Going For a Walk

Sounds easy doesn't it? It used to be. Then it got a little harder when Henry came along. I had to remember a hat, a sippy cup, a snack, all the sports equipment we might need for a stop at the park (golf clubs, golf balls, baseball bat, baseball, soccer ball, football...you get the picture). It was just a little harder to go for a stroll, but I got used to it. It was so nice, we'd stroll through our beautiful neighborhood, sometimes walking to campus and doing a loop around the football stadium, sometimes Henry would take a little nap, and I would listen to podcasts of "This American Life" and enjoy a little me time, a little exercise and some fresh air.

Theeeeeen came Fisher...AND Henry turned 2. Now getting out of the house can take most of the morning. Take Wednesday. After a week of sweltering summer weather it rained early in the morning and it turned out to be a gorgeous gorgeous day. Perfect for a walk and some playtime at the park. Sooooo...

Feed Henry
Feed me
Feed Fisher (if you know anything about breastfeeding then you know this can be a little unpredictable and sometimes can take up to an hour as he decides to drift off to sleep, wake up crying for more, feed, sleep, wake, ask for more, eat, sleep, repeat.)
Diaper and dress Henry
Dress Me (when I put on my running shoes Jack knows what is going on and campaigns to go on the walk with us and is underfoot until we finally walk out the door)
Diaper and Dress Fisher
Apply sunscreen to Henry and me
Find my phone, find the cord and hook it up to my computer so I can download the latest podcast
Make a snack and fix a sippy cup
Fill my waterbottle
In between all of the things I'm doing I'm also making up the bed, answering the phone, answering emails for work, etc.
OK READY TO GO...
But no, it is time to feed Fisher again. Sooo, feed Fisher and try to find something to entertain Henry so that I'm not just plopping him down in front of the TV again.

THEN approximately 2 HOURS after I had the bright idea to go for a walk we FINALLY make it outside to load up the crew into our awesome new stroller.

Let me pause to expound about how much I love our new stroller. Thank you Granddad and Betsy for contributing to this kind of pricey marvel of engineering...and thanks Ed for making up the rest. It might be my favorite possession!

Did you notice Fisher in the picture above? Look again...


How cool is that? Here's a view from the other angle.


If you are worried about Fisher getting hot in there, don't worry, we don't usually walk in the hot time of the day, it was really breezy and mild this day, he gets plenty of air circulation in there, we live and walk in a very shady (as in trees, not the other kind ;-) neighborhood, and when I had to stop every 2 minutes (more on that later) I'd touch him and make sure he wasn't too warm. I'm very claustrophobic, so I'm very sensitive to closed in spaces...so don't worry.

The stroller coverts as the boys get older, the reclining part will sit up and the seat on the top ends up getting moved to the back, so we'll be using this for years. It is so nice because the front wheel swivels so it turns corners very easily and it is so thin, it doesn't take up the entire sidewalk and can get in doors easily, a typical double stroller can't do that. It is nice when we go to the farmer's market and places there are crowds...believe me, I've learned people give you dirty looks for taking up too much space with even a small single stroller!

Ok, so back to the walk. As I said before one of my favorite parts of walking is listening to podcasts and relaxing a little. We didn't walk much during my pregnancy because I'd get this really painful stitch in my side...and things have changed since we were walking last fall...Henry's vocabulary and curiosity has exploded. We started out and about half a block later I hear "MomMom......" and can't understand the rest with my headphones in, so I stop, take out my earbud, and say, "What baby?", and Henry repeats his question or observation. It is really very cute, but not very productive when I'm trying to get some exercise. So I spent the majority of my walk standing beside the stroller, bending down, saying "Yes, sweetie, the ball in that yard is blue AND white!", *walk* *walk* *walk*, "What Baby?" stop, remove earbud, bend forward, "Yes, AND the ball is 'durty'!".

Besides the random outbursts of newborn crying *turn up ipod...just a tiny bit* the walk was great. You can imagine the funny looks we get when people hear a newborn crying and can only really see a big happy 2 year old sitting in the stroller.

So, that is our walk, warts and all. I know it will get easier, I'll get better at it and the boys will get older and a little easier *fingers crossed*. We actually have taken a couple more walks since this one and it was a little easier. It is all about timing I guess...which is not my strong suit! Wish us luck...and remember not to take your evening strolls for granted!

...oh, in all the rush to leave I forgot to take a bag to pick up anything Jack might leave "behind" and so I had to do the "my dog is pooping and I'm acting like a don't notice because I'm tending to my kids" look. Sorry if that was your yard. Other than that...success!