Shopping Woes

Monday Rachel and I went shopping we hit a thrift store, consignment store, and a couple other places because I am in need of some summer clothes that complement my new post baby shape. While I am close to my pre baby size some of those old Juniors sized shorts and capris just don't provide the same coverage they used too.

When I shop I like to spent a lot of time thinking about my potential purchase before I actually get in line to make it. I like to pace through the racks and touch everything before heading off to the dressing room. Once in the dressing room I try everything on. If it is a potential yes I sort it into a yes pile to try on a second time. Once I try on everything I brought in and sort it into a no way pile and yes pile it is time to try on all the potential yeses again and re sort those into the no way and yes pile. If my yes pile is more than I am planning on spending I will try the items on and sort them again. Following this time consuming process I leave the dressing room with my yeses and pace through the racks again pondering if I really want or need or like the items I chose. I may put all or none back before heading to the cash registers. This arduous process prevents me from impulse buying, but I recently discovered it is not very kiddo friendly.

While shopping today in my typical fashion I hear some yelling coming from Rachel's stroller. Thinking to myself, "why doesn't she understand that this is an important part of shopping. We are on a budget and I can only buy things I really need, like, and I feel good in. She is the reason (a very good reason) we are on a tight budget. Without her I would be working, but instead I have made the choice to stay home and raise her. Really she should be thanking me and showing her appreciation by allowing me the luxury of sitting quietly in her stroller while I shop." While realizing my dream of a patient and appreciative 8 month old is not at all grounded in reality and silly and growing frustrated with all the noise I grab my items and head to the front of the store to pay for them. Luckily there is no one in line, but as I make it to the register a women swoops in from outside the store and cuts me off with a return. The whiny monologue in my head begins again with, "Nooooo. Those take forever. Does she not see me or hear all the noise coming from the adorable but impatient baby in the stroller. Now we are forced to wait and Rachel is not in the mood to wait."

So to end this whiny tale. Rachel continued to voice her boredom until I removed her from the stroller and I headed back to the store the next day to return a pair of shorts that I was less than pleased with. Maybe next time I need to try on that many items I will leave Miss Rachel at home with her daddy and brave the stores on a weekend or evening.

Now for those if you who really just visit the blog for cute baby pictures I have attached one. I trust you are okay with the fact it is not related to the post.

Purees as Finger Food...Not on my Watch

DSC_9281.jpg, originally uploaded by Brian Bjork.

This week Rachel figured out how to get finger foods from her hands into her mouth. She strongly feels that this is the best method for transporting food including purees to her mouth. She protests with whines and cries through a tightly closed mouth when I try to use a spoon until she manages to get some puree into her hands. She then squishes the puree out of her fist between her fingers and manages wipe it all over her face, ears, neck, hair, and bib while attempting to feed herself or block yet another spoonful trying to land in her mouth. This is when "bad mommy" rears her ugly head. I shudder at the sight of gooey sticky messes. I have discussed the importance of allowing children to explore their food during my short stint with feeding therapy (lucky for me the child I was co-treating had major food aversions and would not touch most foods so sessions were relatively clean); however, I cannot bring myself to take my own advice and allow Rachel to play with her food. Luckily for me Rachel is a determined and passionate child (i.e. strong willed) and will not give up easily. She will force me to face my aversion to goo, stickiness, and mess head on, and I am sure in the end we will both be the better for it. Thank you Rachel for forcing me to face my issues with mess and making me a more relaxed person and better mommy even though I must admit right now I am not feeling that grateful.

Hard at Work

Rachel continues to be hard at work learning to crawl.

...And She's Off

DSC_9263.jpg, originally uploaded by Brian Bjork.

Rachel is hard at work learning to crawl. Her attempts go something like this: She sees something that looks like it might be fun to chew on, gets up on all fours, pushes off, and... goes backwards. Not deterred by this small setback she tries again only to move farther away from the desired object. You can see the frustration building as she attempts again and scoots even further away. After numerous failures to move towards the desired object she scrunches up her little face, rolls over, and begins to cry as if the world is ending. It is tough being a baby, but luckily Mommy and Daddy are right there with a hug, help sitting back up, and a toy to play with. All is right with the world once again.