Tonight, DH and I are going out by ourselves for the FIRST TIME since Scout was born. Tomorrow is our 7 year wedding anniversary and a lady at church offered to come over and watch Scout for a few hours while we go out to dinner. She has pretty much been begging me to let her babysit ever since she kept Scout in the church nursery for me. Scout took to her really well and she's an experienced momma who I trust, so I figured now would be a great time to take her up on her offer. I'm nervous and excited all at the same time. I'm not worried about Scout's well-being - I know she'll be in great hands. I'm more nervous about timing things so that DH and I can get a good long date in, while keeping Scout in a relatively good mood. My plan is to put Scout down for a nap right before the babysitter gets here. That way, when Scout wakes up in her normal chipper mood, she will be ready to play and have fun - rather than being on a downward spiral toward sleepyville. Here's hoping!

Labels: dates, dh, firsts, holidays

Wow - I had an exciting birthday. We went to the mall and walked around and ate at Chic-fil-A and had ice cream at Haagen Daas. Then, we went to see The Simpsons Movie at the movie theater!.....with Scout!

DH and I were a little nervous about it, but we just had to attempt it. The Simpsons is our favorite and it came out on my birthday! And then to make it even more perfect, now it's Scout's first movie.

She did really well. She slept and nursed peacefully through the whole 30 minutes of previews. (Uuuughh) and then woke up and got a little squirmy towards the beginning of the movie, so I sat her upright on my lap and she stared quietly at the screen for a while (I know, flame me for letting my baby watch a movie....I'm a bad mom). So, get this: Of course, the movie is really loud and that doesn't phase her one bit....the lady sitting next to me pops the top on her can of soda and Scout flinches really hard, flips out and starts crying. It was a very short-lived cry. I didn't even make it to the door before she stopped...and we were on the aisle in the very back, close to the exit. I don't think it was too horribly disturbing to the people around us. That was the only time a peep was ever heard from her. It was actually WAY less disruptive than the lady in front who was laughing like a hyena and making loud comments. I sat in the back of the theater on the floor and nursed her the rest of the time. I only missed a few minutes of the movie when I went to change her diaper. Over all, I would say that this very risky outing was a success.

The 25-30 minute drive home was a different story. Scout was exhausted from our busy day. Her whole evening routine had been shaken up pretty badly. Pile that on top of the fact that she hates car rides to begin with. She screamed and SCREAMED in the car...even with me in the back trying to soothe her. We stopped to pick up DH's truck on the way home and we took her out of the car and walked around with her and I nursed her. Her red teary eyes and distraught face was so heartbreaking. She had gotten herself so worked up, she was choking on her drool. I nursed her for a while and she calmed down. I felt so bad that I had to put her back in the seat. She was much better the rest of the way home. She fussed a little and quickly fell asleep. I don't think she had the energy to cry anymore. I nursed her down to sleep in bed when we got home. I'm so proud of her for being cooperative. She deserved to have a total melt-down at the end of the night, that's for sure.

Labels: dates, entertainment, firsts, movies