She has many names. We refer to her as Kate, Bella, girlfriend, little girl, sweetie pie, and lately Fancy Pants. Her mom and dad bought her the cutest little stretchy pants. They look like fancy jeans in pink. They called her fancy pants the first time she wore them and the name sort of stuck. I call her fancy pants too but mostly when she fills those pants and really makes them fancy…if you know what I mean.
She has grown like a weed. Her cheeks have filled out and we are becoming more in tune with her needs. One of the things she has made us most familiar with is her love for being held and partying at night. At first we could not get enough of holding her and when she cuddled up and slept in our arms we thought it was so sweet. Kate decided that was her preferred way to pass the hours of the days.....and nights. After some weeks of that we are drawing straws for shifts.
The other night I took the 2 am to morning shift. Fortunately for me she slept until 5 am. It is not my preferred time of the morning but I can think of less deserving reasons I have been up at that time of the day. I will admit it is very different than my usual take my pills and start coffee morning routine but I was confident in my ability to handle this wee babe. With the first squawk I raced to put the bottle in the warmer and then ran to pick up our sweet princess for a quick diaper change. Fancy Pants had struck and quick was not possible. Two diapers and ten wet wipes later I managed to re swaddle her. Let me clarify swaddle. It is a bit different than my swaddling days and perhaps even a bit more on the Aussie side of doing things than in America. Using all hands, toes and teeth I wrapped and rolled and attached and finally gave up on the whole thing, draping it around her and ran for the still heating bottle. It only required a bit of cooling to insure no damage to our little darling occurred and we could begin “ the feed.”
Party at the McFarland’s
Kate took to the bottle just fine which is a good break for mommy but I was warned she was a barracuda. After a few minutes on the bottle I could see there could be some validity to that name. My little angel devoured in 4 minutes straight two and a half ounces of milk. I gave her several burps and was ready to tuck her in for a few more hours sleep. Only trouble was Miss Kate was ready to PARTY. I tried every trick I had stashed away for 40 years and still our wee darling was wide-awake. I rocked and mom swayed and sang to her and tried just letting her fuss it out but nothing seemed to convince her to my way of thinking. She had her time of convincing too. She looked sweetly at me and bobbed her head innocently but I could see through all her sugar coated attempts to her true intentions. I assured her we would have none of that. When that did not work she was a bit more assertive. She squirmed and fussed and finally threw down her ultimatum with a howl and that is when we both knew she had won. Coffee suddenly sounded good, not that I was not in charge mind you.
Case of the Missing Lid
Visions of frothy steaming coffee was calling me to the kitchen but after another quick diaper change I could not find the cap to the diaper ointment. I looked everywhere. Funny how things like that disappear, like socks in the dryer. Certain it would turn up later I went on about the business at hand....having that cup of coffee. We passed the morning in each other’s company waiting for sunrise and the rest of the world to wake up. Just before mommy and daddy came in to check on her progress I decided to have one more diaper change and as I unwrapped her from her haphazard swaddling I felt something hard in all that material that was most unusual. Further investigation solved the riddle of the missing lid. Wrapped in with Kate's wiggly toes was a nice grey round lid and a case solved. Mum and dad did not need that piece of information and when they came in that morning we were the picture of serenity. Kate was not telling about our morning of partying and neither was I.
Stay tuned for my next blog with accounts of our day trip to Mt. Danedenong and the Yarra Valley.
We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those that are the called according to His purpose.
Romans 8:28
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