9 Months: Noble "Extra" Mobile

I'm not a single mom. I can't think what a single mom thinks or cry single mom tears, but after a weekend traveling alone with Noble I have seen a grueling vision of my life without another parent. While Bill was in New Orleans for 4 days, I drove to Houston for a birthday party with a trepidatious sheen on my brow, dreading the 3 hour tour with a passenger who historically maxes out at 45 minutes. The drive was as I expected: lots of screaming and show tunes. It wasn't so much call and response - more like a metal/cabaret mashup demo with a Whitney Houston floater. The mix was a mess. For relief we stopped for a walk around my grandparents' house, now an empty and padlocked hundred-year-old husk (for sale!) with a front walkway hand-bricked by my dad. I urged my grumpy baby to take in the seat of her ancestors and appreciate the majesty of its gnarled and towering live oak while I tried out my pStyle (A REVELATION!) and unwittingly allowed chiggers into my pants.

Despite the blubbering and traffic and skin scoring, we had a really nice weekend. Noble got to splash and crawl around with her contemporaries while her mom looked on, exchanging a knowing smile with her old amigos.
My oldest and most pregnant of pals took me out to dinner, where we traded parenting parables and dusted off our 5th grade vibe. After one drink I was so loaded I was eating spicy food and preaching the timeless wisdom of Spiritual Midwifery. At the playground the next morning, Noble discovered tunnels, the euphoric oscillation of swinging and the idyllic teething relief of engineered wood fiber.

Thanks to Laura and Travis for hosting us for the weekend, for the night out and for arranging a mini Babypalooza in their living room. Congratulations on 2 years of keeping your little blondie alive and thriving!

Back at home it's so satisfying to be together again, and as if she was waiting for it, Bill and I watched as Noble stood unsupported for a hot second while considering a basket of toys. I keep forgetting she's going to be so different day to day, and that socializing yields such major inspiration. We've since attended a baby play group, storytime at the library, the local playground and IKEA to keep her social skills sharp. A swing and a tunnel have moved onto the property, and the ridiculous giggling that came with them makes me understand the appeal of loading up on toys. What's so great about leaving the house anyway?

At 27.5" and 15.5 lbs, Noble has a lust for life best glimpsed during her feral self-feeding frenzies, nightly immunity to sleep and evasive diaper changes. She's been pulling up since 7.5 months, so I took a chance the other day and set up her push walker (Thanks Wilsons!) which she conquered immediately and has been more daring than ever for it. She crawls to the edge of everything ready to dive, so we're teaching her to back into her dismounts. Taking her into the doctor for her 9 month check up I felt the need to explain all the bruises on her face, but decided against it. I don't explain all of my bruises. ...all of hers are from the kitchen table legs, all of mine are from her... I'm determined not to apologize, hover, protect her too well from germs or clean her too thoroughly after meals. I'm enduring unspeakable smells, brain-scrambling noise, making food around the clock, sleeping 6 hours a night and dimly wondering why my reflection looks so surprised. The disarray I've become accustomed to has me ignoring many housekeeping infractions, forgetting to care about exercise and I can't remember the last time I went this long without an oil change. I am wholly fatigued and desperate for control, but this is our time to be wild. I'm trying not to miss it.