A day with Daddy

What an exciting day! With a whole day off in the middle of the week, Matt promised Kalina a day of fun. Despite the tropical storm coming through.

It started with Kalina and I sleeping in until 7:00 and Matt sleeping in until 8:00. They were out the door by 8:45, on their way to play at the mall. The diaper bag contained a diaper or two (one of them a rather wimpy cloth diaper, the other one of our very last disposables), two baggies of stale cereal and a granola bar, plus half a cup of milk. Since they were only going to be gone an hour.

[I threw in a load of laundry, tidied up and sprinted to the couch with a mug of steamy hot cocoa for a little downtime.]

Kalina's friend Edward happened to be at the mall with his mom. What fun--especially for Kalina, who loves to mooch off of Edward's awesome snacks, which this time included a delicious orange. (Thanks, Sarah!!!) Kids played, parents talked, and the H1N1 vaccine came up, as did the fact that there was a free swine flu vaccine clinic today. Even better, as the pediatrician is perpetually out! Matt called, I looked up the directions to the local Armory, and Matt and Kalina went directly on their way.

This is where our luck peaked for the day.

Several phone calls later, with Matt's cell battery running low, he found a sign on the door that said the vaccinations are in the other armory. Because every small- to mid-sized city should have two armories. Apparently, one is used for banquets. Which makes as much sense as using the other one for vaccinations, but I digress.

Without cell phone power to thoroughly discuss the fact that he was a bit low on diapers, food, drink and baby patience since naptime was approaching, Matt made the trek to the north part of the city (we live on the south part).

[I showered, tackled a cleaning/storage/organization project, worried about the diaper/food/drink/nap situation/cell phone battery situation, and accepted a freelance assignment.]

Matt was greeted at the armory by hoards, of which he was number 887. The downside (one of many) was that Matt had to wait outside in the rain with the baby for 45 minutes before even entering the building. The upside (yes, only one) was that I'd thoughtfully/thoughtlessly left an umbrella in the car after a rainy outing yesterday. Fortunately, the umbrella's feminine flowers didn't hinder its weatherproofing capabilities, and so Matt managed to remain mostly dry, if not slightly embarrassed. Kalina was cozily bundled under Matt's roomy raincoat, with only one leg left sticking out, and that only occasionally.

[I called to see how they were doing. They were not doing well. I fretted for much of the next hour and a half. About the food/diaper/milk/nap/cell phone battery/hoards/what-if-she-catches-something-worse-than-swine-flu/rain situation and about the fact that her fun day with Daddy was virtually ruined. At 12:15, it was officially the longest I'd been away from Kalina since I became pregnant more than two years ago. I accepted another freelance assignment and focused on it for a good 10 minutes.]

Once they got into the building, Kalina dozed for about half an hour while Matt moved about a step every five minutes in line. A kind soul held the diaper bag for Matt, while Matt entertained her eight-year-old and held Kalina, who wanted to be put onto the ground about as much as she wanted the vaccine.

Two and a half hours into this adventure (timed from arrival at Armory #2), Kalina received her vaccine, thus making the trip worth it. She giggled with relief when, afterward, Matt produced one of the aforementioned baggies of stale Cheerios. Poor girl, they're stale!

[After my relief at hearing the news that Kalina had her vaccine and was, in fact, okay, I decided that since the day was miserable anyway (because yes, it had been miserable for me, too, with all that worrying) the house might as well be clean, and I attacked the floors, cobwebs and bathtubs with the type of gusto that can only come from a mom's nervous energy. I told Matt where he might be able to find clean diapers throughout the car, and thanked him for the fact that I wasn't the one standing in the rain with the baby.]

Determined that Matt and Kalina should still have a nice day, I asked my dad, who lives in the vicinity of Armory #2, as well as in the vicinity of the museum Matt and Kalina were initially planning to visit in the afternoon, to feed them so they could carry on with festivities as if they hadn't waited in the rain among hoards for hours on end without much food or clean diapers only to be stuck with a needle at the end of it.

He happily obliged, and Kalina ate him out of house and home (not to mention Matt, I would imagine, but I'm not used to inquiring after his appetite). However, basically napless, the girl was giddy with overstimulation and Matt called the museum trip off. They did, however, play with the toys at Grandpa's house for quite a while before trekking back home, Kalina chattering all the way rather than dozing like she should've.

Albeit way past naptime, I decided Kalina was still a bit too giddy for her own good and experimentally put her down for a rest. This, in itself, proved how far we'd come in just a few months. I told her she could either sleep or play quietly--in the dark (bwahaha!). Fortunately, there were no shrieks: only silence as the girl, apparently, chose to sleep.

Matt poignantly remarked as we were convalescing later over dinner that Kalina didn't seem to have a rotten day. It started and ended with play, and had her being held for 2 1/2 hours straight--something she rarely tires of.

I guess he's right. Too bad Matt and I are so hard to please.

Kalina, by the way, will need a booster shot in about a month.

Photo: Matt and Kalina fishing. Where does the fish go, Kalina? Back to the lake! And so it did. Catch another one, Daddy!