*sigh*

Yesterday was Lily Ruth's first (1/2) day at Parent's Day Out. They said she did really well... 'for a first day'... that means she cried a lot, but not the whole time :-/ She also ate her whole snack and blew through her super-cute outfit. Go big or go home - that's my baby!

Today is a 'take a step back' kind of day. I am going to attribute this to teething until I have another solution. We woke up like we like to - slowly with grins and stretching - but it was downhill from there. Ya'll, there was LITERALLY wailing and gnashing of teeth over here! Lily was alternately screaming and grinding her teeth - it was biblical. Well, I got her calmed down, then got us all ready to walk. After we got out the door, it went like this:

- We're half a block away from the house, a door opens, and a 40 Lb Boxer puppy comes tearing out. The owner is halfheartedly yelling for it to come back. The puppy (of course) makes a bee-line for us. I yell 'I REALLY need for you to come get your dog'. The owner (who I can't see yet) replies 'Oh, it's o.k., she's fine' to which I reply 'but we're NOT - seriously, I need you to get your dog NOW'. I get a 'oh, you have a dog' in return. 'Yes, and a baby, and the dog does not do well with puppies'. She WALKS over and pretends to attempt to restrain her dog, but is really just following it at a very slow pace. Not helpful. I am forced to fend off her puppy while trying to keep my 80 Lb dog calm enough that I can control her. Eventually, the puppy heads off running, and we turn around and change our route. Not a big deal, but irritating. Keely will not randomly attack, but if she feels threatened (by, say, maybe a jumping puppy), she will protect herself. This never works out well for the other dog, yet most dog owners assume that 'dogs will be dogs', and as long as THEIR dog 'is sweet', they can let them roam the block. I, on the other hand, have my dog properly leashed, and yet I am the one dealing with a potential dog fight while WEARING MY INFANT.

- The Dog Whisperer says not to let dogs walk in front of you. Up until Lily was born, I let the Princess Dog walk however she chose. After I had a baby, I realized how important it was that Keely recognize me as alpha dog. I have been working on this with her for eight months now. Keely chose today for a power struggle. I almost gave in, but I held firm... and my arm is paying the price. My right arm feels like it may fall off, and at this point, I kind of wish that it would.

- We walked a looong way. After a good loop, we had come around so that we were only about 20 minutes from the house. I was sooooo tired. That's when I realized that I HAD DROPPED MY KEYS. I had to turn around and backtrack until I found them. Luckily, they had fallen close to the curb, and had not been run over. We were only 30 minutes from home, so let's call it 'extra exercise' and speak of it never again.

- My incredible, amazing daughter has (since we got home) alternated between 'laughing, smiling angel girl who crawls and play with toys' and 'demon baby who can only shriek and beat herself against mom's collarbone whilst smearing mom with drool, snot and tears'.



I took that one for those who have mentioned that they believe Lily Ruth to be happy and perfect all of the time...

After the last round of Mama bashing, she passed out.



Check out her hair!

I think I'm in shock. I'm definitely traumatized. Would you please come over and mix up a very dirty martini for me? Extra icy. NO vermouth. Three, no, make that FOUR giant olives. Thanks.



p.s. In looking for a dirty martini picture, I discovered a (large) burlesque performer (who I believe to be a male) who goes by the moniker Dirty Martini. Um, ew.