Mommy Monday: Battling The "Firsts"

For those of you with children, you know that you spend a good deal of time re-learning how to do daily tasks. All daily tasks. Everything, all of them! I'm talking pouring yourself a cup of coffee (doing it one-handed with a squiggly baby in the other arm), going to the bathroom (should I take him in there with me to prevent a melt-down, or let him cry it out on the bed?), and more substantial things, like going out in public.

This past weekend, we ventured out to our first dinner with Henry.

And honestly, I was terrified. "What if he screams the whole time? What if he needs to be changed? Ohh, this is going to be a nightmare!"

We decided to head to a little German cafe close to our house. You know, make it a cultural experience for Henry, and show him a bit of his heritage! I packed up his diaper bag and pre-packed a bottle for him. I overpacked with a bib, spit-up cloth, diapers, wipes, an additional onesie, an additional blanket, and of course - his paci.

Chillin' like a villain in his seersucker romper at dinner. All is well as long as paci is with him! (And canyoufriggin'even with this romper?!)

I was also nervous because he had been fairly fussy that day - LOTS of gas, to the point of having to take his pants off because the pressure of the waistband was making him too uncomfortable. I was convinced this was going to be a dinner that blew up in flames... Flames of baby screams and nasty stares from other patrons. 

I have to say, he was so good! He slept through most of dinner in his car seat, and then he started to fuss near the end. But all I had to do was pull him out of his seat and shove that bottle in his mouth, and he was good to go! He didn't need a change, so we avoided all bathroom disasters, and he had many admirers. He also seemed to be pretty into the German music that started to play! Just rockin' out to the sounds of the homeland.

I know that not all outings will be this successful, but I'm thankful that our first one was so good! It will help give me confidence to get him out more and more, and return to our "new normal" life with a baby faster. Getting out of the house has been pivotal to my sanity, and my mom leaves this week, so we'll have NO childcare or additional help with Henry (don't get me started on how sad I am about this...)

What Henry's thinking: "See mama, you need to chill out! I'll be good... As long as paci is with me."

 
Next stop: going shopping for new baby clothes, because this big eater is five weeks old and nearly out of newborn sizes! I think I'll start with just a Carter's store, and work my way up to a mall later :)