First Trip

If you ever want to see a group of civilized women turn into a frenzied pool of sharks all you have to do is bring a baby into their midst.

Saturday was our first big trip out of the City. We had a family wedding to attend and were not looking forward to it at all since the drive was about 1.5 hour long and we would be staying overnight in a hotel. But with family gatherings so far and few between, we sucked it up and decided that the joys of seeing everyone would ultimately outweigh the stress of a screaming baby.

Surprisingly the Stinkerbug behaved very well. She slept in the car and when she fussed we stopped to feed her before continuing along our merry way. Upon arriving at our destination she was spirited away to be fawned over by cooing ladies and Mr. Stinky and I got to hang out sans baby. If you've never been swarmed, have a baby.

To watch the action play out is fairly amusing. The soap opera-ness of being passed around like a trophy, women being possessive and jealous became a great source of entertainment for Mr. Stinky and me. It's much like a wrestling match as people fought for elbow space and any bit of advantage to get her into their arms. All the while she remained calm and didn't fuss too much. Even as she slept, there were requests to hold her. I know, she's da bomb. We were so relieved things were going well.

The action at breakfast was pretty much the same. I fed her before we went down to eat and passed her off into willing arms. You should know I've learned how to gorge in record setting time... it has always been my reputation to be a painfully slow eater. Now I'm scraping my second plate clean before people have even unfolded their napkins. This is a survival tactic for when she starts fussing while I'm communing with my meal and/or there's no one around to help out... although I've also mastered the ambidextrous skill of eating with whatever hand's available. Anyway, as soon as we got to the dining area she was out of my arms. As relatives woke up and made their way down she changed hands like a hot potato, with everyone wanting to be the taker, never the giver.

The weekend and trip away from home turned out to be fantastic, even if we were tuckered out by the time we got home. The three of us passed out for the entire afternoon as soon as we got home. What a great weekend.