diaper stash - like, 6 months worth of size 3 diapers - in my basement, all bought super-cheap, so I wasn’t really interested in buying more diapers, and expensive ones at that.
But, Saturday morning and Monday morning when I went to get Meg from her crib, her sheet and sleeper were soaked. That has got to feel so icky. Because of the holiday weekend we’d all slept in, so she was in the diaper longer than usual (like, um, 12 hours – 8 pm to 8 am. I’m a terrible mother). But I knew the day was coming when we’d need overnight diapers. Sigh. Thankfully, Amazon has a deal right now, so I got Size 3 overnights for 24 cents each. I took the plunge and ordered them last night.
I subscribe to the feeds of a lot of couponing blogs. This morning I checked my email and found a blog letting everyone know about the cheap overnight diapers on Amazon…and how the size 4 are cheaper than size 3. I could have bought size 4s for 18 cents each! Meg is a solid size 3 (she’s still just shy of 20 lbs), but still. I’m sure we could put a size 4 on her. I’m ticked. I went back and bought TWO boxes of the size 4’s. But still. Now I’m all mad. At least I didn’t buy two boxes of the size 3’s! They should arrive today, so I’m excited to try them out tonight and see how much of a difference there is. I suppose if we love them, I’ll order more size 4’s, because, you know, I don’t think we have enough diapers in the house…
P.S. Confession: The buying-cheap-diapers thing is a problem. I figured I was pushing it with the size 3’s (seriously, you should see how many boxes I have), so last week I bought Size 1 Swaddlers. I’m not pregnant. Our next child will probably (if everything goes according to our plan – which is a big if) be born in like a year and a half. Or more. But they were Swaddlers! For NINE CENTS EACH. I couldn’t pass it up. If we never have another baby, I’m sure someone in our family will.
Friday, July 2, 2010
Meg's First Fireworks!
We live in the Des Moines area and until we had Meg, we went to Yankee Doodle Pops at the State Capital every year. I love it. Love, love, love. The Des Moines Symphony plays a bunch of patriotic music out in front of the terrace on the west side of the capital. You bring your own chairs or blanket and sit on the lawn. Most years (all?) Simon Estes, a famous opera baritone from Iowa, sings some songs with the symphony. (In a week or two, he’s going to Africa to sing at the Gala for the World Cup Final Match) After the concert, the city shoots fireworks over the river. Its one of my favorite things in Des Moines. I love the 4th of July.
We didn’t go last year, because Meg was a month old and we weren’t very skilled at getting out of the house. Plus, we were so exhausted, we thought sleep sounded better than fireworks. I was disappointed, but too tired to really dwell on it.
This year, they had the show on July 1st, a Thursday night, which we thought was odd. Everyone I know has Monday off for the 4th, not Friday. Why have the show Thursday night when most people have to work Friday? I had to talk Thomas into going. The fireworks usually start at 10. Meg goes to bed at 8. To bring her would be keeping her up way past her bedtime. Plus, Thomas had to work all day Friday. But I really love it. And we didn’t get to go last year. And it’s the 4th of July. And we might not get to go next year (if we have another baby).
So we packed the diaper bag, slathered everyone in sunscreen, and put a red, white, and blue outfit on Meg. We loaded up the stroller and collapsible chairs. We got there about 6:30 (there was a jazz group on before the Symphony). Meg loved it! She stood there and danced and danced. It was adorable.
Everything went great until about 8:30. I brought Meg’s bedtime bottle, because she would want it on time even if she wasn’t going to bed. She was getting fussy, so I pulled it out…and realized I forgot to bring a nipple and ring so she could drink it. Disaster. We had her sippy cup. She refuses to drink milk out of it. Takes one sip, makes a face, and won’t touch it. We tried putting it in my water bottle. Took one sip, made a face, and wouldn’t touch it.
We’ve been trying for awhile to get her to drink milk out of sippy cups, but she refuses. She won’t drink milk out of anything but her bottle. She drinks water all day out of sippy cups. Just not milk. I’ve never been as annoyed about that as I was last night.
So, she’s freaking out, because she can see a bottle of milk, but she can’t drink it. I search on my phone to see if there are any stores around that sell bottles of any kind. There’s one 3 blocks away, but its almost 9:00. The website doesn’t list store hours. I decide to try it, if only because the walk will distract her. So, we head off, missing my favorite songs by the symphony. We were gone about 20 minutes walking around the East Village. Only bars were open. I missed a lot of the show.
We went back to our seats and placated Meg with animal crackers. It worked. After the show was over, we walked to the bridge to watch the fireworks. We saw two sets! The I Cubs (triple A baseball team in Des Moines) shoot off fireworks after weekend games, so we saw those first, then the city fireworks. Meg wasn’t very interested. She thought the lights were interesting, but saw no reason to look at them for an extended period of time. The noise didn’t scare her. She was basically underwhelmed and didn’t understand what was so special. But I loved it.
Overall, the night went pretty well. We didn’t get home until 11 and all of us are dead tired today, but I’m glad we went. It was fun. I think its important to expose Meg to cultural events, like Thomas thinks its important to expose her to sporting events. Plus, I'm happy I didn't have to miss one of my favorite events again this year. I hope we can go next year!
We didn’t go last year, because Meg was a month old and we weren’t very skilled at getting out of the house. Plus, we were so exhausted, we thought sleep sounded better than fireworks. I was disappointed, but too tired to really dwell on it.
This year, they had the show on July 1st, a Thursday night, which we thought was odd. Everyone I know has Monday off for the 4th, not Friday. Why have the show Thursday night when most people have to work Friday? I had to talk Thomas into going. The fireworks usually start at 10. Meg goes to bed at 8. To bring her would be keeping her up way past her bedtime. Plus, Thomas had to work all day Friday. But I really love it. And we didn’t get to go last year. And it’s the 4th of July. And we might not get to go next year (if we have another baby).
So we packed the diaper bag, slathered everyone in sunscreen, and put a red, white, and blue outfit on Meg. We loaded up the stroller and collapsible chairs. We got there about 6:30 (there was a jazz group on before the Symphony). Meg loved it! She stood there and danced and danced. It was adorable.
Everything went great until about 8:30. I brought Meg’s bedtime bottle, because she would want it on time even if she wasn’t going to bed. She was getting fussy, so I pulled it out…and realized I forgot to bring a nipple and ring so she could drink it. Disaster. We had her sippy cup. She refuses to drink milk out of it. Takes one sip, makes a face, and won’t touch it. We tried putting it in my water bottle. Took one sip, made a face, and wouldn’t touch it.
We’ve been trying for awhile to get her to drink milk out of sippy cups, but she refuses. She won’t drink milk out of anything but her bottle. She drinks water all day out of sippy cups. Just not milk. I’ve never been as annoyed about that as I was last night.
So, she’s freaking out, because she can see a bottle of milk, but she can’t drink it. I search on my phone to see if there are any stores around that sell bottles of any kind. There’s one 3 blocks away, but its almost 9:00. The website doesn’t list store hours. I decide to try it, if only because the walk will distract her. So, we head off, missing my favorite songs by the symphony. We were gone about 20 minutes walking around the East Village. Only bars were open. I missed a lot of the show.
We went back to our seats and placated Meg with animal crackers. It worked. After the show was over, we walked to the bridge to watch the fireworks. We saw two sets! The I Cubs (triple A baseball team in Des Moines) shoot off fireworks after weekend games, so we saw those first, then the city fireworks. Meg wasn’t very interested. She thought the lights were interesting, but saw no reason to look at them for an extended period of time. The noise didn’t scare her. She was basically underwhelmed and didn’t understand what was so special. But I loved it.
Overall, the night went pretty well. We didn’t get home until 11 and all of us are dead tired today, but I’m glad we went. It was fun. I think its important to expose Meg to cultural events, like Thomas thinks its important to expose her to sporting events. Plus, I'm happy I didn't have to miss one of my favorite events again this year. I hope we can go next year!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)