taking the batteries out of my biological clock

Being from California and all, there are very few things I like about the drop in temperatures. One of those is seeing bundled up babies. Babies don’t really wear big puffy jackets in California (unless you’re in up in the mountains I guess) and with the cold and rain this week, I’ve seen my fair share of puffy jacketed babies.

I got on the bus this morning and a mother with her puffy jacketed baby sat next to me. Her baby was so bundled up that the baby was forced to keep her arms straight and out because she couldn’t move them any other way. She turned to me and stared at me with her curious and beautiful almond shaped eyes. I smiled and told her mother, “You’re baby is beautiful.” Yes, I’m sure she hears this all the time, but her baby was truly beautiful. She thanked me sheepishly. And just as I was getting ready to get up for my stop, the baby reached out and grabbed the arm of my rain coat. She held on tight like babies her age do and my heart just melted. “Gotta go, pretty baby,” I told her and I could feel her eyes following me as I got off of the bus.

Usually moments like this make me wish for a baby of my own but times have changed thanks to my niece, Serena Rose. When I saw Serena last, she was a bundle of energy I just couldn’t keep up with. It’s as if someone had set her to “hyperspeed” and the dimmer switch was no where to be found.

Jesse, my sister, my mom and I all packed into the rental car and headed over to my brother’s house. Serena eventually made her grand entrance and was probably pretty excited to see a new audience. And she was more than happy to put on a show. She started by crawling all over the place. She followed that up with bringing out all of her toys…not at once but one at a time. As soon as she got distracted from playing with one toy, she’d go find another to play with. Act 3 involved her running sliding on the kitchen floor. Act 3 seemed to be her favorite. That came to a stop when she slid into a cupboard door. No injuries were sustained, thank goodness.

Act 4 was a dance, the Serena Shimmy. Feel free to see for yourself.


We took a donut break, courtesy of the yummy Krispy Kreme donuts Jesse bought for the occasion. Serena moved on to the next performance—Silly Faces.

I might have encouraged her a bit.


Here's a hug before leaving.


Here's Jesse getting in on the act.


And here's Serena, clearly not ready for bedtime.

By the time we finally left, Serena had tired me out but she was far from tired. Maybe she was extra excited because of her newfound audience. Or perhaps she had just woken up from a nap (which I hope not because we showed up at the house around 8:30 pm and left after 10 pm). I don’t know what it was. All I know is that I was tired from running/crawling/watching after her.

I just don’t know how mothers do this.