Life of the Party

Violet had fun hanging out with some friends last weekend during JR and Rebecca's wedding shower. It's such a different experience going to a party with a kid in tow. First off, I have to say props to our friends for welcoming Violet to such an occasion. No one else in the group really has kids, certainly not a wriggling, exploring, whining baby like ours. But these days I really think we'd be sent home if we showed up sans Violet. They all seem genuinely pleased to see her and want to play with her and hold her and love on her, which makes this Mama feel good. I was worried that we'd become hermits after the birth of our child, either by choice (too scared to go out with her) or default (people would just stop inviting us out). But neither has happened.

 Party girl!

Granted, events are a little different now that Violet is in the world. I spent most of my time at the shower either holding Violet so we could join the group outside for games (can't put her down because she's in her grass/leaf eating phase) or watching her like a hawk inside (she's in her 'eating everything else' phase). She would toss a toy, I would fetch the toy. She scooted around on the rug, I kept pulling her away from the coffee table and other dangerous edges. If I was eating, she wanted some. And forget drinking anything. She whined, I worried that she was ruining the party for everyone else. Violet has a schedule to keep, so that meant feeding her and missing one of the couples' games. (And feeding her without a highchair is a two-man, all hands on deck, brace for impact kind of job.) All in all, we had a good time, but I was exhausted by the end.

 Jenny rescued us at the end of the night by hanging out with a rapidly fading Violet. But with paci, the remote and a friend, Violet was good to go.

Violet shares a moment with a random lumberjack who wandered into the party. (Just kidding, it's JR, the groom-to-be!) Remarkably, she didn't seem that freaked out by the bushy beard (unlike her Mama).

What I didn't realize is that this was pretty much the last time Violet felt good for the rest of the week! She started coming down with something on Monday, and has been out for the count ever since. Poor thing. It has certainly made for a different Thanksgiving break than I planned. But hopefully things will look up soon.