Remember last year? Remember how I almost killed Baby Bug when she was just an eight week old fetus because I was running like a maniac during those last few laps because everybody was cheering me on and I can’t deny my inner competitive spirit? Hmmmph. That was just the beginning…

I did the 5K again. I plan to do it every year. Who knows, maybe someday I’ll run a marathon. It’s crazy but not completely impossible. I just hope Baby Bug likes to run.

No running for us this year though–not with a precious baby head bouncing in the sling. I should probably just say that I bought a very expensive t-shirt and then took a long sweaty walk in the fog that just happened to be along the same route that a race was. I walked it so slow I ended up getting lost because I had nobody to follow. They all left me in the dust. And then the next race started and they lapped me too. It was pathetic. But I’ll say this: I did finish. I didn’t give up and walk to Starbucks for a decaf frappuccino like some people who were walking with me did. I have no idea what my time was because when I crossed the finish line they were timing the second race. So I guess whatever the time is between races, I finished 36 minutes after that. An hour maybe? An hour and 36 minutes? That’s pretty slow, I think.

Whatever. We finished and that’s all that counts. It wasn’t really that tough either. Turns out the walks I take every day are usually twice as long. Here I was worrying about where I could stop to feed the baby along the way and whether or not I should take the stroller too just in case she got tired of the sling… but it was nothing! She slept the first half of the race and chilled the second. She didn’t start getting fussy until after the race was over and I was in the extremely long line for the free food. Long lines suck. No free food for me. Baby Bug was carrying on so much, I had to cut out of line and hoof it back home so she could have her free food instead. I know. Bummer. Maybe next year. Is free food really that great anyway? I just felt like I oughta get something for my thirty-bucks. The t-shirt isn’t that nice. Oh well…

All in all it was fun. Everybody adored the baby. We got our picture taken a few times and everybody cheered us on. I think she was the littlest racer there. There were lots of mom’s pushing jogger strollers but most of the kids were toddlers. When I crossed the finish line, the announcer said, “It’s our youngest contestant!” and every body cheered. That felt great. I love getting attention because I have the world’s cutest baby. I think she liked it too.

Doesn’t it always seem like bloggers are apologizing for lack of blogging or maybe they’re like me and they’re feeling guilty for the lack of quality blogging? So then you take a break and two weeks go by and you miss blogging like you miss your purse when you’ve left it behind accidentally. It’s that feeling like there’s something missing. I feel nice and carefree but I’m missing my purse. What if I need my keys or my lip gloss or my money! So you go back to your blog and you bang out a couple great posts and the blog continues year after year after year through mediocrity and the rare occasional great post…

In the meantime here are some Baby Bug achievements:

That two weeks of nothing but grunts has finally ended and now she is babbling! Lovely vowels sounds echo from one end of our house to the other. The great thing is that Toby seems to speak her language and they babble to each other will all kinds of sounds and raspberry splutters. I have a really good movie of that but again, I need to back up my photos first.

She’s also starting to play by herself. It’s the BEST. I put the exersaucer out on our patio yesterday because it’s been so nice and warm lately. She spent nearly twenty minutes talking to the palm fronds that were blowing in the breeze. She also had a long conversation with the geraniums. Her favorite toy is an empty water bottle. She’ll bat that around her exersaucer for many many minutes and then when she’s done, she’ll gum it for another round. Remember how I said the best toys are free. It’s totally true.

Finally she’s taking long naps again. Sometimes as long as two whole hours. It’s heavenly. I’m actually getting things done. But I can’t exactly plan around her long naps. Sometimes she likes to trick me and only take quick fifteen minute naps. She keeps me on my toes. Like right now as I try to type this. It’s taking me two hours longer to type an average post just because I have to stop every minute or so and put my hand in the bugaboo and calm her back down. She thinks she can’t take a nap by herself because every once in a while I take a nap with her. She’s so fun to cuddle with and I love taking naps with her but I sometimes I like to get things done. Plus, I want her to learn how to fall asleep by herself.

I struggle and struggle with all these rules I make up for myself as a parent. To nap with her or not nap with her. To put her in her crib or let her fall asleep where she drops… I am constantly at battle with myself over what my instinct tells me to do and what my brain tells me I should do to be consistent. Consistency is so important but it’s also so elusive. I’m definitely learning that it’s okay to roll with things though. You just can’t be too rigid about things. Babies love to throw unknown variables at you.

The biggest news I have is that she likes rice cereal. Boy, do I have a movie to show you about that! If you like chubby cheeks and little baby lips covered in ooey gooey messy stuff then you’re going to love this messy messy messy baby face movie. She’s so funny slobbering all over the spoon and spitting half of the cereal back out so that she can slobber it all over her fist and the exersaucer and anything else that happens to come into contact with her.

Well I better wrap this up. She still has not fallen asleep. But she’s quiet. Who knows how long that will last.