Shopping

We decided to go shopping today; Jeanne really needed a lighter-weight, more city-friendly stroller, and my Mom had petitioned me to find and buy something the kids needed. Tom and I hadn't gotten them a "big" present yet, either. So off we went.

We got as far as the car, where we were confronted with a car seat whose straps were configured so short that they were too tight for our very tiny baby girl. Car seats are something to be reckoned with; marvels of engineering, but not easy to figure out. A half hour later, Jeanne was able to lengthen the straps, and we were on our way!

Parking in Paris is always a challenge. Five times around the (several) blocks and still no parking space in sight, we decided to do what several others had done. We parked across the street from the store in a no-parking zone, and left our blinkers on. This worked well.

Once in the store we found the stroller we were looking for right away. Things were looking up! After ordering the stroller, we were looking around the store to see what else we might need. A familiar odor was wafting up from Juliet; she needed to be changed, and luckily the store also sold changing tables. Jeanne was changing Juliet and broke her own cardinal rule: never leave the area in question uncovered. I've never seen anything like it; Juliet shot a large mustard-colored wad of guess what clear across the changing table onto her mother's scarf, which was luckily covering the front of mother's coat. For a tiny body, both her power and her aim were impressive! Jeanne and I had a good laugh. We had been thinking about trying to go out for lunch, but we opted for the apartment and a change of clothes for mother and daughter instead.

We spent the afternoon unpacking the new stroller and car seat, washing the fabric covers and reading about how to put it all together. It's going to be perfect for them. As I was holding Juliet after giving her a bottle, I was already wondering how I can ever leave her at the end of the month. So I'm just going to savor each day and be grateful. Life is good.