A rare day at home

Yesterday my son’s daycare was closed so I got to spend the whole day with him! We had a VERY eventful day which I will now tell you all about. I got soooo much done and Quint had a milestone himself!

First I let small fry sleep as late as he wanted and he woke up on his own terms. This makes for a happy baby and a Mom that is fully showered, dressed, and ready to meet the day. We went to the doctor where he got shot, which he was not in favor of, but then I nursed him right after which made it some better.

Then we went to my work where I hosted a Quint party. Monday, I sent out a meeting request to half the company letting them know that we’d be there at 10:30 Tuesday and come on by to admire my cute son. It was really fun! He performed admirably and was incredibly cute, sweet, and happy for the 15-20 women who squealed over him.

Then we went to Hubby’s work to show him off there! Again, he was a big hit, cute and sweet. Due to his need for lunch (he did get some plain cereal) and a pressing need for a nap, he was not quite as happy. But he was only a tiny bit fussy and handled meeting 85 more people really very, very well. It was incredibly sweet how his daddy would call out to people down the hall, “Come meet my son!” The pride in his voice made my heart swell!

We got some fast food for lunch and sweet boy conked out in the car almost as soon as I strapped him in. He awoke soon after we got home, though, which was a surprise. I thought he might sleep for an hour or more. For the next 3 hours, he played and chewed and played and chewed and drooled and was quite happy as long as I gave him a change of venue every 30-45 minutes. Lots of laughing and smiles.

During the whole day, I got the following done: (drumroll please) I made our bed, neatened the floor of our bedroom, put all the junk away that usually lives on our bathroom counter, hit the tub with soft scrub several times, washed the baby clothes that had been soaking in oxiclean, opened several windows, emptied the dishwasher, loaded the dishwasher, swept the hardwoods twice, mopped, put two layers of wax on the hardwoods, boxed up some stuff for my mother-in-law, froze some baby food, scrubbed all the carrots off the highchair, excavated the huge pile of blankets and pillows to find the bagpipes, sword, and bludgeon baton below, figured out a way to hang the sword and baton on a hanger, stored the bagpipes elsewhere, took pictures of tables to be sold on craigslist, fed Quint cheerios and 2 crackers and cleaned up the aftermath of that, stacked all the living room blankets and pillows neatly, and took Quint’s kilt, sporran, and christening outfit upstairs.

At 3pm, the tide turned on my laughing smiling baby….

He became an absolute fusspot, only napped a little, and was only consolable when he was in my arms, walking and whimpering. Was it prophetic that I put his "Little Crabby" shirt on him today? Hmmm… Tylenol time. And time to strap him to my chest where he alternately whimpered, drooled down my cleavage, and chewed on the baby harness while I continued to clean and neaten. At 7pm, I texted my sweet hubby asking him to come home from the “boy’s club” for moral support with the fusspot.

Just before Papa got home, things got better for the fusspot. He had been chewing on a much loved boardbook for a lot of the afternoon. I was playing with him on my lap when suddenly, I saw it! The tiny break in the skin of his gums revealing the top of a tiny tooth. A HA! That at least accounts for half the fussiness. The other half could be the three shots he received that morning.

So my little guy has his first tooth!!

Hubby asked if I enjoyed my day as a stay-at-home mom. I stared at the ceiling thinking… Well, perhaps the day he cut his first tooth is a bad day to try to analyze that. Next Tuesday, daycare is closed again so perhaps that day will be a better sample day. I am REALLY glad that we (Quint and I) got so many good hours together before he turned into a fusspot. That balanced the day out. If I had dealt with 2 hours of fusspot after a full day at work, I would not have taken it in stride as well.

I have a new strategy on the battle against clutter and preparation for a mobile masticating (look it up) baby: Each day I try to put away one tiny pocked of floor clutter. We have many such pockets around our house and I’m fighting them one by one.

I have realized that we have entered into a new phase in our lives that will last several years. The Cherrios Phase. That wonderful phase in life where you might find a cheerio ANYWHERE!!! Those little suckers will stick to anything and detach later!

Another thing I’ve learned in the last 24 hours… When you feed your baby bubblegum Motrin and then nurse him, you will smell like bubblegum until you shower next.