Vacation!

We took Cutie Pie out of town for the fourth. It's now the ninth, a full five days later, and I am just getting back into my routine.

Cutie Pie had a blast playing with his relatives. He loves an audience and is always happy to show off his latest achievements. This weekend he showed off his speed crawling and standing up skills. He even had a five-second-stand-alone moment. Happy Independence Day!

The best thing about visiting family is that everyone wants to take care of Cutie Pie. They want to feed him and play with him. Mommy and Daddy get a break from the daily routine. I should have used my new found free time to catch up on paperwork but instead I foolishly spent my luxurious freedom relaxing. It was a great. I had a real vacation.

The weird thing about visiting relatives is that everyone wants to take care of Cutie Pie. So, since I'm not his primary caregiver every moment of the day, I really start to miss him. My life is completely wrapped around my baby and I feel guilty giving myself a break. I know, I know, he's only eight months old. I'm sure I'll get over it.

Every trip out of town ultimately ends. You pull into the driveway and the Neverending To-Do List starts running through your mind. There's so much to do; unpacking and laundry and cleaning and paperwork that went neglected all weekend. It's taken me five days to get through my list but I can finally say I'm caught up. Just in time for another weekend!

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The Next Big Step

Cutie Pie is pulling up and trying to stand. So far walking is not going so well for him but he's a fighter and he's not giving up! I can only imagine that he will take off in another couple of months. The kids he plays with at school seem to all walk around nine months so I'm preparing myself. I'm starting to look for baby shoes.

It is one thing to dress Cutie Pie in the cutest of clothes. Buying him shoes is a whole new ball game. I've looked at shoes online and tried to learn about sizes and the flexible soles that will allow him to still grip the floor with his feet. Of course, I don't want to buy him any old ugly shoe. I've got to find something cute that doesn't cost more than my own shoes.

I visited a few children's shoe stores last week. I didn't bring Cutie Pie because I was hoping to actually concentrate on choosing a shoe, rather than chasing a baby down the aisles of the store and trying to persuade him to not eat the store's merchandise. Unfortunately, it turned out that I needed Cutie Pie with me because I picked out all the wrong sizes. His feet seemed so much bigger in my mind!

I thought that buying shoes was my only big decision for this month. According to my research Mommies can't just write their child's name on their shoes with a Sharpie. Apparently, many Super Mommies also buy shoe labels so they don't get lost or mixed up with their friend's shoes. You can't just make and print your own labels because plain old labels won't last long on a child's shoe. You've got to get a special sticky label made especially for all the wear and tear a toddler can create. So I checked a few websites for labels.

Mabel's Labels is advertised in every parenting magazine I've ever read. They say I need to choose a picture to go with my child's name on the label to help my pre-reader identify his label. Good grief! There are princesses, sports, pirates, bugs, dinosaurs and just about anything you can imagine. But somehow I just can't decide how to label my child. It seems like such a big decision. This is the picture he will identify with himself! I'm leaning toward the dinosaur by the way.

I also checked out Oliver's Labels and Labels4kids.com. Who knew there could be so many choices for a simple name label? Oliver's Labels has more colorful labels and the shoe labels are shaped like feet. They are very cute. Labels4kids has special right foot labels that make a big picture when you put the shoes next to each other. This way, the child can tell which shoe goes on which foot, assuming that Mommy positioned the labels correctly in the first place. I can so see me doing that.

With all the decisions to be made, I'm hoping Cutie Pie takes his time learning to walk. He's getting around quite well crawling for now.

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Crawling, Crawling Everywhere!

It's official, Cutie Pie is a crawler! He can go just about anywhere he wants. If Mommy walks into another room, Cutie Pie follows her, laughing all the way. He seems very excited about his new found mobility. He has already discovered that he can fit his arm behind the entertainment center and grab the cable cords.

When he crawls, he gets really excited to be moving so he giggles and gurgles the whole time. If my visual attention is focused elsewhere I can usually tell that Cutie Pie is moving and in which direction he is going. I suspect though, as he gets more used to crawling, that he will soon enter stealth mode and I will have to keep my eyes on him at all times.

I wish Cutie Pie could have taken a little more time to break me in but it seems that crawling is only half of his newest accomplishments. Cutie Pie is pulling up on everything sturdy enough to grab onto. Unfortunately, once he gets up he doesn't yet know what to do next. So, he usually falls and often bumps his head on the way down.

Cutie Pie got a little bruise on his face from the leg of the dining room table. I was quite proud of myself. I didn't get upset or emotional. I didn't consult my baby books about head injuries or hematomas. I just hugged my baby until he felt better and moved along with my day. I guess Mommy is growing up too.

My Shadow and Me

"And everywhere that Mommy went, Mommy went, Mommy went, and everywhere that Mommy went, Cutie Pie was sure to go!" Cutie Pie has become my shadow. We are inseparable. If I need to get up to answer the phone, Cutie Pie's eyes follow me all the way there. If heaven forbid I leave the room, Cutie Pie announces my departure as loudly as he can. If I need to take a shower, Cutie Pie is in his exer-saucer happily playing right next to the tub.

I was warned that having children causes you to lose your privacy. I'm not so worried about that as much as I'm concerned that if Cutie Pie gets much bigger, I'm not going to be able to carry him with one arm while I cook dinner, take out the garbage and/or make the bed.

Nap time has become a very important time of day. Not only does taking a good nap ensure that Cutie Pie is well-rested and happy. It also means that Mommy gets a chance to do some quick cleaning, make some lunch or take a shower with the door closed. I don't like to run errands with Cutie Pie because he naps in the car and it's a waste of a perfectly good nap for Mommy.

I am enjoying the attention I get from my Cutie Pie. He likes me to sit by him while he pushes up on all fours and attempts to crawl. He's got the army crawl and the backward crawl down pat. He wants to crawl forward so badly. He pushes up with his arms, concentrates on something in front of him and cries. I try to help him crawl but not too much because I want him to figure it out. I want Cutie Pie to grow into an independent little boy.

He is on the verge of getting it. Pretty soon, having a shadow will be the least of my problems. Once he starts crawling, I won't have to rush back into the room where Cutie Pie plays because he'll just follow me. Or worse, he'll crawl the other way and get into mischief.

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Balance

Cutie Pie is learning to crawl. He is getting so close to figuring it out that I don't let him play on the floor unless he's got a video camera pointed at him. It is so amazing to watch him get up on all fours and try to balance and move at the same time. He seems to be terrified of pushing his body forward and whenever he tries, it makes him cry. Surprisingly, he has no trouble crawling backward! He doesn't seem to crawl deliberately and he obviously has no idea where he is going but he really truly is crawling backward. I can't wait to see him figure this crawling thing out and watch him take off. I realized that if he makes his first little move at school where I can't see him, I will be absolutely devastated.

After spending a week of luxuriousness with my Cutie Pie, I decided that I can no longer be a working mom. After mulling it over in my head for a few days and of course, discussing my life changing decision with my husband, I decided to make it official. I resigned from my job! It was the moment most people only dream about! I walked into my supervisor's office and I told her that I wanted to resign. At least that's what I tried to do. She wouldn't let me quit. My boss simply said "No."

What do you mean "No?" I was completely baffled. I can quit if I want to and you can't make me stay! My boss thought fast and told me I could work from home and schedule my office appointments in the evenings around my husband's schedule. I know that many women ask their employers for schedules like mine. I wish I could say that I hammered out a deal with my employer but I'm afraid that I am just too naive for such manipulation. I was just really, really lucky.

It was positively painful to even consider quitting my dream job. It was even harder to think about missing out on precious time with my Cutie Pie. There seems to be no right answer. You either choose to work and feel guilty at leaving your child to be raised by someone else or you choose to stay home and lose your professional identity in the process. It looks like I will be learning to balance too.

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