Lesson Learned

When I started this blog, I wanted to avoid writing about what other parents have written about so often (and so much better than I) before -  no complaining about late night feedings or the size of what my baby left in the diaper, no paragraphs whose only purpose is to go on and on about my baby’s beauty or smarts. Well, if you’ve read more than a few posts here, you know how well I’ve stuck to that, so here’s another one…  I wanted to take Violet out for her first cold-weather walk of the year, but I wanted to be sure she was warm enough. I put all her gear on the bed, and sat Violet down next to the pile. Then we began. I started with a base layer – a long-sleeved onsie, and I added some thick leggings with feet. Over the leggings I put fleece pants, and a thick sweater covered the onsie. I added another set of socks, a fleece jacket, a winter hat, and the mittens made their debut. The entire time, Violet was struggling. She wanted to crawl, to explore, to pet the cat, to do anything except help me get her dressed. Then, since we were going to Beaver Meadow for our hike, I had to get her into the car seat, but when I tried to slide her in, she no longer fit. The extra clothing had made her too big for the straps, so I had to take the seat apart and loosen those up. She fought me as I strapped her in, and I thought about bagging the whole trip. I didn’t want her to be miserable, but I knew that once we got going, she’d be fine. As I clicked the last buckle in place, my nose picked up a distinctive odor. The odor that I should’ve checked for before getting her dressed, a mistake I will never make again. I’d like to say that I didn’t consider heading out the door without changing her, but I can’t.

342 days old