Suzy Q Homemaker

In all honesty, I was a nervous wreck about this trip to Louisville.  Who wouldn’t be afraid to take a four-month-old on a nine-hour bus trip?  I was concerned about how we would handle crying, diaper changes, and sleeping.  The feeding I wasn’t concerned about because I didn’t have to pack anything special for nursing.

Here’s what I packed for Timothy:

• cloth diapers and diapering essentials for three days and then some
• clothing for warm & cool weather
• the pouch sling & the didymos wrap
• teething tablets
• toys
• car seat for bus napping

The best part about being on a bus was being able to hold Timothy when he needed to be held.  He wasn’t confined to the car seat for hours on end, so I didn’t have to do any fancy car seat nursing or ask to stop when diapers needed to be changed.  The motion of the bus also helped soothe him to sleep whenever nap time was in order.  Timothy rarely fussed and never cried while we were on the road.  It was GLORIOUS.

While we toured Louisville, I kept the didymos tied on so that I could easily slip Timothy in when we were walking around and then take him out when we were on the bus again.  How about some action shots!

Obviously, I didn’t take these pictures.  My friend Mary Ann did!  In the picture right above, I was actually putting Timothy in the wrap while we were walking to the Ohio River.  I became very adept at adjusting while walking, a skill much needed in a group of people with a touring goal.  There was no time for strollers or buckles!

I was asked constantly while we were on this trip how Timothy slept at night.  The truth was that he slept just as well as any other night.  Since we co-sleep, there really was no change in his sleeping routine.  All I had to do was lie down with him in our bed, nurse him, and voila!  If he woke during the night, it was only to nurse some more and then go back to sleep.  This is exactly how it goes at home and what I expected to happen while we were in Louisville.  I made sure to get a single room with a queen-sized bed so we wouldn’t be bothered by (or be bothering) other people.  Not that Timothy was fussy or cried at night, but still.

In the mornings, I had to make sure to wake earlier than I expected Timothy to in order to squeeze in a shower and get dressed.  I was quite proud of myself for being able to do this.  I thought for sure I’d have to pawn him off on someone so I could put my pants on!  Cause you know, on any normal day, Timothy and I usually wake about the same time and I can’t get a shower until at least after lunch.

Our only trouble with Timothy was when I had to be away during rehearsals and performances.  He screamed and screamed.  It was heartbreaking and I hated that we had to be separated for those short amounts of time.  I’m grateful for a good friend who was there to hold him while he cried.  I need to think of a way to thank her.  Is there a Hallmark card that says, “Thanks for holding my screaming infant?”

Timothy has been trying desperately to roll over this week. I’m not sure where exactly he gets off thinking that I’m ready for him to be mobile. It’s not like I don’t have enough small creatures to chase down around here.

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Woohoo!  We got to try out some Teething Bling from SmartMom Jewelry.  Timothy is just now getting into that slobbery, gooey phase where we are constantly wiping up buckets of drool from our shoulders and Timothy’s chin.  Ah, yes, our shoulders are now falling victim to the gnawing and clawing of a…dun Dun DUN!!! TEETHING BABY.  This also means my necklaces are prey to grabby little fists.  I tried wearing a string of pearls to a wedding recently and that was almost disastrous. Read more…

I’m about to turn the tables on you guys.  I’m so disgusting.  But you know what? That’s what The Mommy Confessions are for.  Here’s my confessions for this week:

I like the smell of baby spit-up.

My kids have only been breastfed, so I can’t say that I like all spit-up.  But there’s something about the lingering smell of my child’s regurgitated breastmilk that makes me happy.  I like smelling my shoulder after a long day of many barfs, and I like smelling the back of Timothy’s head after he’s been rolling around in his own spew after a nap.

So there you have it.  I’ll probably lose a few readers for this one.


P.S. Last week’s confession featured my hot boyfriends.  If you couldn’t guess, they were: Steve Roslonek, Steve Burns (from Blue’s Clues), and Donovan Patton (Joe from Blue’s Clues).