Tuesday, July 06, 2010

Nine Months!

Last Friday, Petunia turned nine months old. Nine months seems like it should be special, since she has now been out here with the rest of the family as long as she was in there with just me. Of course, it is not actually any more meaningful than any other day, but it did make me sit back and think about how much my little baby has grown. She's so big now.

Speaking of "so big", she plays a mean round of that. You can say "How big are you, Petunia?" and about 70% of the time, she'll hold her hands up and give you her beautiful, infectious grin, and of course you'll have to grab her little hands and say "soooo big!" (Pumpkin likes to play this game with her, and patty cake.)

Speaking of infectious... Petunia gave Hubby and me a nasty cold last week. She gave it to my parents, too, who were here to give us a night away. They claim that it was worth it, but I have a hard time believing it. My kids are really cute, but this is a really bad cold. Interestingly, Pumpkin never caught it. Petunia got better, and went back to day care last Wednesday, only to come down with a fever again this weekend. I had taken her to her well baby check up on Friday. Hubby took her back to the same doctor today for the diagnosis- hand, foot and mouth disease. She's already better enough to go back to day care, where, judging from what I read on the CDC's page, she'll continue to infect any of the other babies who haven't already caught it from whomever gave it to her. (Don't judge- the page says she could be shedding virus for weeks after all of her symptoms clear! It would be impossible to know when she is no longer infectious, so we'll follow the standard rules and send her back when she's no longer sick and has been fever free for 24 hours.)

Speaking of a night away... yes, Hubby and I just had one, courtesy of my parents. (Yes, we know how lucky we are.) We didn't go far, just up to Orange County. We stayed in a business hotel across from the Costa Mesa mall. We shopped- we both needed clothes and never seem to find the time to get them. We ate dinner and lingered over our meal, our margaritas (I had two!!! So decadent), and conversation only interrupted by the waitress asking if we wanted dessert. And then we slept through the night.

While we were shopping, I saw a mother carrying a little baby, who couldn't have been more than three months old. I was struck by the thought that I'll never have such a little baby again (we're done at two- Hush! is having a good discussion about that, if you're so inclined).  The thought made me a little sad. Not sad enough to go through another pregnancy or the sleep deprivation of babyhood again, but sad in a gosh it all goes by so fast sort of way. I had a flash forward to the end of the baby years, when there will be no more diapers to change and we'll be able to go away without taking the breast pump with us, and maybe stay away for an entire weekend, if my parents are willing. And I suddenly understood why mothers everywhere pester their children for grandbabies. There is something special about the baby years.

The next morning we had breakfast out. (I am still in search of a really good breakfast in the OC... This time I consulted Yelp and we went to the highly rated Rooster Cafe. It was good, but not really what I was after.) And then we drove home, to be greeted by two happy little girls. Pumpkin wanted to tell us everything she had done while we were away. We're still hearing stories from that weekend. Petunia just wanted to smile at us and pat whoever was holding her. She does this when I pick her up from day care, too, or come home after leaving her with Hubby for awhile. I know I'm probably reading more into this gesture than is there, but I choose to believe that it is her way of saying that she's happy to see me.

And I'm happy to see her, too. These are the fundamental paradoxes of parenthood- we need time away from our kids, but are anxious to see them again and think about them the entire time we're away. We struggle through the baby years, but know we'll always miss them when they're over.

I probably have more to say on that subject, but not tonight. I'll close this rambling post with two photos. First, Petunia looking out at the world she's only starting to explore:



And second, Pumpkin, at almost the same age, doing the same.


OK, Petunia is actually licking the door. Details, details.

9 comments:

  1. I dont know exactly where oc starts and ends, but I had a nice little brunch in San Clemente the other week as a little treat after setting up a wedding cake. It was at cafe mimosa and it was quite nice.

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  2. Rosie had HFMD while at daycare too. She was about 14 months old. It happened to be a day where hubby and I were both out of town on business, and the daycare could not get a hold of any of our three backup people. My husband left his meeting and caught the next plane home so he could go get her (only a 1/2 hour flight). They had no idea what was wrong with her (other kids in the daycare had gone home sick the day before, but not nearly as high of a fever or as lethargic, and the daycare did not yet know that it was HFMD) and were minutes away from putting her in an ambulance when my husband arrived. I was sitting 300 miles away on my cellphone, terrified.

    I love Petunia's little rolly polly arm. I just love it!

    And it does go by so fast. I was at a baby shower for a friend (she was still pregnant), and one of the other guests had a 3 week old baby. My 5.5 month old Annie seems like a giant. She has more than doubled her weight since birth and is just starting to roll over and eat solid foods. Where did my little baby go? Now I have a big baby, and it seems like if I blink she'll be a toddler.

    Nevermind that I just carried Rosie upstairs to have her nap (we had a "carry-hug" as she calls it) and was huffing and puffing by the time I got to the top of the stairs because she's so heavy. How did she get to be three? Seems like I missed out or something, like I wasn't prepared for the time to fly like that.

    I told Rosie that when Annie is potty trained, we will go on a Disney cruise (kids aren't allowed in the pools on cruise ships unless fully trained - no swim diapers) and to Disneyworld in Orlando. She talks about it like it might happen tomorrow (she doesn't yet have a sense of time in days, weeks, months, etc.) and I'm thinking to myself that it practically WILL be tomorrow.

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  3. grumpybuns5:30 PM

    1. Original Pancake House - Anaheim (the others are just not as awesome as the anaheim one)

    2. Watson's - Old Towne Orange

    3. I know this will sound crazy, but IHOP. Go to the one in Santa Ana, on 17th and the 5 fwy. This isnt any old IHOP. It is well run, clean, awesome service and there is some seriously yummy hot sauce on every table.

    4. Break of Dawn - Laguna hills ( I have never been here but hear good things. Although, they may not have the grease factor you are looking for)

    5. Pop's Cafe - Santa Ana

    6. Katella Deli - Cerritos (a little far but great food)

    7. Wilmas Patio - Balboa Island (no view, but you can wander the island or do the ferry after)

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  4. Yay for you and your night out. We had a taste of that when we had dinner the other night after the kids had gone to bed and we both agreed that while we'll be sad when the baby years are over, there are things we will re-enjoy.

    Your children are so cute...and it's amazing how much they (or their profiles) look alike!

    Happy 9 monthaversary to Petunia. B just started waving and it reminded me how much I loved this age. She turns 9 months on my birthday this weekend and it is special that she's been out for as long (and now longer) than she was in.

    BTW - I had to speak up in your defense on AskMoxie. I knew what you were saying and felt bad that it didn't want to be heard.

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  5. @Jennywenny- San Clemente is indeed officially the OC- but I'd never make it that far south for breakfast! I have to pack in snacks to make it to a restaurant close to the hotel. Maybe sometime we'll stay in San Clemente, though, and then we'll check out Cafe Mimosa. Good name.

    @Melba- I know! The rolly polly arms are soooo cute. Pumpkin never had them (but was of course cute, too) and I am just loving them. And the chubby little thighs! It is too bad that babyhood is the last time when chubby thighs are a good thing....

    @grumpybins- AWESOME! We'll definitely check some of these out. We get a lot of teasing for taking romantic getaways to the OC (and then going shopping) but it is sort of the perfect distance away, and I think it gets a bad rap. There is some cool stuff there, you just have to know where to find it. Which we don't, so we stumble on it slowly.

    @nej- thanks for the comment, here and at Moxie's. I think I have another post brewing about this topic, but I can't find the time to write it. Work's been busy, and I'm still run down from that cold. It was a doozy.

    And you're right- Pumpkin and Petunia do look a lot a like, except Petunia has more chub as a baby. It will be interesting to see how similar they look when they get a little older.

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  6. Thanks for the shout-out!!! Your night out with shopping, margaritas, and an uninterrupted night of sleep sounds heavenly!

    And I should have come to your defense on AskMoxie, too - in fact I will.

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  7. Such a wonderful age! And so cute!

    Congrats on the time alone.

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  8. Happy nine months, Petunia! The time really does fly.

    And ugh for the HFMD! Last spring, the Pookie got it and passed it on to the Pumpkin. She'd had it before, so it must have been a different strain. Sucks!

    I so love that your parents give you and your hubby a night away. Sounds like a wonderful time.

    As for the 2 and through... I put my thoughts on Hush's blog, and I will probably be doing a post on it myself soon.

    I missed whatever happened on Ask Moxie. I've been crazy busy at work this week, and haven't been keeping up. Now I'm going to have to check out what's going on!

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  9. I've posted a follow-up here:
    http://badmomgoodmom.blogspot.com/2010/07/death-march-is-over-sorta.html

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