Foiled Again

My mom seems to enjoy most the stories where Babykins outsmarts me, so here is installment #452 in the "Babykins is much craftier than Mommykins" series...

When Babykins started facing forward in her stroller, one of the benefits was that I could now have the occasional (or frequent) snack on our walks without feeling guilty as she stared at me, wondering why I wouldn't share.

Last week, as we wandered through the mall, I stopped at a store for a cherry Slurpee (yes, they'll sell those things to grown-ups).  While we waited in line, Babykins pulled one of her Houdini maneuvers, somehow managing to wiggle out of the stroller's 5-point harness, turn around, and stand up, all before I even realized she was up to no good.  I sat her back down and strapped her in more snugly this time, but not before she'd caught sight of my Slurpee.

Babykins started making "I want" hand signs, which I ignored while I paid for the drink and left the store.  My hope was that when we got into the hub-bub of the mall, she'd be distracted by all of the activity and forget about the Slurpee.  It was a silly dream.  Every few seconds Babykins would turn in her seat and look up at me expectantly.

I tried everything.  First, I tried holding the Slurpee out of her sight and only taking sips when she wasn't looking.  Apparently Babykins has eyes in the back of her head, too, and magically knew to turn just as I was putting the straw in my mouth.  Next, I tried just avoiding her eyes and gulping it down as quickly as possible.  Not only did this not deter Babykins, I ended up with a brain freeze.  Finally, I tried reasoning with her, explaining to Babykins that Slurpees are big-people drinks and little babies wouldn't like them.  But it turns out she's 11 months old, and reasoning is futile.

After a few minutes, I did the only thing I could.  I pulled the straw out of the Slurpee and let Babykins take a sip, desperately hoping that she wouldn't like it.  Babykins licked the straw, thought a second, then opened her mouth wide for another sip.  I was stuck.  Now, not only would I have to share my Slurpee, but I'd feel like a bad mommy as everyone in the mall watched me feed my baby a sugary snack. 

We continued toward the next store, with me drinking as quickly as possible and stopping every few steps to give Babykins a sip.  After 5 sips, it was more than enough sugar for Babykins, and I decided it was time to man up.  I threw away the last 1/4 of my Slurpee.  Sigh.

Houdinikins

The lack of blogs lately hasn't been because Babykins isn't busy.  Rather, it's because she's been so busy there hasn't been a moment to write.  In one of her scariest developments yet, Babykins has gone Houdini on me, somehow figuring out how to wiggle out of her stroller straps.

She first managed this feat early this week when I buckled her into her stroller, then realized I needed to grab a few more items before we could leave.  I went into the living room for a minute, and when I got back to the front door, Babykins had twisted around and had both legs out of the straps!  After sprouting another gray hair, I sat her down and buckled her back in.

I noticed Babykins was increasingly struggling with her straps, but didn't really think too much about it until this afternoon.  We were in the grocery store, and I stopped for a minute to check out the tofu selection (ok, I was staring at the cookies).  In less than a minute, Babykins had wiggled out of her straps, twisted around to face the back of the stroller, stood up, and started climbing up the back of her seat.  I grabbed her right as the stroller started to tip backwards and tried to sit her back down.  At which point she locked her legs and started to cry, leaving me with every parent's dreaded dilemma...do I just pick her up and carry her, reinforcing bad behavior, or do I put her back in the seat and strap her in, knowing she'll scream and cry for the rest of the shopping trip?

I folded, of course, and carried Babykins home with our groceries riding in the stroller (they, at least, stayed quietly seated for the entire trip).  Tomorrow I'll have to break out the shoulder straps and begin buckling Babykins in with the full 5-point harness.  I have a feeling she'll object.

Bye-Bye Infant Seat, Hello Big Girl Stroller

After having a few fights with Babykins in Walmart (what is it about that store that brings out the bad behavior in children?) over whether she was allowed to kneel in her infant stroller and hang her head over the side, I decided it was time to retire her infant seat and move on to her big girl stroller.

Aside from the emotional aspect of realizing Babykins is no longer a tiny baby, there have been some definite pros and cons to the change.

Cons

• Now that Babykins is facing forward, we can't interact on our walks like we used to.  No more songs, and stories, and funny faces.
• It is now impossible to keep all of Babykins guarded from the sun.  At any given time, there's an arm or leg outside the shade her hood provides.  This has led us to daily applications of sun block :(
• There's no way to keep her toys safely contained in the stroller, greatly increasing the amount of time we spend playing the "Pick Up Babykins' Toys from the Sidewalk" game.

Pros

• Babykins gets a much better view of the world during our walks.
• Safety, safety, safety.  There's no way for Babykins to escape from her big girl stroller.

And, the absolute, number one benefit of the big girl stroller: When I buy a junky snack to eat on an especially long walk, Babykins can't stare accusingly at me when I don't share.