Get up and Go

Get up and Go

A piece of advice that a friend gave to me once was that going places with a baby is hard work and that is why a lot of people just stay at home with their babies.  This is very true.  When leaving the house there are millions things to think about….change his diaper before leaving, is he dressed warm enough, are there diapers in the diaper bag, is the diaper bag in the car, is the stroller in the car, do you want to bring the baby carrier with, don’t forget his blanket, does he have a pacifier, do you have your wallet and phone, does the car need to be warmed up first, am I dressed warm enough, when does he have to eat next, do we want to be back home for the next feeding or feed in public, etc.   And that’s just going to run errands.  Eric and I decided long before Alex came that we would not be the couple to stay at home.  We just understand that it now takes about 30minutes to get out of the house.  Alexander’s first outing (besides doctor visits) was to Home Depot to get a Christmas tree.  His second outing was to Garden of the Gods for a walk.  Now, we go somewhere almost every day whether its running errands, out for a walk, or visit a friend.  Our biggest outing was last Sunday we went up to Breckenridge (2 hours away) so Eric and I could go skiing.  I packed so much stuff for Alexander and I, you would have thought we were staying overnight.  When we got to Breckenridge, we set up camp in one of the lounges and Eric took his turn skiing.  After about 2.5 hours, Eric came in and I took my turn skiing.  We had a good time and Alexander did very well.  However, the change in his day did affect him by that Monday morning he was very cranky. 

Getting out the door is the biggest challenge.  One of my first times out with Alexander was to MOPS with my mom.  We put Alexander in his car seat and he started screaming.  I didn't know what to do.  He had a dry diaper and been fed recently.  My Mom finally said, "Heather, lets just go and if he still cranky when we get there we will deal with it then".  So I picked up the car seat with Alexander in tow and we were off.  By the time we got him in car, he was quiet.  Within 5 minutes on the road, he was asleep.   We learned that sometimes the transition into the car seat is rough but once we get going, all is fine. 

Overall, you can be the parents who sit home all the time or you can get up and go somewhere.  It’s a lot work but I think it’s worth it.