Botanical Gardens

I took Shelby Claire and Audrey out together for the first time when Shelby Claire was four weeks old. We went to the Botanical Gardens and had a picnic with some of Audrey's friends from Mother's Day Out.  I was super nervous about going out alone with them in public. Audrey has a lively personality and like every other two-year-old, doesn't always mind her momma like she should. I felt pretty good about going to the Botanical Gardens with them, though, because Audrey would have plenty of room to run and play. It's not a place like the children's science museum where there are tons of people and I could easily lose sight of her. Plus, I'd have the other mom's there to help me!!

When we first arrived at the garden, our friends were running behind so that gave us a little time to kill. We went for a potty break, went in the gift shop, ran around the columns-- basically just whatever I could do with Audrey to occupy her while we waited. The last thing we did was to play in a fountain. My first mistake.

Audrey was wearing cute little croc maryjanes so I thought it was pretty harmless to let her splash around in the puddles at the fountain. Weeeellll.... her feet got wet inside her shoe and the shoe began to rub her little foot. We went to the bathroom to dry them off but by then the damage was done in Audrey's mind. She refused to put them back on. I took them off of her and just let her wear an old pair of socks of hers that I had in her bag in case of an accident. My second mistake.

That girl wore those socks all over the place-- on the sidewalks, in the flower beds, through the mud puddles, you name it! As I watched her run all over the place with those nasty socks, I just put it out of my mind and tried to remind myself that she was having a ball! That was hard.

It wasn't long after she had finished running through nearly every puddle there that she realized that her socks were dirty. And as the rational two year old that she is... she had to have them OFF, RIGHT THEN! I then tried some smooth negotiating... "Ok, you can take the socks off if you put the shoes back on".

Melt.down.city.

I then told her that Mommy wanted to make a deal. Her little ears perked up at that because she is all too familiar with "Mommy Deals" a.k.a "bribes". The deal was that if she put the shoes on, she would never have to wear them again. She agreed, we put the shoes on, no more drama.

We went on to have a lovely time at the gardens. She behaved herself (for the most part) and Shelby Claire slept through the entire trip. I did have lots of my mommy friends there to help me with both of the girls. That make the trip easier! Plus, my mother-in-law had come up the night before to help me get out of the house that morning. That was a huge help!! I wouldn't have made it on time without her here getting Audrey ready.

Audrey and Sophie Haris stopping for a hug break.

Shelby Claire is now 6 weeks old and we have gotten into a good morning routine around here. It's much easier to get out of the house and I no longer feel like I need 3 adults here to take care of 2 children! :D We've been on many trips since that first trip to the gardens and each one is easier and easier.