Final days of Summer
We took Lillian to the beach for the first time this week! I had been looking forward to that experience for so long. I had such hopes for the love she’d have of running in the sand, playing in the waves…unfortunately she didn’t love it so much! Poor Lillian was a bit unsure about it all…she seemed fascinated at first and kept staring at the ocean (and at a crow pecking at something on the sand, ha ha – sweet girl loves animals!), but as soon as her feet hit the sand without her shoes she was unhappy, and was afraid of the waves when we got too close. I don’t blame her one bit! The sand was probably too hot for her little feet, and the waves were loud and cold!
I’m so happy we were able to go, but for all the work it was, and for how much ‘enjoyment’ Lillian got out of it, I’m only too happy to wait another year (or more!) before going again!
I did probably way too much preparing: sandwiches for Josh and I, and chips and water; Bread, ham, cheese, and grapes cut into bits for Lillian, and her water; Bags with sunscreen, towels, Lillian’s cover-up and hat and sunglasses (she refused to keep the sunglasses on, and I was surprised I was able to get her to keep the hat on!); our camera, our tripod and remote, Lillian’s beach sand toys (bucket, shovel, sand molds and sifter), a blanket to spread on the ground, and a pop up tent shelter thing from one step ahead online.
Yeah, big production. :/ I don’t regret bringing any of it (especially the sun shelter) but I do wish it had been easier. (And easier to unpack and de-sand everything once home…whoo.) At least now we know how to work the darn shade thing so it won’t be as big of a deal next time. It’s kind of comical when I think how we must have looked to the onlookers. And yes, we had onlookers. 🙁 Pasty white family of three with enough gear for a hiking trip into the Sahara (not really but still) trying to set up base at the beach. Ha ha. There was a bus load of Japanese tourists that arrived shortly after us, and they were looking so perplexed at us. Probably not sure why we were taking turns wrestling with a big flimsy parachute looking thing. Then there was a very sun-kissed beach bum middle-aged couple who were openly staring at us with slightly indulgent smiles. They couldn’t stand it and had to finally come up to us (as we were taking DOWN our little circus tent and packing up to leave after maybe an hour tops there) and she asked me a couple of questions about the tent like she was interested in one when it’s plainly obvious she much prefers to tan in the sun, then she got to the heart of the matter, and she asked us if we were from around here. I so hated to disappoint her, but I said yes, we’re San Diego natives. Alas, we may have looked the most touristy of tourists, but we’re locals! Just plainly not too beach savvy. Ha ha!
It was really relaxing and blissful to nurse a drowsy Lillian to the sound of the waves though! (For the five minutes it lasted, ha ha!)
The great thing about this outing is that it marks the start of more freedom for us. We had been living at separate hours for so long, but now we’re all sleeping at the same time. And I use the term sleeping very loosely. Lillian is now in our big bed with us since she still screams when she’s in the crib. I barely sleep and she stirs to nurse a lot. But we’re getting there. And yes, I’m still very paranoid about how far our bed is off the ground, but we put two dining chairs with pillows on the seats framing the side of the bed she’s on, plus big pillows on the bed. Josh and Shadow sleep across the foot of our Cal King, and I take the side next to Lillian. The sleep coach was a big FAIL. She dropped us. Admitted she was scared and “out of her element” since she’s never worked with a 15 month old, even though their site says they help up to 5 years old. I think what really set her off is that I told her I was surprised she used a form letter for our “sleep plan” and didn’t customize it for us especially since we paid her so much money. “Rachel I’m so hurt that you’d think that!! Why would you say that?” Hmm, maybe, lady, it’s because you forgot to change a bunch of “his” and “he” to “hers” and “she” for LILLIAN, and that you had several paragraphs devoted to what to do for the “bottle feeding” when she clearly knows that we don’t feed Lillian anything by bottle!! Grrr. Anyway good riddance to her and we’re muddling along and making changes on our own that we should have done but were too afraid, tired, whatever, to do before.
Okay. Off my chest. Now it’s time to start a fresh new season..Fall!! And to kick off Fall, I’m having my first giveaway ever here on the blog! Stay tuned!