New Things Since We Were Last Home

The new things are twofold: 1) Stuff Gillian is doing and 2) Stuff we learned doing ahuge road trip (~3,000 miles) with a baby. Interestingly, you learn as much about yourself as you do about the baby when you do a long road trip...and you learn a lot about the things that work and the ones that don't.

1) Stuff Gillian is doing
Gillian has changed so much since we left (the difference two weeks makes!). Here are the highlights:
· She has discovered textures, and now loves to touch, scratch (to hear the sound something makes), and feel everything she can get her hands on. When nursing she very sweetly lightly touches my chest and arms and rubs my shirt between her fingers (this latter behavior began well before the trip, but is endearing none-the-less).
· Two little tooth buds are showing in the center of her bottom jaw-of course, these could take months to erupt (though she is really liking frozen teething toys), but they are there! The recent fuss fest at random times of the day lead me to believe she may be pre-teething, the amorphous term that basically means that your baby can be uncomfortable for any length of time before the teeth actually come in. This is not even close to consoling for control freaks like myself who really like to know what we're in for, so we can plan. Plan-shmam. Welcome to Parenthood.
· Her eyes are turning...little flecks of gold are appearing, so she will have green eyes or hazel eyes (yay!)
· She coos are receiving kisses and is happy to oblige giving an open mouth sloppy kiss (see video).
· She has become increasingly more vocal, complete with the occasional squeal, squawk, screech, and generally loud other sounds (she honed these skills at the dinner table with her very vocal family-she learned to get a word in edgewise, she had to speak up!). Although she was suspiciously quiet at playgroup today.
· She is reaching for things and grasping them. She seems to notice when she drops things (unlike before) and sometimes will try to retrieve them, which is a big deal and has some cognitive relationship to the idea of permanence.
· She has rolled over from belly to back every day at least once. Probably because she has really never LOVED being on her belly for long stretches. Now she has the power to change her circumstances all by herself. Pretty amazing.
· We tried a mama milkshake to test her extrusion reflex. She found it strange..and exciting. I am still on the fence about feeding her solids at 4.5 adjusted months, but she watches us eat like a hawk and is very interested in dinnertime...and then there's the whole "her GI started functioning 10 weeks sooner than a newborn" thing that makes me think she could be ready. This is on my list of things to ask at her doctor appointment next week (the current medical wisdom says to wait till the baby is 6 months old for solids to avoid food allergies).

2) Stuff we learned doing a huge road trip (~3,000 miles) with a baby:
· It is impractical to think you will drive 550 miles and stop every time the baby eats or poops. You will succumb to the temptation of taking her out of the seat and nursing her as you fly down the highway at 80 miles per hour, hoping that today is not the day that God tests you with some life tragedy, like a run in with a drunk trucker.
· You will become a serious pro at changing a baby's diaper on your lap in the backseat, balancing the wipes, the change pad, and the soiled and new diaper all at the same time. You will know you have reached the highest level of prowess when the baby pees in the split second between the time you take off the old diaper and put on the new one if you can soak up the new puddle with the wipes before she gets urine all over herself and her clothing. BUT, even more importantly, you learn that you must always, always, always have at least two changes of clothing in the event that the baby pulls a fast one on you (and yes, she certainly will!) or has a blowout (which leads us to the next item).
· Blowouts (where poo magically escapes the elastic leg and waistbands of a diaper to travel up baby's back or down baby's legs) can be catastrophically messy under ideal conditions. Let me explain one such situation. We took the baby to the bank where her Grandaddy works to show her off to his colleagues before his birthday lunch. I was topping her off in the parking lot to ensure she wouldn't be hungry/fussy during lunch, when I heard the telltale rumble (and felt it, for that matter). At first, I think "she just needs a change". Then upon lifting her to get out of the car to set up a makeshift changing station out of the backseat, I realize I have a puddle (more like a small lake) of mustard-looking breast milk poo in my lap on my sundress. Gillian is covered in it, down to her pretty matching white shoes. It would have been truly hilarious to watch Sean hold her over the pavement with poo dripping down her legs and onto the pavement while I tried to get all her clothes off and wipe her down, whilst also covered in baby poop. This long, rambling point is that even though you wouldn't think so, it might not be a terrible idea to pack a change of clothes for yourself in that diaper bag. Oh, and don’t be disappointed if instead of a beautiful little white sundress, matching eyelet drawers, and matching white mary janes for a special occasion, your child goes to that special brunch and to meet those colleagues barefoot in a plain cotton Carters outfit (just be thankful you remembered the plain Carters outfit just in case). NOTE: I have never had a blowout with my cloth diapers, probably because there is serious elastic in the legs and waist. ANOTHER NOTE: This also happened as we were about to get out of the car on Easter morning when we were arriving at mass. Thus, even though you planned to have the baby wear those cute little tights with her booties and dress, it's never a bad idea to bring a pair of lacy socks to substitute the poop-ridden tights and booties in a pinch.
· A mid-size car is not big enough for traveling for long durations with an infant. If it were Sean and I, we would have had exactly 2 bags and 2 instruments. Here is what we brought for a 14 pound infant:

1. Large duffel bag filled with every piece of clothing you have for the baby, because you will change the baby multiple times a day (see previous bullets, above).
2. Playmat
3. Diaper bag, filled to the brim
4. Bag with full pack of diapers, extra wipes, bottle warmer, extra gallon bags, extra bottles, extra milk collection bottles, etc.
5. The Bumbo (a must have for us-worth it's weight in gold)
6. The cosleeper
7. The stroller
8. The car seat
9. The breast pump
10. Toys to amuse her for 30 hours in the car.

· Not every rest stop or gas station has a changing station, and those that do don't always have them in the handicapped stall. This last bit is vital-going to the bathroom is rough when you have to hold the baby at the same time. Unbuttoning your pants one-handed is no fun, and putting the baby on the filthy floor is not an option. If the change station is in the handicapped stall, you can put the baby down, go to the bathroom comfortably, then change the baby. In an ideal world, there would also be a sink in that stall so you can leave the baby lying down while washing your hands, but this is not an ideal world. So, on more than one occasion, I left her on the table with the door to the stall open while washing my hands and keeping an eagle eye on her from my sink-vantage point. In one instance a woman walked into the stall with the baby and was startled...till she saw me. It would be interesting (and sad) to think for a second that someone could abandon their child in a gas station bathroom.
· Everyone loves a baby. Random people said such kind things about Miss G, and it made me feel fuzzy about humankind in general. Particularly since we have tried to keep her in a virtual glass bubble to avoid RSV...I have missed out on all the nice compliments and adoring glances up till now, and it was fun.

I am sure there is plenty more to expound upon later, but I am tired and still feel like I could sleep for a week. Driving eats up any relaxing you might do, and it is exhausting to cart a baby across the country for everyone to meet. I am sure it was even more exhausting for her. However, it was a really special trip, and it was just fabulous to spend such quality time with family and friends. To all of you that we were blessed to spend time with-we love you and already miss you!!

Hopefully, G will get back to normal soon enough. Till then, we persevere with her erratic naps and fussiness (which may or may not be pre-teething). I leave you with her new kissing sound. I believe she is trying to imitate what she thinks I sound like when I go "mmmmwwah!" when I kiss her cheek.