Should Be Working...

I really shouldn't be taking the time to post, but I just have to share two very exciting developments in our little girl's life.

First, she walked this weekend for the first time. We are counting these as her first steps, even though she was using a walking toy at the time. They were her own, they were deliberate and they happened unassisted by us. Let me tell you the story.

We purchased this nifty little toy for Christmas that is a walker. It's on wheels and she can hold on to it and push it along while she is standing. It can also be converted to a little tricycle of sorts. Something she can sit on and push herself along. We've been keeping it propped against a wall, thinking that when she pulled herself up on it, she would face plant on the floor when it started to roll away (the wheels don't lock).

Well, on Saturday afternoon, she pulled it away from the wall. I was playing with her on the floor and figured, what the hell. I stood her up behind it and then let go of the toy so that it would start to move foward. Like a champion, she just took off!!!! She pushed it along for about 6 steps before it got going too fast and she fell. We grabbed the camera and got her next round (the video is below). In that video, I'm helping her some...but the first time was all her!!! Walking is so close and we can't wait!!!!

The other development this weekend wasn't so pleasant for her and was our first taste of what a really pissed off little girl sounds like in public.

Kelly and I decided on Sunday that we needed to buy Bailey a real stroller. We have a one that was given to us that is very nice, but it sits pretty low to the ground. Our little busy-body likes to see the world around her and interact with it, so she hasn't really taken to that stroller. Also, up until now, we've just put her in the front carrier. We like to have her close to us and we believe that she learns more when she's near us and listening to our conversations about what is around us. It's worked beautifully. And it still does. Except that now she is almost 23 pounds (this is an estimate) and she's damn heavy. She's also seriously interactive. The difference between a baby just hanging out on your chest and looking around and a baby who is waving and turning to look and playing and clapping and cheering and talking to everyond around her is HUGE! It absolutely hurts to carry her these days.

So we bought a stroller. A nice one. In fact, it's the same one that our good friends M & S use for thier little boy (quite successfully I might add!!!!).

So, off we troop to the mall (Bailey's favorite place in the world). We get there, we carry her in, we flip out our handy stroller, we put her in it and she looks at us with a look of complete disgust. Utter, total disgust.

She humored us for a few minutes. She sat there, craning around trying to find us behind her. She wimpered. She threw her arms out to be picked up. She cried. She thrust around.

Then, she seemed to get the clue that we were not going to rescue her. That we were going to leave her in the stroller-of-hell and continue on through the mall.

So, she proceeded to scream at the top of her lungs, complete with full body thrashing and huge crocodile tears. Boogers came streaming out her nose. When I went to wipe them, she calmed for about 2 seconds until she realized that I was going to wipe her nose and not take her. Then the real fit started.

Lordy, Kelly and I were embarrased!!! She was ridiculously loud!!! And the mall is a loud place to start. She drowned everyone out with her hysterics. People walked by and gave us THAT look. The look that said "why the hell aren't you comforting her".

We learned long ago that breaking Bailey is a battle of the wills and we were determined to win. So we continued our walk. We did a lap of the mall upstairs and a lap downstairs. We tried to pretend like it wasn't happening. We tried.

Finally, I broke. I couldn't take it anymore. I picked her up. Problem was at that point she was mad. And wanted to keep throwing her fit. I couldn't hold her safely because she was beating on me. So, I put her back in the chair. And the fit reached new heights.

At this point, I just started laughing. I know that is horrible, but it was funny. I mean, honestly! It's just a stroller!!!!! And she was so freakin' mad at us!!!

We hightailed it out of the mall at that point. We made it a half hour.

The best part is that once we were in the car and she calmed down (which happened as soon as the stroller was out of sight), I commented to Bailey "So, B Bear...you didn't like the stroller, huh?" And from the silent back seat, the girl GROWLED AT ME!!! She actually growled at me. LOL!!!! Dear God, it was hysterical!

Even funnier...Bailey won. Kelly and I are going to wait a couple of months to transition her out of the carrier.

*sigh*