Change

After it taking all of thirty seconds to put the baby down for her morning nap, I was all prepared to come downstairs and write a post about how much she is changing and getting better about all sorts of things (napping included), but no sooner did I sit down to write when she woke up again!  A ten minute nap does not a happy baby make, but she is not having any of the sleeping.  Grrrr.  Mommy needs her 30-60 minutes in the morning to herself! 

Still, change is definitely my refrain for this year!   Over the past few weeks, Avery has (mostly) become a different baby all over again.  For example, we are making progress on the stroller-riding.  She will sit for the entire loop around our neighborhood - about a mile.  She seems to enjoy it enough that I'm planning to finally get a real stroller that she can sit up in and look around.  The much-hated carseat is still about the same, though.

She is getting to be so grabby, too!  Nothing is safe from her baby hands.  Hair, skin, chunks of apple, beer bottles - anything that comes within her grasp is fair game.  She is especially interested in anything mom or dad are manipulating, like silverware and plates, even when those are laden with hot food.  She is also fairly proficient at rolling from her tummy to her back, although she will stay on her tummy for longer stretches now too.  Sometimes it seems she forgets how to roll over and will flail and screech until someone "rescues" her.

We went to the other side of the island to have lunch at some friends' house on Saturday and Avery did great.  She even survived when we hit a traffic jam on the way home and she had to sit in her careseat for about an hour!  I was totally exhausted from trying to entertain her and stave off the big fat tears that kept welling up in her eyes, but we made it home without any hysterical crying.

Adam worked yesterday so Avery and I went downtown to the mall so I could check out the new Ergo carrier and see if I want to get one.  She survived that trip too, though we made it home just in time!  I was nervous because that was the farthest I had driven with her by myself (i.e., without someone in the back seat to distract her when she gets frustrated and starts in on her frantic wailing).

Adam is working a lot this week - seven out of the next eight days.  Then he's off a few days and then it's about time for me to head home for the month of October!  I'm excited and also scared about traveling so far with the baby.  We just found out that Adam is going to be getting off the watch floor and going to a job with a lot more responsibilities.  So... he won't have to work nights anymore, but he will probably be working more long hours overall.  I told him I was just going to stay at home when I go in October, since I'm not going to see him for the next two years.  I was only half kidding. 

Seriously, I will lose my mind if he is working 12 hour days Monday thru Friday and then going in on the weekends too.  There is only so much time alone with an infant one can tolerate before the crazy sets in.  Despite him having to work nights and 12 hour shifts, the watch schedule has been pretty good in that there are never more than a few days before he gets a day off.  Which means just when I'm feeling particularly frazzled, he is home for a day or two and I get a recharge. 

Well, baby is getting very upset rolling around on her play mat so I'll hit publish!