Another Day in Paradise

Today was exhausting but good, a pretty pleasing scenario for a mom of a needy baby and a teenager on a very hot day in Texas when everyone else is going back to school!

First, Mal is teething or growing or something, because most of the day, he just wandered around crying, even if I'd hold him and nurse him (and nurse him and nurse him). He was also producing an abnormally large amount of nasal mucus, if you know what I'm saying.

Anyway, I rushed James out of the house this morning so he'd (hopefully) miss First Day traffic, then Mal and I hung out in his room.

Around ten, we walked to the office to pick up a package, then made our way the rest of the way down the hill to the mailbox because the package I expected to be in the office wasn't, but it was in our postal box. We explored a new off-road trail and can get most of the way to the mailbox now without having to dodge traffic. We did end up with some nature in our hair and on our clothes.

Mal got several toys in the mail, very cool things from Zulily. He enjoyed playing for a while, but then resumed fussing. Meanwhile, I'm trying desperately to finish up "Armada" by local author Ernest Cline. Loving it. I don't think the unfavorable comparisons to his "Ready Player One" are warranted. It's a great story.

Daphne got up around noon, and Mal fell asleep at about 1. We decided that when he woke up, we'd go to the store. Daphne's been wanting to eat "more healthy" lately, so was supposed to make me a list of her desired fruits (said like Mike Meyers in "So I Married an Axe Murderer"), but hadn't gotten around to it yet.

So, when Mal awoke (in a much improved mood), we headed over to the dreaded Wal-Mart, because I also needed some other stuff, and cheap, and whatever.

D picked out her stuff, we were able to buy a bunch of peanut butter for the Capital Area Food Bank drive that our church is doing, and we also got a bunch of non-perishable microwavable dinners for the Ronald McDonald House drive that our apartment complex is having.

Then, miracle of miracles, Daphne picked out three shirts she liked (thanks, Nana and Pappy!). One I think she got just because I noticed it and said, "That's disturbing." Because that's how she operates.

On the way home, we stopped by Chick-fil-A to get D a spicy chicken sandwich, for free because of the Cowlendar, and me a free ice cream cone, because it's my birth month!

When we got back, Mal ate a bunch of tiny champagne grapes and was happy, but then he was promptly unhappy again, so we took a second walk to the mail box, because something special for his birthday cake had been delivered, and it's stinking perishable, so we needed to get it in to the climate control.

Our second walk to the mailbox.

By the time we got back, James was home, and we had dinner with the baby while Daphne watched a new Gravity Falls episode streaming live. She just took her very late supper and while I'm going to read for about an hour until I fall asleep, she'll probably still be up another five hours or so.

So: Crying baby, not good. Teenager-accompanied trip out of the house -- to SHOP, no less?! Great!