Ever had one of those days...?

Wednesday was one of the crappiest days on record for me. Have you ever had one of those days that from start to finish just, well, sucked? First some background, then a sampling:

Eric, who has been a great eater of baby food for these past 6 or so months, has now gone into baby revolt. He absolutely will not eat anything that pureed or served to him with a spoon. This is driving poor mom batty, especially in the mornings, as Eric used to love eating oatmeal (and the oatmeal would be the most solid food he would eat all day).

Eric will, however, eat finger foods. I read all the books on what to feed your baby, and I got ripe avocados (which he loves), ripe bananas, steamed carrots... all the things that are healthy and that he once ate heartily when it was served to him in a bowl.

But he has now become the pickiest eater on the planet. He hates bananas (not that I don't keep trying, but after awhile you get tired of cleaning mushed bananas off of everything- trust me). He can't seem to chew the avocado and keeps spitting it out. And carrots? Carrots are right out.

He will, however, eat toast. And toasted bagels. And cheese. He loves cheese. The cheese thing is genetic, so we're not surprised. Unfortunately, so is the picky eating (from John- but as I'm always the one feeding him I feel I've been gypped).

So now that I've caught everyone up, my Wednesday went something like this...

1- Eric won't eat. And then he barely napped (of course!)

2- During the time that Eric actually IS napping (for all of 20 minutes) in the afternoon, I try to get a load of laundry in the dryer. But when I turn on the dryer, I notice that something isn't right. Sure enough, the dryer vent has separated from the back of the dryer. I can't squeeze my pregnant belly back into the wedge to fix it, and I sure as heck wasn't moving it, so I figure John can simply reattach it when he gets home.

3- When I realize that Eric won't go back to sleep, I think that a walk might do us good (ok, the truth is I couldn't bear to be pinned down in a tiny townhouse with a cranky baby for the next 3 hours waiting desperately for a reprieve from my spouse). The weather was really mild and warm. Foggy, as it had been raining all morning, and a little eerie but nice. I get the stroller from the trunk of my car. I can push it only to the edge of the steps leading to the front door. I get my keys, my cell, and put Eric in the stroller. This is where I'm starting to feel positive about how my day might turn out. This was a mistake.

As we start walking, I notice that I have stepped in mud that was lying on the sidewalk (you know where this is going, don't you?). Yeah. Not mud. Keep in mind that there are leash laws in effect in Fairfax County that can fine someone $2,500 for not picking up dog poop. But some a** hole still managed to leave it on the sidewalk for anyone to step in. The good news is that the rain made it easier to wipe off of my shoe. The bad news is I STILL managed to get it on my hand, had to go inside and wash furiously while my child was in a stroller outside (I still feel bad about that). And then after the walk I knew I would have to clean it up, or I could get blamed for it and/or John would probably step in it, too. I'd like to say that I did the Christian thing on my walk with Eric and wished the dog walker happy thoughts and a Merry Christmas, but the truth is I imagined a ring of hell where people like this drown in dog poop for all eternity. Or at least get caught and have to pay the fine.

At least I'm not bitter. ;-)

4) I had another 2 hours to kill before John came home, and Eric was just a pill. A very tired little pill. I knew from experience he wouldn't nap again. I tried to make the best of the tantrums he threw when I wouldn't let him pull a lamp on himself or eat paper. I couldn't wait for John to get home...

5) But when John gets home, he looks miserable. Turns out they were painting in a part of the lab where he was working and didn't tell anyone. John had a migraine and goes upstairs to lay down in the dark. No chance of moving the dryer. We decide I should call the landlord who asks if it can wait until Friday. I convince him it would be best to do it that evening.

6) I play a game of "get the crawling baby" and climb behind Eric upstairs to the bedroom. Eric happily begins playing with one of his toys. Then... everything turns black. Power outage. John calls the Virginia Power who says that something is blown at the station, that the outage is widespread, and it will take awhile to fix.

We call the landlord and tell him about the outage. John watches Eric as I go to pick up some dinner. The power company had us convinced that it was widespread, but as I drove down the road I noticed that everyone had electricity but our neighborhood. I'd like to say that this is a rare occurrence, but we've lived here for over a year and our power has gone off about six or seven times during perfectly normal weather and for no reason.

After I get back, we bathe Eric in the dark using flashlights. We put him down without his usual white noise, and he thankfully goes to sleep. We eat in the dark, and as soon as we're finished, the power comes back. The rest of the story has a happy ending- the landlord comes and not only fixes the dryer but helps John install a second car seat into the Prius. Everything ends on a happy note. But my God... what a day!