Why Hawthorne at 11, other than it's fabulously cool? Well, my mom got me this bag for Grad school, even though I haven't applied yet, at the Veg Fest (only in Portland), very cool, very durable and totally made out of hemp. The only thing is, I don't wear book bags. I wear "messenger bags" as they call them, you know, the ones that go across your shoulder and rest on your hip. She didn't know that and I didn't fault her, but she said we should go exchange it and they have a store on Hawthorne. So, off Jaden and I went this morning for this great day of Portlandness, only for it to turn into this bad day of grumpiness.
The complete lack of sleep only jump-started things.
We exchange the bag no problem, I found a fabulous green messenger bag that allows you to wear it three ways if you want and has tons of pockets and padding for the laptop, great! Off to brunch, perfect timing, I was starving by this point, as I'm sure Jaden was, too.
We shuffle into the Cup and Saucer with the beast of a jogging stroller and I let Jaden be a big boy today and sit in the seat without the car seat (which I should have started a long time ago, I just couldn't bear to have him facing the other way, I love to see him! Totally selfish on my part, I know.) So he's sitting all big and looking out at everything and the waitress asks with one word, "Highchair?" I say, "No, he'll be fine." First mistake.
We sit down and get all situated and I start to feed him his chicken, black bean and pee puree (mmm!), a few bites into it the gag reflex begins. "Oh, dear God, why haven't I taken baby CPR yet!?" runs through my head, "You idiot!" also runs through my head. So there he goes puking up his breakfast and now part of his lunch, I catch most of it and then the milk-chicken-bean-pea liquid puree overflows onto...everything!!! Okay, no big deal, we've got this! We tag team it, my mom and I, and get him all wiped down, get the stroller cleaned up, strip his cute little jeans and get him situated again. I take a deep breath and am like okay, we'll just try rice cereal, much easier on the stomach. He's lovin' it, swallowing every bite and opening big for the next one. Out of nowhere, yep you guessed it, the gag reflex AGAIN! Our food hasn't even come, mind you, so this has all happened in point 2 seconds, maybe that was part of the problem, too much food, too fast. Or maybe I was supposed to use a high chair. Isn't that what they're for?
I resort to the bottle, waitress comes by with a smirk, "Third times a charm?" she says with a fake grin while she sizes up everything she has to clean up. Yes, I am one of those moms today and yes, he is that baby, okay!? Give us a break. We make it through the rest of our time at the hippy diner with the sounds of banging, clanging, and yells and squeals as Jaden explores not only the fascinating table in front of him, but his vocal chords as well. I read my BabyCenter this week and it discussed the emotions that babies feel at this age and how they try to get them out in every way possible. Yes, yes they do.
Now for my favorite part of the day, the part that I was looking forward to when I woke up, NAP TIME!! I was thinking on my drive over, if only I can make it to nap time, then I can make it through this day. I did have a friend to meet later, but it was a "Call me," and nothing set in stone. If I could just get to my mom's guest bed (which is actually my old bed and wonderful), I could turn this day around. Okay, let's do this. Off we went from SE Portland to inner NE in our packed-with-baby-stuff SUV hybrid.
I turn into my mom's and sure enough Jaden was asleep. Yes! Warm bed here I come! My mom and I decided Jaden and I would nap, she would take a conference call, then we would hit the rest of the day and I could meet up with my friend later. It was about 1 'o clock at this point.
I get Jaden inside and take him out of his car seat, change his soiled clothes and diaper and then start to walk him upstairs to his awaiting Pack N' Play. I look down at the sweetest most innocent baby on the planet, only to find him blinking up at me wide-eyed. Here's the thing, the thing is when he goes to Lena's house, (that's Charlena, my mom, his grandma, and her preferred name vs. the older sounding grandma), okay so when he goes to Lena's house it's game on for him. He thinks it's play all day learn new stuff time, because every time he goes over there he knows he will accomplish a new feat. He always comes back so proud. So far he's learned to give kisses and make funny noises with the back of his hand as he hits his mouth with it over and over again as well as other stuff I'm sure I've forgotten. So he looks at me blinking, looks around inquisitively, sees his Lena at the top of the stairs and in that moment we both know that it's not gonna' happen. There is no nap to be had and there will be no nap to be had. But, I ignore this understanding between the two of us and try to override it. And try and try and try until I am beyond, beyond exhausted. To no avail, he won't go down. Big surprise, "Did you not see the look I gave you, Mom? I did warn you" he told me through his eyes.
I call Kyle, inform him of the situation for conversation's sake and let him know I hate this day. He says he hates this day, too, for his own reasons and informs me that our landlord put up for rent signs for our place and already he has people wanting to come over in the evening to see it. Oh, no, I thought, we have a ginormous king size mattress in our living room (long story) dishes I didn't finish from yesterday because Jaden pooped everywhere (another long, yet funny story) and there was just stuff here and there that added up to be a place I didn't feel comfortable showing until all of the "stuff" was eradicated and things were put back in their place. I told Kyle that I would try to come home and help him get everything presentable (it was only fair), but that I had planned this fun day out and hadn't even gotten to see Nicholas yet or really hit the day with my mom. I got off the phone with him, sat there in silence for a second and looked down at my son who was staring up at me with that face that says, "Hi, Mom, I'm awake!" Sigh.
Downstairs we go in hopes of figuring out the rest of our day only to find out my mom's client still has not called for that conference call and when he does, a very loud baby will be in the background exercising his vocal chords and not taking his nap. I decide it's time to throw in the towel. I call my friend, reschedule for the following Friday and start to pack up the car. I then call Kyle to let him know that I am on my way home to help him straighten up our house. Our "fun" day out is officially over, with no hopes of recovery. Ugh!
Did I mention I love my new bag?
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