Are we there yet?

Whoa....how can something so small throw your day off SO much? Today we decided to be adventurous and take Javi on his first big outing (other than the pediatrician's office). The doctor had suggested at his one-month checkup that we start easing him into the outside world and introduce him to new places. Today we decided to take him to Target and Kroger. Okay, maybe not the most exciting places, but they were both places we needed to visit so it seemed like a good idea.

First of all, we have learned that when taking an infant anywhere, it takes about an hour to get everything situated and leave the house. This is not counting the fact that we have to get ourselves dressed and ready. This is also not counting the fact Javi has to be fed, burped, changed and clothed. Actually, I should probably tack on an additional hour.

Then of course, he has to be strapped into his carseat.

Then we have to tear up the house to find a pacifier just in case he has an emotional outburst in the car.

Then after giving him the pacifier, we have to change him yet again because he manages to destroy his clean diaper.

Then, back to the carseat.

Lather, rinse, repeat.

By the time we both actually got into the car, I was ready for a nap! But, onward we went as we took our journey to Target. That stop actually went well. Eric strapped him into his Infantino baby backpack where he stayed sound asleep for the whole shopping trip. We were feeling quite proud of ourselves. Next we went to Kroger. Eric strapped him once again in the backpack and we went into the store. Not ten minutes into the trip, he started to make a few peeps and stirred around a little. Eric realized he had left the paficifer in the car, panicked, and started to head for the door. Then Javi was quiet again. Then he started to make some noise. Then, once again, complete silence. This sent Eric back and forth to the front of the store, ready to dash outside about a dozen times, thinking Javi was about to start wailing any minute.

At that point, we just started moving fast. Eric was on baby duty since Javi was strapped to him. I was left pushing the cart and lugging around the diaper bag. We weren't sure how long we had before Javi decided he'd had enough so we raced around, tossing things left and right into the cart. Price tags weren't even a factor any more. If it even halfway resembled what was on the grocery list, it landed in the cart. Now I should probably remind you that I had a c-section about four weeks ago and while I'm recovering pretty well, most of my muscles have been out of use for quite some time. This was the most exercise I've had in a month, so I was sweating like a hog. As we got to the tail end of our trip, Javi's occassional peeps started to get closer and closer together. At that point, we were just racing the clock, waiting for him to start wailing any second! After getting through checkout, it was like crossing the finish line. Talk about one exhausting trip! To my surprise, we only forgot about three items which was pretty amazing since most of the trip was blur to me! But even after a victory like that, I think we've decided that future grocery trips will be done solo and baby-less!