When my husband and I talked about adopting a baby, his primary concerns for us was how challenging a newborn would be, how exhausting the first year of parenthood would be for us, but primarily for me since he'd be deploying. And it was, let me tell you, there were days I didn't think I was going to survive. The second and third months were exhausting, which I did partially by myself and the baby woke up every couple of hours to eat. It was unbelievably hard some days. She had tummy troubles and we struggled to find the right mix for her formula.
We survived those challenges and all the rest that have come our way since Daddy deployed. When we celebrated her first birthday, I kind of felt like "phew, we made it!" I'd partially raised step-children who ranged in age from 6 mos. to 6 years, 4-12, 5-13, 7-13, 9-15. I'd done much of this mothering thing before, but I had limited memory of toddlerhood.
Today, we took a trip to run some errands. We had to mail some things at the UPS store, pick up some travel items at Wal-Mart, and run to Kohl's for some vacation clothes. Running errands hasn't been easy since she was born because it takes so much more effort to drag her car seat in and out of stores, plan around her meals, snacks, bottle, diaper changes, etc. But today, I realized it is only going to get more and more difficult with her.
She used to be this passive little person, but that has changed completely. After my exciting night out to dinner with my girlfriend and her new baby in which we both spent most of the meal dealing with our kiddos, I realized that dinners out were going to be much more challenging. Now shopping has taken a dark turn.
She was frustrated about being in her car seat carrier at UPS. I put her in her Eddie Bauer shopping cart cover for Walmart and she spent the entire time fussing for a cracker, whining. Every time I tried to appease her with a toy or new box of something to distract her, she would be entertained for a few minutes, but not nearly long enough. And recently when she's finished with something, she's taken to throwing it to the floor with prejudice.
Then, I put her in Kohl's shopping stroller for what was supposed to be a quick run through to pick up a few items for our trip. She spent the whole visit enjoying her newly found perspective and grabbing every article of clothing her hot little hands could reach. It was especially fun when she pulled panties off the hangers.
We finally got home and I got everything put away. She ate dinner while I put away clothes and food. Then I threw together a blueberry pecan chicken salad. The whole time I tried to eat, she stood at my elbow with a book. She didn't want me to read the book, just hold it for her so she could make the animal noises. She was very adorable, but it was 8 o'clock and I was hungry.
She just was whiny and frustrated and frustrating all afternoon. I don't know why she was so fussy today, but she needs more attention and stimulation as she is growing up. Somehow this job that in which I thought the hardest year was behind me, just became harder.
And she still isn't walking really. A few steps a day is all so far. I can't imagine how much more challenging this will be when she is running laps around me. I only hope my mom skills catch up to her sooner rather than later.
We survived those challenges and all the rest that have come our way since Daddy deployed. When we celebrated her first birthday, I kind of felt like "phew, we made it!" I'd partially raised step-children who ranged in age from 6 mos. to 6 years, 4-12, 5-13, 7-13, 9-15. I'd done much of this mothering thing before, but I had limited memory of toddlerhood.
Today, we took a trip to run some errands. We had to mail some things at the UPS store, pick up some travel items at Wal-Mart, and run to Kohl's for some vacation clothes. Running errands hasn't been easy since she was born because it takes so much more effort to drag her car seat in and out of stores, plan around her meals, snacks, bottle, diaper changes, etc. But today, I realized it is only going to get more and more difficult with her.
She used to be this passive little person, but that has changed completely. After my exciting night out to dinner with my girlfriend and her new baby in which we both spent most of the meal dealing with our kiddos, I realized that dinners out were going to be much more challenging. Now shopping has taken a dark turn.
She was frustrated about being in her car seat carrier at UPS. I put her in her Eddie Bauer shopping cart cover for Walmart and she spent the entire time fussing for a cracker, whining. Every time I tried to appease her with a toy or new box of something to distract her, she would be entertained for a few minutes, but not nearly long enough. And recently when she's finished with something, she's taken to throwing it to the floor with prejudice.
Then, I put her in Kohl's shopping stroller for what was supposed to be a quick run through to pick up a few items for our trip. She spent the whole visit enjoying her newly found perspective and grabbing every article of clothing her hot little hands could reach. It was especially fun when she pulled panties off the hangers.
We finally got home and I got everything put away. She ate dinner while I put away clothes and food. Then I threw together a blueberry pecan chicken salad. The whole time I tried to eat, she stood at my elbow with a book. She didn't want me to read the book, just hold it for her so she could make the animal noises. She was very adorable, but it was 8 o'clock and I was hungry.
She just was whiny and frustrated and frustrating all afternoon. I don't know why she was so fussy today, but she needs more attention and stimulation as she is growing up. Somehow this job that in which I thought the hardest year was behind me, just became harder.
And she still isn't walking really. A few steps a day is all so far. I can't imagine how much more challenging this will be when she is running laps around me. I only hope my mom skills catch up to her sooner rather than later.
We got through stores with lots of singing and stories. I have Brown Bear, Goodnight Moon and Chicka Chicka Boom Boom memorized. (Or I did...it's been a while). I could shop and tell stories for quite some time. I also made up some Frank the Tank stories in urgent times. You learn to adapt. Wade is a super Walmart shopper now. He is almost too big for the cart, which will become a whole new challenge.
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