Let the Wild Rumpus Start!

Every once in a while, I think it's good to rock your kid's world by doing crazy things like having a visit from relatives.

(We shall entitle this photo, "Happy Halloween Courtesy of Grandma Debbie.") Afton was so quick to warm up to them that Aunt Audra actually asked at one point, "Since she never smiles, how do you know when she likes something?" I said, "Wait for her dad to walk through the back door." In the midst of Afton's distress over crowds that are bigger than three people, I have vascillated between feeling like I'm the world's worst parent for subjecting her to torture and feeling like the sweet A-Bear needs to get a grip. (Yes, I know she'll figure it out in time.)

Despite Afton's skepticism about all the people who are simply anxious to love and get to know her--including little Elsa who has learned from the other side of the family that girl cousins are way fun--we had a good time. One afternoon, we hit the zoo and took a spin on the "conservation carousel."

(Afton actually did smile for this actvity, and then she cried when we had to get off. As we waited in line, she kept trying to squeeze herself through the fence to get in... She loves that thing.)

And as a fantastic gift, Chris and Audra insisted that they babysit Afton one evening so Tony and I could go on a date. Tony came home from work with this gorgeous autumnal arrangement in celebration of the fifth anniversary of our first date.

Yes, yes, we still celebrate that one.

Then, just as Elsa and Gibson were leaving, Afton's other cousins arrived. The wild rumpus may continue!

Jail Break

Who could send this face to timeout?
We did. This past weekend began an important phase in Afton's life: timeout. I have been arguing for the timeout policy since....oh, about a week after she was born. I am an especially ardent supporter of this disciplinary tactic during BYU football games. Much to my chagrin, Heather has kept Afton's best interests at the forefront of our parenting plan. However, this past weekend we instituted the timeout when she started to bite Heather's hair and pull it out; an act which certainly merited such a punishment. We told Afton what she did wrong and then explained to her she would be in timeout for 2-minutes. The above picture was taken within 25-seconds of being placed in the crib.
45-seconds
50-seconds
75-seconds. We took Afton out once we realized she may actually escape. I do anticipate, however, a long timeout during the next Cougar game.

The Verdict

After a bit of discussion, Tony has agreed that we will go to the park, and we will likely camp, but we will not go next weekend and we will not take the A-baby. If this actually happens, this compromise of sorts will likely turn out to be better than the original proposal. As much as I have been craving a weekend where we did ANYTHING besides mow the lawn, run errands, clean the house, do grocery shopping (in other words, what we do almost every weekend), I have been craving even more just a wee break from the wee one. I love Afton to death (she now says "belee" when I feed her broccoli and when I remind her to use a "soft touch" with the mirror in my room she just kisses her image), but I have had one 24-hour break from her in the past 17 months, so a little time away might be... healthy?

And, then again, our one family hike started out with Afton like this....

And after 10 minutes, we were walking like this....

On the way down, we were doing this. ...

very, very slowly... At one point Tony told Afton it's a good thing we weren't pioneers crossing the plains -- Brother Brigham would have left her aside because she was holding everything up... But she loved throwing rocks in the stream by the waterfall :). We'll nab Tony on a camping trip one of these days.