Fourth of July Weekend - In Haikus

Part I:


Mold in the basement
Doesn't hold a candle to
Soft baby kisses

Part II:

Remembered sunscreen
But mostly camped out inside
I like the AC

Part III:

We are reactive
Learning to be proactive
There goes some savings

In a nutshell: super hot in Michigan (and everywhere else, it seems?) so we spent most of the weekend inside, avoiding dehydration and heat-stroke. Claire is pretty sensitive to the heat, it seems. I guess it makes sense that a delicate little flower of a baby (aren't they all?) should stay cool, and not marinade in the heat. Lucky me :) I'm all for making myself more outdoorsy, but to be outside just for the sake of being outside, when it's so hot? And I need to stay hydrated so I can keep Claire hydrated (breastfeeding). It worked well for me.

Only problem is, we found mold in our basement today. I wonder if the snot nose, cough, and general congestion that we blamed on daycare is actually attributed to the mold? Either way, we fixed it up this afternoon, and I realized just how lazy it is when it comes to my house. Man, I felt like a HERO because I was willing to walk around the perimeter of the basement, sucking up dead roly-polys with the ShopVac. There must have been 300 of them. Truth be told, I HAD to do it, because Nick wouldn't. They "skeeve" him out. OK, whatever, you get a bye on this.

I ponied up and kind of became a poser mom by buying a Sophie the Giraffe for Claire. She is teething like a mother, at least that's what the whole world has been telling us. I felt kind of stupid afterward, spending $25 on a teether toy, but thankfully she loves her! We also bought a couple of generic ones from our big-box grocery/everything store, which she actually hates so much that she cries when I put them in front of her. OK, that only happened once, but I'm trying to justify $25 spent on a teether toy, okay?

Speaking of expensive shit for babies... we bought this toy at a boutique-slash-natural-baby-stuff-store in our town. (Well, Ann Arbor.) There are tons of people in Ann Arbor who are willing to spend an arm and a leg for their kids. Point in case. I was perusing their clothing section, and found a cute top for a 12 month old girl. Simple summer top, cotton fabric with maybe some sheen to it? FORTY-FOUR DOLLARS. Yeah right. I don't even spend that on a shirt for myself, let alone a baby who will spit up on it and staint it forever after wearing it for ten minutes. These people have to be out of their ever-loving mind.

Now, I don't say this out loud, because in actuality, I like the store. I wish we cloth diapered. (Cloth diapering is their main schtick at this store.) I like all of their natural product - everything orgainc. I wish we could afford the really nice stroller, and the adorable toys (wooden! not plastic!) and so on, so forth.

Nick hates this place with a passion. He thinks it's pretentious. It really isn't. It's just... overpriced. Okay, maybe slightly pretentious, but so what? Everyone thinks their baby deserves nice things. I just would rather, I don't know, pay off my student loan debt that pay for a $400 stroller. I agree it's a racket, and I really just like to invite him to go there with me to get a rise out of him. :)

Other than that, and spending some time with family, it was a lovely, lovely three-day weekend.