Darkness and Light

So yeah, it's been awhile. I had a baby girl that decided to overthrow my entire system of being and I've been, "out of it" for a few months. The wonderful thing is that her colic fussies ended right when she turned 2 months old. The not so great thing is that she still has major separation anxiety and won't let anyone hold her except for me and Rhys. So that means, no babysitting for us. And I've nicknamed her my "sleep diva" because she currently sacks out in our bedroom closet. We realized that she was hyper sensitive to both light and sound, so she had to be stashed somewhere very... cozy. And she has slept pretty well ever since. But she had an issue with sleeping anywhere outside of this closet, so family outings were a challenge since she naps every 2 hours. And closets aren't portable.

When I found this Day Out with Thomas the Train event many months ago, I knew we'd have to take Jude to it no matter what our home life was like. So I bought (very expensive, non refundable) tickets before I'd even given birth to Raya. Kind of a challenge to myself: Whatever life throws your way, you must get through this day. We had to go. Thomas is Jude's hero. I mean, what kind of mom would I be to keep a kid away from his hero?

This place is an hour drive into the dusty hills of Perris, CA. It's missing the old ghost town shacks but it comes stocked with the tumbleweeds and a complete lack of civilization. So we packed up the car and headed out with our very excited toddler and our non-napping, ready-to-meltdown-any-minute infant for a fun filled day of adventure. And I'm serious, Raya was an angel baby that day. Infants like to pull out tricks and really surprise you sometimes. We strolled her around in her car seat and although she didn't sleep, she didn't make a peep either. And then she SLEPT THE ENTIRE WAY HOME. Unheard of. I had to take a picture from the front seat because I couldn't actually believe it was happening. Which is why the picture is a little close and was taken at an "up the nostril" angle.

~

Since that day two weeks ago, she's been a very easy baby. She is mellow, happy and just pure joy. She even took her naps in my mom's closet yesterday for Thanksgiving so apparently any closet will do. Hopefully CPS isn't reading my blog.

Tomorrow is my 34th birthday, and I'm taking the whole day off from motherhood. Meaning, I will be getting a massage and spending my Anthropologie gift card and seeing a movie and having dinner out without any tiny people around me. And unlike the last time I did this, I already know I'm gonna miss these little guys so much. Life has settled its dust for us and we are really enjoying each other. Jude has decided that Raya isn't "yucky" anymore, and loves to hold her and rub the top of her fuzzy head. After a minute of having her weight on him he says "Get this thing off me", but he is full of love when he says it. It really is amazing what 2 months can do. We went from pure darkness to a wonderful stream of sunlight.

But despite all this daily heartwarming preciousness, this girl needs an entire day to herself.

The Day Out with Thomas took place at a train museum which lent itself to some amazing surroundings and light.

♥