Sailing Solo, Part the Dos (or, "Mama Hits the Road")

This weekend, I'll be hitting the flipside of my previous Sailing Solo post.  This time, I won't be the single parent at home with le bebe.  Rather, jetting to bee-yoo-tiful San Diego for a girls' weekend with old college buddies. 

There's been a lot of inner strife over this, y'all.  As a fulltime working mama, I spend a max of 4 hours of waking face time with my kid each weekday (during which I'm also supposed to get us both dressed, bathed, and fed).  I don't mind that I have to work, and I like getting the adult interaction each day.  But I do relish a weekend of simple park hopping, games of chase, morning stroller runs to Starbucks, and picking flowers with my daughter.  I love spending time with Hubs and HD.  They're fun people, and I definitely feel that in the hustle and bustle of life, we have to slow down and remember to hang together, minus the TV.

But.  Like all mamas since time began, I have to stop and actually, literally, remind myself that it's ok to do something that's just for me.  Something that has absolutely nothing to do with Hubs or HD.  That ultimately, a mama who knows how to be an individual is a good thing for her kid.  You know, so I (a) teach her how to be a strong, independent woman and (b) don't freak out in a couple of years when the kid starts to desire a life of her own and I don't know what to do with myself.  Not to mention the fact that Hubs is HD's numero uno, and I know they'll have a blast together without any mama interventions.

So bring on the Coronitas, the sun, the adult feminine chit chat.  I'm ready.  I may even manage to keep it down to one phone call to the fam per day, and one teeny kid gift in my carry-on.  Hubs will be repaid by having Sunday evening to himself and his scotch. 

We interrupt this tirade to announce that my baby brother and brand new sister-in-law had the Funnest Wedding Ever last weekend.  And this terrible mother adores her in-laws for taking the baby so we could enjoy every last bit of it kid-free (besides, parents need nights off together to remember why they're married, right?).  *Muah* to both families!

Sailing Solo (or, "The Weekend of the Single Parent")

Last weekend was my first full weekend as a single parent (Hubs was in the Vegas for his bro's bachelor party...don't worry, I dispense comeuppance in two weeks when I jet to San Diego for a bachelorette!).  Things I learned:


HD, helpfully "brushing" her own teeth (i.e. teething on the rubber finger grip thing) 

• Group mentality ("takes a village to raise a child") does not necessarily apply to people who have kids that are grown.  HD and I went to a former co-workers' house for a BBQ.  After an hour, he looked at my plate and wanted to know why I wasn't eating.  He asked me this while I was running after HD, trying to thwart her attempts to nom on their lovely flowerbeds.  I just laughed in response (God bless his wife, who took over Toddler Watch for a good 40 minutes).
• Yo Gabba Gabba is AMAZING.  It's also kind of the devil.  Great learning for tiny kids, cool music, definitely dance-inspiring (HD's moves consist of bobbing up and down and waving her hands).  We watched a grand total of 2 episodes broken into a few sessions throughout the weekend.  HD is now mildly obsessed, and there are non-stop requests for "gabby gabby."  We're attempting to keep it to 2 episodes a week.  [HD says "we'll see".]
• Single parenting is the best diet ever.
• If you get the laundry done, you sort of by proxy consider the rest of your house to be clean as well.  Clean undies = (practically) vacuumed floor.

I may have forgotten a couple of parenting steps in my attempt to keep her happy all by my lonesome.

Ye Piratical Nature of Me First Matey (or, "Ways My Daughter Is Actually Like a Pirate")

 I submit the following as evidence that HD is, in fact, my child:

• Obsessed with mermaids (or, "mimis" as she calls them)
• Loves shiny jewelry/baubles
• Laughs when she inflicts pain (hair pulling, pinching, the occasional nibble or flailing kicks?  all hilarious when they land upon a parent!  needless to say, we're working on boundaries...)
• Hits the bottle multiple times a day
• Leaves a complete path of pillaged destruction in her wake (we're also working on the concept of putting things away)

Yonder Bermuda Triange (or, "Why Did I Disappear for 3 Weeks?")

There was just too much fun going on the past couple of weeks since I've last written.  Let's do a quick catch-up and get down to kid cuteness, shall we?

A Southern lady-in-training, complete with smocked seersucker and halo.

1.  Vacay to my favorite port town: Charleston, SC.  I'm lucky enough to have folks that live in this awesome city part-time, so we get a free place to crash and free babysitting to boot!  Highlights of the trip were HD's trip to the South Carolina Aquarium (at present time, she deems any land mammal a "puppy" and any water-faring beasite is a "tuh-tuh" -- turtle), LOTS of beach frolicking at Sullivan's Island and Folly Beach (the warm water plants me firmly on Team Atlantic -- take that, majestic beauty of the freezing Pacific!), my father getting me slightly overserved, and HD got to meet her great grandfather and great Aunt Barbara :)

Pop, Mammy (Admiral Granmadre!), HD, and the Cap'n -- 4 generations of devious.

Our first all-looking-at-the-camera, all-smiling family portrait!  At happy hour, no less!

Sandpaper Pappy and HD in Waterfront Park, post-dip in the Pineapple Fountain.

Wind and hilarity at Folly Beach!

 2.  Last weekend we went to our first wedding of 2011 in a very cute winery...and it'll be a busy year on the wedding front.  I get 2 sisters-in-law this year, people.  Incidentally, we're not planning on taking HD to any of the weddings, unless the couple just really wants her there.  Any reader thoughts on this?  Hubs and I look at it as a date day for ourselves to be full dancing/drinking adults (in HD's lifetime, this has only occurred when we're at weddings!), not to mention that toddlers and Catholic ceremonies aren't very compatible.  Besides, HD will prolly have way more fun playing with her grandparents than being shushed in a church.    

3.  The institution of Workout Wednesdays.  Neither Hubs nor I are trying to lose any weight, but we do want increased energy to run after a toddler, plus the strength to man-handle her effectively.  So we've  begun working out together one day a week after she goes to bed -- a Jillean Michaels DVD here, some Netflix Watch Instantly pilates classes there (yup, I LOVE that Hubs is secure enough to give pilates a go...and he liked it!).  We're adding in a second weekday in August, and then committing to a weekend day by September.  Baby steps for couch potatoes, folks.

4.  Hubs started a new job!  He now works about 3 miles from our house, instead of 20.  This new lack of commute was especially awesome yesterday, when I was so enthralled in my book that I completely missed my normal train stop on the way home.  I have always vaguely assumed this would happen one day.  Which meant I ended up 2 entire towns south of where my car was parked.  Hubs busted a gut laughing on the phone, then lovingly came to retrieve my stranded ass 15 minutes later so we could pick up HD on time from daycare.  I'm a lucky lady.
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With our catch-up out of the way, here's all news HD.  Kid is running around all over the place now, usually with as much grace as a wino.  It's adorable.  Per her daycare provider, she is also now officially a flirt.  One little boy kissed her goodbye after I had strapped her into her car seat, but apparently she likes to sidle up to a different boy regularly to bat her eyes and whisper "hi."  Once she's able to speak in full sentences, I imagine she'll break all sorts of hearts.  In addition to HD's array of animal sounds (horses have been added to that list), she can now point out a bunch of her body parts as well.  She's particularly proud of showing off her round "nummy" after a meal.  HD now is ridin' dirty in a big kid car seat (rear facing of course!) and we retired the infant car seat she first came home in almost 14 months ago.  Finally, Hubs and I are in the super fun process of starting to wean away the bottle.  Our opinionated little miss, who gave up the boob and pacifiers with minimal issues or fuss, has made it clear that a "baba" of milk is her one true love.  She has zero problems with cups as long as they contain water or juice.  Recommendations for process as welcome!

Our daughter, a sucker for the bottle.

The First Mate Has Sea Legs! (or, "Walking")

This has been going on for about 2 weeks now.  The walking that is.  The jabberwocky?  More like a few months.  Enjoy!

Sailors Cry "FREEDOM!" (or, "The Independence Day Staycation")

It's definitely a little hard sometimes to plan your weekend around a baby.  The kid takes 2 naps a day, which isn't exactly conducive to fun outings.  Sometimes the weekend gets eaten up by errands, laundry, and Little Gym classes.  But Hubs and I have been talking about it, and we really want to be the parents who take their kids out on adventures.  They don't have to be extreme or expensive, just as long as we're together and experiencing something other than our three living room walls.

The awesome part about family fun days?  Everything is a new experience for HD, and her enthusiasm is so infectious.  She's past the age where I can just wrap her in Moby and she'll sleep through my adult conversations & lunch dates.  But I'm fully realizing that HD being a toddler is basically my free pass to relive my own childhood.  No one questions your craziness (singing Disney songs loudly, pointing out and counting everything, making animal sounds at random) when you've got a tiny kid on your arm.

This weekend we absolutely did not travel (saving that for a trip to Charleston next week to see my folks, YAY).  But we did go to some pretty awesome places...  The 3-day staycation began with a low-key day in our neighborhood.  Cleaned house, went to the local park and library, and beat the heat in our very own kiddie pool:

HD looks ever so "coolsville, jellybean" in her sunglasses.

Sunday, we risked the kid taking her nap in the car rather than the crib.  This is so we could spend the day hanging out at the San Francisco Zoo.  HD adored the petting zoo and getting face-to-face with the meerkats in the Children's section.  And, yes, all animals (from grizzlies to kangaroos to scarlet macaws) were deemed "puppy" by our butterbean.

It's a little tough to tell since the shot is grainy, but the goat is having a blast.

That same night, Hubs and I put the kid to bed and made ourselves a super romantic snack or strawberries, cheese & bread, and the last bottle of sparkling wine left over from our wedding a couple of years back.  It was only after all of that that we actually remembered that it was our original anniversary; 6 years from the time we started dating.  [Side note - I suppose marriage anniversaries trump all prior ones, but I feel it's a bit wrong not to recall that we've been together a good 4 years longer than we've been married!]

Then on the 4th, we headed out to Half Moon Bay.  For those of y'all that don't know, that's a beach near SF (a mere 8 miles from our house!) that is freezing, foggy, and windy 95% of the year.  This was the one day it wasn't.  We picnicked on the beach and played for hours.  While HD loves her some sand (but didn't try to eat it -- VICTORY), she was not so keen on the waves.  I'm hoping she reacts to the Atlantic Ocean a bit better next week.  Although truth be told, this Carolina girl can barely function more than 7 seconds in the frigid Pacific too, so can I really blame her?

We wrapped the whole weekend up with some pork ribs (Hubs is so grateful he married a Southerner), and bath time out on the front porch.

So this 4th of July, we celebrated HD's newfound independence along with that of our country.  Next up, the long awaited vid of the kid...walking.

An Extrarrrrrdinary Grog Fest ("First Birthday Run-Down")

We celebrated our little monster's Shipwrecked Birthday a couple of weeks ago.  Being a former sorority girl, I still love to plan parties and I always forget to take photos (we always had hired photographers; those were the days).  Lucky me, I have a very good friend [hi, Jen!] who takes glorious pics.


Hard to tell, but that is an awesome mermaid birthday hat by Stell & Livi (love Etsy!).



Who: My Mama (Admiral Granmadre?) flew across country for this, y'all.  That's love.  Also in attendance were almost all of Hubs's local extended family, my own local bro & future sis-in-law, and a handful of friends who don't have kids but are awesome enough to [pretend that they] like HD. 

Where: Our backyard, on a partially sunny mostly windy/cold day.  I shook my fists at the sky and thrust a sword into the wind while bellowing curses at Poseidon, like any proper pirate when weather is uncooperative.

Vittles: We went Caribbean-style on the food in light of our theme.  On board was a light grapefruit & jicama slaw, some slammin' Caribbean rice & beans, "salty sea dogs" (yeah, that would be hot dogs), mango salsa, homemade guac, and grilled jerk chicken.  By the way, I highly recommend wearing gloves if you chop habanero peppers.  Better yet, don't chop them at all (just de-stem and seed) if putting them in a marinade, in order to avoid fire-hands.  One better on that?  Don't touch your nose after chopping said peppers -- you will end up frantically Googling "habanero in nose" from your phone, then stuffing pats of butter up your schnoz while your husband screams with laughter and takes pictures.  Ahem.

Hubs in all his wisdom insisted that cooking standard food was enough, and I shouldn't bake dessert.  So we go some amazing mini cuppy cakes from Sibby's:

Random Fun: 

Pirate ship pinata!  Thing was indestructible, just like in Parenthood (movie, not tv).



HD chewed on beloved Pink Poochie!!



We used awesome props from LittleRetreats on Etsy for some piraty photo fun!!!

Thanks to all who came and played along with my piratey obsession.  I love folks who feed my inner crazy.  Until later...set sail, me matey!