Ellie gained two pounds in two weeks!!! After that stomach virus, she got back to eating and made up for lost time! She got her strength back and I am happy to say she's eating a ton and I also can share - she's a former crawler! As in, she walks all the time now! I wish I had some pictures to share but I didn't take any this week. I do promise a video soon of her walking - how does that sound? :)
Anyway, we celebrated her great weight with a trip to Target, just the two of us. I needed a few household things and since I never get to go in that store any more I was excited I thought of it as we left her nearby appointment. As I got Ellie out of the van it hit me all the history I've had with this store in 10 years. In fact, when child number one, two and three were first born - it was my "go to" place to get out of the house. I never knew if I needed anything when I went there. I just knew if I got inside and got a large bag of popcorn with two extra bags to split it up, I could actually form a coherent thought to actually determine if and what I actually did need. There were also the days I would go there with grandparents to buy the kids a new toy when a sibling was born. And of course when it was just Jacob and I - I had all the time in the world to stroll the aisles. I ate all of the popcorn.
But when Ellie was born, there were no Target trips. Come to think of it, there was always a nurse on the cardiac floor that popped popcorn for a late night snack that we all got to smell. On lucky days, they would burn it. Anyway, Ellie and I had to wait almost three years but she and I finally had our moment at Target last week. I carried her in on my hip - also rare since the fourth child is always a stroller child. I then got her buckled into one of those gigantic red carts. Target must think their shoppers have either over-sized purses or want to put their 8-year-olds in the cart seat. I put Ellie and my average sized purse in the front part of the cart and off we went - but I had brought goldfish which made her perfectly happy. She'll try the popcorn next time. She was quiet and happy and we had 30 minutes of peace and enjoyment together. And I never had any weird thoughts about what we "missed" those first few years, etc. I was totally in the moment and it felt so great. I don't know if it was the high from her weight gain, being out of the house with just one child, or feeling that sweet feeling you get when you have a little baby that you can tote around and take places. Whatever it was, we enjoyed ourselves.
God bless you all!!!
