Last Friday I had a much needed night out with the girls for Chloe’s surprise baby shower. I think it is healthy to get a little time away from the kiddo every now and then, so I appreciate her that much more when I return. Plus I think it is very important for Simeon to have some one-on-one time with Ana.

For those of you who don’t remember,
last time I went out was a little tough on Sim. In fact, I was surprised how willing he was to take care of her this time. I guess Ana’s overall demeanor has really mellowed out in the last few weeks (not that she wasn’t mellow before, just fussier) which has served to boost Sim’s confidence in his ability to take care of her. He is learning her different cries, knows how to calm her down, and understands what she does (and more importantly, what she doesn’t) like. Apparently the combination of all these factors made for a much more successful evening. She actually took the bottle, went to sleep willingly, and everyone was happy and resting when I finally came home.

Make sure you read Sim’s version of the nights events too!

Tonight, while getting Ana ready for her bath, I set her on the counter on her towel. Wanting to keep her happy while Simeon filled the tub, I tickled her chubby little legs and blew a raspberry on her stomach. As with all the previous raspberries I have given her, her eyes got wide with surprise and she paused as if considering how to react. Normally she remains still, gives me a serious look, and I am sure wonders why I insist on treating her in such an undignified manner. I keep trying in vain to tickle my child, but have had no success. I was beginning to wonder if maybe she wasn’t ticklish.

Until tonight.

I blew the first raspberry and her eyes got wide, but then I blew the second raspberry and she curled up her tiny legs and giggled. An honest to God, real laugh. Her first laugh. It was the sweetest, most precious sound I have ever heard! I instantly turned to Sim to see if he heard it and the look on his face told me he did. I blew on her stomach another time and she giggled again. Sim quickly ran around to grab the video camera, so we could capture this moment (and share it with all of you), but as soon as she saw the camera she was so distracted she stopped giggling. We tried several more times, but the moment had clearly passed. Don’t worry, I will keep trying to get her to laugh on video so you can all hear her adorable little laugh. I promise it will totally be worth it.

It has been six days since I vacuumed. 12 since I mopped. You don’t even want to know how long it has been since I cleaned the toilets. (Ok, it has been two weeks. WEEKS. I know. Ewwwwww, right?) Oh and I honestly cannot remember the last time I washed the windows. Seriously. And you know what? We have all survived. No one is sick. We haven’t even been contacted by the Department of Health! Can you imagine?

I have learned recently that there are more important things than a clean house. Sure, I still do a load of laundry just about every day (and even fold it and put it away!), keep the dishwasher loaded/unloaded as is needed, make my bed (decorative pillows and all!) and banish anything resembling clutter, but I am not a slave to keeping my house clean like I use to. I am learning to let go. Having Ana has really taught me that it is more important to spend time with her whenever I can and if sparkling floors and cobweb-free corners are the cost, then that is a sacrifice I am willing to make. She is only going to be this little once and I will be damned if I am going to miss it just because of my damn neurosis.

I knew this day would come sooner or later, I was just kinda hoping more for the “later.” Today Simeon and I are taking Ana on her first airplane ride. God help us all.

Part of Simeon’s job, the job that allows me to stay home and raise our daughter, involves traveling, often for a week at a time. This early in the game (10 weeks yesterday! Can you believe it?) Sim can’t imagine being away for that long. Heck, he has trouble with an 8-hour work day (in which Ana and I often stop by and visit him) how can he be expected to go for days? And even more importantly, how can I take care of an infant 24/7 without ANY help or even the prospect of help?

Anticipating this problem, we always said we would just go with him. Hey, it could even be fun! Since the job reimburses all of Sim’s expenses (airfare, hotel, food, etc.) we would really only be out my airline ticket. We checked the rates and decided the cost of my ticket was totally worth it and clicked the “Book Now” button on two plane tickets to San Jose. We even upgraded to first class. Since one of us will be holding Ana, I wanted the extra room. Plus first class only has two seats in each section so I won’t have to worry about sitting next to some perv watching me feed Ana during the flight (highly recommended during take-off and landing to help their ears adjust to the change in altitude, by the way). A perv-free flight? It’s nothing but the best for my kiddo!

It was all coming together. We booked the flight. Reserved the room. Even made plans to meet up with some of our friends for dinner while we were in town. This was going to be like a nice little get-away. A luxurious travel experience that we don’t even splurge on for our own vacations. We even started to get excited and think about how fun it would be!

Well, now I don’t see any “fun” in sight. Particularly after last night watching my daughter projectile vomit for the first time in her life. She doesn’t even spit up for crying out loud! The only fluid that has ever come out of her mouth is the little bit of milk she has yet to swallow when she drifts off to sleep while nursing. So watching Ana empty the contents of her stomach with force rivaling Linda Blair in The Exorcist has put a little fear in me. How will I pack enough clothes? Do we even have enough clothes to handle an exorcist baby? Does the state of California?!

To be fair, we aren’t entirely sure if she is getting sick, or if she just gagged herself with the pacifier since moments before she did just that. But is that really something you want to have to be worrying about right before taking your daughter on an airplane for the first time? No. No, it is not.

Our bags are packed with extra, oh I’d say, everything. I have read just about all I can on how to travel with an infant. We even have a game plan. And I will totally tell you how it all plays out when we get back. Wish me luck!