Unexpected Holiday

I took today off work. I had not planned to do this, and in fact, had to cancel three meetings that were on my calendar today. I stayed home because Pumpkin had a rash. A week ago, we would have shrugged and put it down to too much time sweating in her car seat this weekend. We ferried her around North County San Diego on Saturday so that we could enjoy the last day of her Antipodean Aunt's visit, and then we went to the zoo on Sunday. However, she got her chickenpox vaccine last Thursday, and apparently some babies will get a pox-like rash that may, in very rare cases, be contagious. Those of you who send your babies to day care know what the combination of that risk and a rash meant: Pumpkin had to go to the doctor today before she could go to day care.

The doctor's office squeezed us in at noon, which is smack in the middle of her new nap time. I carefully transferred my sleeping Pumpkin to her car seat, and then carefully moved the car seat to the car. I cursed Hubby for remembering to load the stroller frame back into the other car after we removed it on the weekend in favor of our sportier stroller. Damn him for doing what I'd asked! The car seat snaps into the frame, but not into the sporty stroller. So I woke Pumpkin up in the parking lot of the doctor's office and carried her upstairs. Fifteen minutes later, I was headed back home, with a note from the doctor confirming that the rash was just a poorly timed eczema flare up or heat rash.

I hoped Pumpkin would fall back asleep on the drive home, allowing me to hurriedly gather up her things and my things and then drive her to day care st that I could work an anemic half day. I had no such luck. She was wide awake, whiny, and hungry when we got home. After I tried to get her in her high chair, gave up, nursed her, played with her, coaxed her into her high chair, and then fed her lunch, it was clear to me that there was no point trying to go to work today. I pouted for a while, called Hubby to whine, and then decided I should make the best of it.

Pumpkin's favorite things in the world right now are birds. She points, waves and claps every time she sees a bird. We spent lots of time looking at birds at the zoo yesterday. I suspected the less exotic birds at Mission Bay would be just as exciting to her, so I packed her back into her car seat and drove down the hill to the bay. We waved at birds and people and walked around for almost 45 minutes. Pumpkin shook off my helping hand and toddled around on the grass on her own, falling over every so often. (I was very glad that I had diaper wipes with me to clean her hands afterward, since the ground bore ample evidence of the birds that we were there to see.) Then she let me hold her hand while we walked on the sidewalk, waving at everybody who walked, jogged, or rollerbladed past. Everyone waved back with a big smile. Pumpkin was so happy that I couldn't stay grumpy about the fact that I was burning one of my few days off, and soon I was grinning, too.

When Pumpkin started yawning, I packed her back into her car seat (ignoring her howls of protest) then drove her around until she fell asleep. I brought her home and carefully transferred her into her bouncy chair to finish her nap.

It wasn't a day on a tropical beach, but it was still pretty darn good.