On Mothers, Costco, Carseats and Yogurt

A mother gives - of her time, of her heart, of her resources. She is willing to make sacrifices so that others are happy. And her fount of love seems boundless - there for those who need it when they need it. I hope every woman who mothers - not only children (biological, adopted, borrowed) but also family members and friends - enjoyed a beautiful Mother's day.

I've probably said it a hundred times before, and I'll say it a million more - I never fully understood how much my mom did for me until I became a mom. She shaped the woman and mother I am today - and the Grandmother that I one day hope to be. Her strength, love and generosity are inspiring. I never feel that my thanks to her are an adequate repayment - but I'll just keep trying. Thanks Mom!

Okay - so on to my babbling about the goings on of my clan.

Don’t' fret. We did indeed survive the in-law invasion on Thursday. In fact we had a lovely evening despite all my maniacal fretting. They were kind and pretended the house wasn't a wreck and then we walked to Azure to have a lovely meal. And not only was Noah not the only infant there, the waitress called him "the quiet one." Excellent.

Friday morning my mom called and offered up an impromptu visit to Costco in Montgomeryville. Having never actually been in a Costco, I was blown away by the size and magnitude of the place. They sell everything in there. Computers, jeans, steaks, deck furniture and toothpaste. And some of the deals are amazing. We definitely need to get a price club membership of our own for things we purchase a lot - like granola bars, soup, and vitamins - not to mention baby amenities. I think the closest one to us is the Sam's Club by Franklin Mills Mall. But I have no idea if a Sam's Club is as good as a Costco. And I don't think you can get in without joining so we might just have to bite the bullet.

Once we made it past all of the Noah-gawkers (grown men could only dream of getting this much attention) and out of the wonderland that is Costco, my mom headed home and Noah and I decided to brave the Babies R' Us. They have a mothering room in which I knew I could change and feed him before heading home, and I also wanted to take a gander at car seats. The feeding was sort of a mess. Two other mothers came into the room with their infants while I was trying to nurse Noah. He's easily distracted now which means whenever the other mothers made a move Noah would pull away suddenly, not only revealing my nipple to total strangers (HATE when that happens) but also sending sprays of breast milk shooting across the room. How is that for a show?

And now for the excitement that is car seat shopping. At 27 inches Noah exceeds the 25 inch recommended length limit for his infant carrier car seat - so it was time to cough up more money for a different kind of car seat now that he can sit up better. The convertible car seats ranged in price from $59 to $259. My theory on this is to always count on spending somewhere in the middle of the range - so no luxury purchase, but one also not made of spit and bubblegum. I had already done some research with Consumer Reports and ended up purchasing the Triumph 5 by Evenflo - as well as baby hangers, a toy cell phone, pacifiers, saline nose drops and a few other accoutrements. Oh how it all adds up. Easier to not spend money when you never leave the house.

The car ride home was packed with some drama. Noah was cranky - short on naps and wanting to be out of the damn car seat. Because our car is pretty tiny I can easily reach my right hand behind the seat to comfort him when I'm driving - but I had put the new boxed car seat there and couldn't reach him. And he just kept crying - and I hate when he sounds so upset. So I pulled off the side of a busy road to reorganize things so I could reach the ailing boy. Of course this was no easy feat. My hatchback was filled with stuff my mom so generously purchased us from Costco - who doesn’t bag your stuff so it was going to be a bitch to move it all from the back. So I tried to move the new car seat box to the passenger seat. It wouldn't go - no amount of pushing or pulling or screaming would make it go. So then I had to take out the stuff in the hatchback, put it in the passenger seat and then put the new car seat in the trunk. All while traffic was whooshing by and Noah was fussing. I was having a meltdown on the side of the road. It wouldn't have been so bad with an extra set of hands - which again makes me marvel at how Patrice is constantly on the move with Bella on the weekends while Sean is at work. By the time I got home I felt completely burnt out.

Saturday was exquisite. I could not have asked for a nicer day - both in weather and in content. Our friends John and Laurel Frazier came down from NYC to attend the Dali exhibition with us and John's mom Lorraine at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Noah was Bjorned and happily slept through most of the exhibit. After which we walked to The London Grill for a delightful lunch, including two Bloody Marys for moi. And Lorraine went above and beyond generosity when she picked up the tab. Noah was not only being cheerful and entertaining but he sat like a big boy in the high chair. The only misstep of the day was when Noah nibbled off a piece of the pickle I had given him to suck on. I flew into a panic and tried unsuccessfully to fish it out of his mouth with my finger. He swallowed it fine - but I had SO freaked him out by sticking my finger in his mouth and whacking him on the back that it took him a minute to calm back down. Poor kid's mom is a head case. After lunch the Frazier clan took off but Mark, Noah and I walked around a bit enjoying the Water Works and the wonderful spring sunshine.

And then it was Mother's Day! My very first. Noah and Mark gave me the gift of music - two CDs and a gift certificate to itunes for future downloading. In the afternoon we went to my Aunt Jill's house for a family picnic. My Mom, Grammy, Cousin Tammy and her family, and Uncle Jim and his family were all in attendance. We ate fattening picnic food and played with all the little ones. And then home in time for Deadwood - after another Noah car tragedy. That boy is all sunshine and light until you strap him in a car seat. He's a natural born subway rider. He cried inconsolably almost all the way home from Souderton. I even joined him for a moment because I couldn't figure out how to help him. I finally asked Mark to get off the Schuylkill early and pull over so I could take Noah out of the seat. Noah let out a huge burp upon his release and promptly fell asleep when I locked him back in. Poor kid.

Noah has been chomping on all kinds of new things lately - and still seems to enjoy it all. I thought he would wrinkle up his nose at the pickle but he really enjoyed it. At his check-up the Pediatrician said we could give him baby yogurt and those melt in your mouth Gerber puffs they sell now. He seems to really enjoy the Yobaby Stonyfield Farms organic baby yogurt with apple and cereal puree at the bottom. In fact even I think it's pretty damn tasty. The Gerber sweet potato puffs however are bland as bland can be.