First Time Away

Last Saturday Andrew and I were really brave and were away from our baby girl for just over 5 hours! What did we do? We saw the new stage musical Aladdin at the 5^th Avenue Theater and had an early dinner at Cheesecake Factory. What did Kayley do while we were away? She got to hang out with two of her cousins who get to say they were her first babysitters.

Since it was my nieces, Sara and Katie, who were taking care of Kayley, I don’t think I had too much anxiety about leaving her. They have both spent lots of time with her already and are very qualified babysitters. Plus they love their little cousin!

When my sister dropped them off we finished getting ready and showed them where everything was and probably rattled off more information than we needed to. Once Andrew and I got to our car we prayed that not only would Kayley be good for her cousins, but that we would be able to relax and have a good time out on the town.

Aladdin is a new musical that wants to make it to Broadway, and we were able to see it during its first week on stage. This means it was still rough around the edges, but very enjoyable. An announcer told us before the show started that there were directors and other people scattered in the audience that were not only watching the production, but watching to audience to see how we were reacting to the musical so they would get a good idea on what needs to be worked on. And we were told that we would be watching their first live performance of a new number they integrated into the musical. I have to say the production was pretty darn good. I really enjoyed it and so did Andrew. It’s based off of Disney’s Aladdin, but is very different from the movie and the stage production that is at California Adventures. 

Why yes, we did get all dressed up

After the show I do admit that I texted Sara to see how things were going and to let them know we were headed to dinner. And during dinner I glanced at my phone a few times… I trust my nieces 100%, but that doesn’t mean Kayley was going to be good for them. And it was my first time away from the little girl! But Andrew and I did try to steer clear of the topic of Kayley while at dinner and just have a good time. Like always, the food at Cheesecake Factory was delicious.

When we got back my nieces reported that Kayley was great, and that they took her on two walks. They also told us that she didn’t really want to eat from the bottle no matter how much they tried (she had two feedings while we were gone and should have eaten about 6oz total. She only ate a total of about 2oz). Kayley was hungry, but basically decided she would rather hold out for her mommy than take breast milk from a bottle. This is a turnaround from previous times she has been given a bottle (not counting the one she was given during VBS a few days before). It’s like she has suddenly decided bottled breast milk isn’t good enough and that she wants it fresh.

We’re going to try and solve this issue. We’ve been told the best thing to do is to try different nipples for the bottle. Well it turns out our Playtex drop in system doesn’t have much nipple variety. They have different flows, but not different shapes/sizes. We might need to buy other bottles. Something we’re not looking forward to because there is no guarantee she will take the ones we try. Hopefully we’ll be able to work something out.

Anyway! Andrew and I had a great first date experience and we are so thankful for Sara and Katie giving up their Saturday to spend some time with Kayley so we could go out. Thank you girls! 

Katie and Sara! Kayley's first babysitters!