Do the baby shuffle!

I know it's been quite a while since I've last posted. I do have a good excuse though. I was on vacation. Matt, Kirstin and I, along with Ma and Bill, and Mark and Abby went on a quick tour of the south. We left here on the 14th of August and returned on the 25th. We had a great time, and saw many cool things. But there are drawbacks to vacationing with a toddler.

First of all, we have a cute little girl. I know I'm rather biased, but that's the way it is. Everywhere we stopped people would stop to talk with Kirstin and tell us what a cute baby she is. I have no problem with this, but sometimes it did get a little tiresome. Especially when I was trying to get her to do something, and people would interrupt. That's life, I know.

Second is that Kirstin developed a great fear of elevators and hotel rooms. She would scream. Loudly. I think we took many stairs just to keep her from crying. She was terrified of the elevators. She would kick and scream. It was horrible. Generally speaking though, when it came to the hotel rooms, she would calm down after a minute or so. I think she was scared that we would leave her there. Of course we wouldn't do that, but her baby mind must have thought so.

And third is the fact that she became shy of all our friends back here at home. The Wednesday after we got back we headed over to Lori's to raid her garden. She wouldn't let me put her down in the house. She clung to me, and then when I pulled her away from me and tried to put her down, she kept her feet up. I was safe, and she wasn't going to leave me. Well, Thursday came, and we went into town and I tried to leave her at the parsonage like I've been doing all summer. She clung to my leg.

Enter the baby shuffle. I tried to walk while she was clinging. The only way I could achieve mobility was to keep the one leg straight and drag it behind me with Kirstin attached. If there had been music, it would have made for an interesting dance. And you may ask, "Why didn't you just pick her up so you could walk?" Well, for the same reason that I shouldn't have picked her up on Wednesday at Lori's house. She wouldn't have let me put her down. Luckily Kim and Pastor are old hands at dealing with children. Kim finally got her trust and took Kirstin into the kitchen to help make buns and brownies. I left during this time. By the time I got back to the house, Kim and Kirstin were outside blowing bubbles. They were great friends again. It just took a little bit of time. The only problem is that I had to repeat the shuffle again at the grocery store, but I think we'll get better with that kind of stuff as time goes on.

Now I have many things calling for attention today, and I should get started so that I can get at least half of them done. Laundry and dishes are at the top of the list, and hopefully I can get some outside stuff done as well. Kirstin likes being outside, so it shouldn't be too much of a problem.

So, until next time, Do the baby shuffle!