Cold Parenting

I am learning how to parent in the cold. Gone are my super long walks filled with stops in local parks to nurse or change Lyra. I need more to do on my days with her. The shorter daylight somehow makes for longer days.

We go to the baby-friendly movies when possible. In the last week we saw No Country for Old Men (yay) and Harry Potter (eh).

We attend parent groups sporadically.

I have joined a gym with a nursery so Lyra will get used to the ladies in the nursery while entering into stranger-danger anxiety phases. However, the gym just put its whole "wet" area (including the showers) under construction for over a month. So, if I'd like I can use another of their gyms with another nursery and stranger ladies. Sigh.

I have decided to make sure I still take her out plenty. I have bought a solar charger that I am attaching to the stroller, so if I want to charge my phone or iPod, I'd better get moving. We'll see how that goes; it just arrived.

Last week I decided she needed some more warm fleece. I don't really know how to sew, but much of it looks fairly common sense, I figure. I bought a lot of fleece at the remnant sale at Malden Mills many years ago and I did successfully make a lot of fleece socks for holiday presents that year. And I did make her fleece combat boots for her punk rock Halloween. (Okay one is notably longer than the other...but she can't walk, so they still work.)

So, I took some of the fleece and I took a top that fits her and I kind of made a pattern and started sewing. When she woke from her nap, glenn proudly went to put the fleece on her. It wouldn't even go over her head. I would not be thwarted -- I took the fleece and cut it up the front: it will be a cardigan! Her arms wouldn't even fit in the sleeves.

Dejected, I threw it in the corner and walked to the front stoop for a breath of fresh, calming, Cold air. On the stoop was a package waiting for Lyra, a gift from some friends. Inside: a fleece top and pants.