wailin' on the mountain

Today was a gorgeous day.  A perfect day for a hike.  So, a while after breakfast Claire and I headed up to the trails in Montreat and I mapped out a new loop for us to take on, a bit longer than our usual, and off we went.

with my little monkey on my back

30 minutes or so into our hike she was passing out on my back in the Beco carrier.  She seemed cozy enough, and I was pleased with how much more comfortable it was to hike with her on my back than in front, but I knew we still had a long ways to go and the most opportune spot for a mid-hike nursing break was upon us and so I stopped and eased her off of my back to nurse.  My plan was to nurse her and then plop her right back on my back and carry on.  (if I carry her in front she's always quite aware of the snack right in front of her and I wasn't feeling like hiking and nursing at the same time like usual and ending up all sweaty and uncomfortable..) Well, after she ate a bit and explored some she wanted nothing to do with getting back in the carrier.  I put her on my back anyway, figuring she'd get back to being cozy, but she just screamed.  And screamed.

I wondered how far the cries could carry and if people were wondering just what was happening to some poor baby somewhere up on the mountain.

Claire has never had one of those almost cute little whimpering cries.  Nope, Claire wails.  This wailing was right in my ear.  I hiked on singing to her and that seemed to help but it's hard to carry a tune hiking uphill in the sunshine with 20 or so pounds on your back so eventually I had to stop.  I figured what was coming out of my mouth probably wasn't too soothing between the huffs and puffs anyway.  Wailing commenced again.  Right in my ear.  I had to tell myself a few times to keep my cool.  Because sometimes it's pretty darn hard.  Sometimes it's all you can do to keep the calming "shhhh shhhhhhs" from turning into frustrated "shut ups!", and she doesn't deserve that.  She's just a baby trying to get by.  Her vocabulary is pretty much limited to "hi", occasionally "mama", something that sounds a lot like "thank you" and monkey and wolf sounds (interesting first animal sounds choices, I think) and I suppose none of that was quite gonna cut it for what she was trying to tell me at the moment, so instead I got the lovely screaming in my ear.

Okay baby, you win.

I stopped and switched her on over to the front and commenced hiking and nursing and soon thereafter she fell asleep with her sweaty little head mushed up against my sweaty chest.  But you know what?  It turns out that a sleeping and content baby worn on the front in all her sweaty smushed-face glory actually is a heck of a lot more comfortable than a screaming baby worn on the back.  All this to say, if you're out hiking with your little monkey on your back and she falls asleep, for crying out loud, just leave her there!  (seems kinda obvious to me now, in retrospect) Another lesson in motherhood.  They just keep coming.

see mama, all I wanted was to nurse and snuggle....... (and mama, really, wanted it too)

Before and after the meltdown on the mountain, we had a truly wonderful hike.  We were out for about 3 hours and walked on trails tunneled through rhododendron and dappled with sunlight, saw tiny waterfalls and spring wildflowers, crunched through the last of the fall leaves and ran into some friends.  Claire even walked on her own for a good two hundred yards or so towards the end.  Two hundred yards or so that took about 20 or 30 minutes, but that's alright.  She was oh so proud of her little feet carrying her down the trail all by themselves and she shooed away my hand (with a big silly grin) whenever I offered it.  Besides, her hands were full of treasures.  She'd have something in each hand and then stoop down to grab something else and I could see the decision making happening: "which do I keep? which do I let go?"  Ultimately there was one large rock that made the cut every time and it ended up in the car with us.  The other hand was a bit more fickle and alternated from rock to leaf to stick as we walked along.  After our hike, I hungrily headed to FRESH for lunch and back at home we ate outside and both seemed happy to be sitting and eating and relaxing.

Some scenes from our outing in the woods~

Yep, she loves that rock.  She even gave it a few hugs.  That's my girl.

cheers~