When Sophie Gets Angry—Really, Really Angry …

Monday I made a quick trip to Barnes & Noble to pick up The Vaccine Book by Robert W. Sears. (For those wondering, we plan to fully vaccinate Sophie but we’re researching alternative vaccine schedules.) Anyhow, armed with a generous gift certificate from my colleagues, I got sidetracked in the children’s book section and got home later than I expected. Because Andy kept thinking I would be home anytime (and because I forgot my cell phone), he resisted giving her a bottle. But she was inconsolable, and to prove to me how upset she was, Andy recorded her. You can watch a clip here:

When I got home, I felt terrible. Nursing her immediately calmed her. That night, when getting her ready for bed, I read to her a book Nini bought for her by Molly Bang:

After the book and our bedtime poem, I rocked her to the first song on her lullaby CD. Usually, after the first song, I put her in her crib. Maybe it was because I was feeling guilty for lingering in the bookstore a little too long or maybe it was because I knew, 20 years from now, I’d give up bookstore lingering any day for one more chance to sit there, rocking, her head heavy on my shoulder. So I rocked her through another song. And then another.

“Lips that taste of tears, they say,
Are the best for kissing.” —Dorothy Parker