Christina has had some fussy afternoons and evenings of late — if I’d been posting more regularly, you’d already know that — and today was one of them. (Probably one of the fussiest ones.)

For whatever reason, Christina loves to be outside. (I think it’s the trees. I love trees, and as much as she stares at them when we’re outside, I think she does, too. No, really!) So, I took her outside to try to calm her while Clint got dinner ready for the kids; it worked like a charm! I wasn’t ready to risk a meltdown by going back inside too soon, so I took her next door to Geneva’s house to visit. Geneva didn’t get to hold her for long because apparently it isn’t just our house that makes her fussy. She did get to hold her for a couple of minutes before I needed to nurse her, but I wish it had lasted longer — especially since it turns out that it’s her birthday. . . .

After awhile, I brought Christina back home and tried to keep her calm while the kids got ready for bed; I didn’t have much success, though I did manage to quiet her for a couple of minutes here and there. (Surprisingly, one of the calm times was during her diaper change! She normally hates having her diaper changed! Which you would also know already if I’d been posting more. . . .) Of course, the phone rang just as I was about to go in to sing to the kids, so I took her in with me; she cried through all of Alexander’s songs, before Clint was able to get off the phone and come get her.

I came out to find Clint bouncing and shushing a swaddled Christina; it seemed to be working fairly well, but then she started wailing again. I grabbed the Mommy Bear and turned it on full volume, then pulled the sound box out of the bear to make it even louder — she quieted, instantly!

I tucked the sound box under Clint’s hand, then fixed dinner while Clint walked around the room with her for the next 45 minutes. When dinner was ready, he sat in the glider rocker with her and told me to just keep dinner warm and take the time to pump. (I’m telling you, I have the best husband!) She’s now been asleep on his chest for over an hour and a half, (the last fifteen minutes or so without the heartbeat sound) and I’m hoping that now we can eat some dinner. . . .