May 15, 2015

With Grammy still at her church orchestra directors’ conference in Nashville and Jessica and the kids in Texas at a family reunion and Katie on her way to Arkansas, we were in a tight spot.  I had a few things at work I had to do, so Jeremy asked Mario and Erica if they would be willing to watch little Miss SJ for a few hours.

As we all know, Selah June has had a tough time adjusting to the fact that sometimes she won’t be with Mom and Dad.  Sometimes Grandpa will catch her in a bad moment.  We’ve attributed it to “stranger danger” syndrome, but it’s been going on for quite a few months now.

So I didn’t know how this was going to go…

Erica met us in the driveway and scooped up the carseat carrier to take her inside.  She didn’t scream.  In fact, I don’t even think she cried.  I hurried away in case there was any separation anxiety at the sight of me.

Within a few minutes, I received this cute little picture in a text message from Erica.  Adriana was inside to greet Selah June.  Adriana is 14 months old…  the perfect age spread from SJ.  Everything Adriana did SJ wanted to do.  Adriana got a bottle; SJ had to have her bottle.  Adriana got to sit in the highchair and have some solid food; SJ wanted to eat!!  They are so cute.  I think there will be more playdates to come for these two.

I am so grateful for a baby who is attached to me.  But I’m also so grateful for the opportunities this hard week afforded to stretch her a little and push her a bit out of her comfort zone.  She developed a taste for Jack Johnson and made some new friends out of it!

May 13, 2015

I had to come home from Oklahoma before Jeremy because I had a big event with all our department chairs.  With Grammy gone for the week, we had to ask Katie to stay with Miss Selah June.  I was a little worried about how it would go because she’s really been hesitant to be with anybody other than Mommy or Daddy.  Unfortunately, I didn’t have any time to hang around Wednesday morning and make sure things were going to go well.  The event was downtown, and I had to be there by 7:30am.

Katie did great.  She patiently waited for SJ to get over her fussiness and decide to settle in to her situation for the day.  While I was at my chairs retreat, I got this precious photo.

They spent tons of time playing, jumping up and down to Jack Johnson, and taking good long naps.  It was a winner of a day.

May 14, 2015

Penelope and Selah June had a fabulous time together in Oklahoma.  P read books to SJ.  They shared toys.  They played with the doggy.  It was good quality time.  Jeremy stayed out there a few extra days and sent us pictures of all his adventures.

Here they are on a canal ride.

And here we are playing in our musical exersaucer.

Who looks like they’re having more fun?

May 13, 2015

We’re so close…  Of course, the first sure sign of crawling was on Sunday while Stacie and I were at the AT&T store trying to get her phone replaced.  Jeremy said that she took a few timid little moves trying to figure out how to get those knees and hands moving in conjunction.  And where was I?  Not there.  I wasn’t there for the first “Mama,” and I wasn’t there for the first signs of a crawl.  I spend every second I can watching this little one, and she picks the one second I am away.  She knows….

We’re rocking back and forth, gaining momentum, and then avoiding a face plant.  While Daddy’s still in Oklahoma, we’re trying to get our crawl on.  Two can play at this game.  Literally… two.  We’re crawling like it’s 1985.

May 12, 2015

Selah June and I set out this morning together on what is sure to be the first of many adventures together.  After our experience on the way out to Oklahoma, I was pretty much a nervous wreck about how this whole trip home was going to down.  I couldn’t fathom getting myself, her stuff, my stuff, her, separate liquids, laptop out, shoes off, tickets out, etc. without Jeremy there to assist.  We limited everything down to the diaper bag and the carrier.  That was it.  I had just enough food to get her home.  I had just enough toiletries to do my makeup and brush my teeth.  We were about to make traveling light history.

Going through the airport both ways, they made me go through the metal detector rather than the full-body scanner.  They ran her bottles through some kind of test, and then sent us on our way.  I wore slip on shoes and no belt, which helped a great deal in the reassembly.

The only tricky thing was getting in and out of the carrier.  A flight attendant helped me unclip the top buckle on the first leg, and then by the second leg I had it down to where I could do it myself.

Our flight from OKC to Dallas was a breeze.  She slept some, and it was really quick.  We found our gate easily and had time to spare.  I scoped out an open area on the floor, and we spread our stuff out to get in some playtime. There were a couple other babies waiting as well.  SJ had fund watching the other kids squirm and wallow, eat and crawl, and just generally be over the airport.  As I was trying to convince SJ that she did like mangoes out of a pouch, a young woman leaned up against the wall timidly asked, “Is it scary having a baby?”

That’s not really the question people ask.  You often get: “How old?”  Or “Is she crawling yet?” But that’s the first time anyone has asked something so personal.  “Absolutely!” I responded.

Before SJ, I traveled all the time.  Everyone had enough to worry about with me roaming airports trying to pay attention enough to find gates on my own and feed my face something other than peanuts.  Add a baby to the mix…. and, well, that IS a terrifying prospect.  She was newly married and was reporting for active duty in Fort Walton Beach at Eglin.  Her family was pressuring her and her husband to start having kids, but she had enough sense to know that it was a game-changer.

She had been stranded in the airport for a few days because of the bad weather that had been through Dallas over the weekend.  I imaging the stress and lack of sleep had worn down her inhibitions, and she was just being honest and straight-up inquisitive.

I don’t even really remember what I told her….  I think I said that it is very scary, but then you tap into some Mom skill set that you didn’t even know you had.  After that, everything gets better.  I know I told her that they’re durable little critters.  After the first few months, you stop feeling like you’re going to break them every time you touch them.  And then there’s the joy and happiness that they bring into your life.  It’s worth every last one of those fears.

The second flight was delayed, and it was a little more difficult than the first one.  I had just enough milk to get us home.  (And she didn’t care for the mangoes in a pouch.)

We made it home safe and sound.  First plane trip…. check!

May 8, 2015

10:30am – Office assures me that everything will be okay.  She can sense my anxiety. I should just try to take a chill pill and keep my blood pressure low.

1:30pm – Things go south at work, but I have to leave for the airport.

2:45pm – We are through security at the airport, but the flight’s already been delayed.

4:00pm – We’re on the plane in Pensacola but delayed at the gate.

6:30pm – We’re in Dallas on the runway, but there’s trouble getting to the gate… We’ve missed our 6:40 flight.

7:00pm – We’re rebooked on the 8:30 to OKC and finding dinner.

8:30pm – It’s delayed until 9:15.

9:15pm – It’s delayed until 10:15.

10:15pm – We’re sitting at the gate, but we are not cleared to take off because of the weather.

10:45pm – We’re cleared for departure, but there are 7 planes ahead of us on the runway.

11:45pm – We’ve landed in OKC, but there is a plane at our gate.

12:00am – We hope our luggage arrived with us.

12:15am – Luggage in hand, we set out to find Jamie and Stacie’s car.

12:40am – We get a drink and a snack at the gas station.  Taco Bueno closed at midnight.

1:00am – We arrive at the house, and Jamie just feels sorry for us.  They’ve spent the evening at the ER. Stacie had awful abdominal pain, and they ended up missing graduation as well.

We woke up this morning to a new day.  We’re not quite right today, but puppies and Penelope are making it better.

May 3, 2015

So Sunday we did a photo shoot outside.  SJ was really fussy, so it didn’t last very long.  Nonetheless, I think I did get a few keepers.

May 2, 2015

Selah June and Daddy spent Saturday hanging out all day.  Mommy had graduation from 9:00am to 4:00pm.  Uggghhh…..  When I came home, they were both napping — but not for long!

May 1, 2015

Selah June Bug puts up with a lot.  Every morning, she eats her breakfast and takes a little cat nap.  Then as soon as she wakes up we throw ourselves in the car to get to Grammy’s house in time for Mommy to be at work.  Most all of the time, she just takes it all in.  I barely hear a peep out of her.  Only occasionally I’ll hear little songs from her pull toys…  her monkey in her right hand and her elephant in her left.  If too much time goes by without hearing one or the other, then I know she’s probably fallen back asleep.

Selah June turned 7 months old on April 26.  It took me a while to get her board done, and Jeremy helped me get a good weight check over the weekend.  It sure does help that she can sit up on her own these days.  As we thought through what to list as her likes and dislikes, it struck us how few things really upset her.  She’s generally a pretty happy baby. She’s curious about everything, and she smiles and laughs most of the time.  If she’s not doing one or the other, then she’s probably tired or hungry.  We like 7 months.  It’s a great age!