kid-free or not kid-free?

That is the question. And the answer is NOT kid free. Sigh. Well, in all honesty, we haven't really worked on it.

Brian and I finally tried to have a night out without the kids for the first time since Avery was born (Avery is 5 months old now). Kim, Brian's cousin, graciously volunteered to babysit for us as part of Brian's birthday gift. I was SO looking forward to a night out where I didn't have half my attention always focused on a child.

I'm exclusively breastfeeding - Avery hasn't had a bottle of breast milk since she was a month old. And she is usually fussy in the evenings as it is, so I was a bit nervous at leaving her with someone else - not to mention that "someone else" would also have half her attentions stolen by a 2 year old! It makes for a busy, stressful evening.

But we tried it anyway. Avery had her last feeding at 5pm and went down for a nap. Brian and I left to go for dinner at a friend's house at 6pm. I had a GREAT evening - thanks Zita and Jesse for the fabulous meal and great company!

But at 11pm, my cell phone rang. It was Kim. She said that Avery woke from her nap at 7pm. Kim tried to give her the bottle and she just played with it in her mouth - I don't think she really knew what to do with it! As it was, Kim managed to get a couple of ounces into her that way. But that was all she would take for the rest of the evening. She wouldn't drink more at bedtime and she wouldn't go to sleep in her bed. So, Kim was still carrying her when she called me. Avery was basically cat napping on Kim and each time she woke up, she would suck vigorously on Kim's shoulder or on her own hand! She would not sleep soundly until she was breastfed.

When we got home, I took Avery right away and she drank quite a bit. Then, she went sleep soundly in her bed. Now, I know that babies will not starve themselves, but the thought of her exhausting herself because something just wasn't right leaves me unsettled. So, Brian and I will have to work on the bottlefeeding thing if I want another kid-free night out. Until then, I had a good five hour stint and soaked in the peace and adult conversation for all that it was worth!

Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention that Joshie behaved well for Auntie Kim. He gave her a bit of a hard time at bedtime, but he eventually went to sleep on his own. I'm still curious, though, by what he meant the next day when he said to me, "Auntie Kim said Mommy was naughty later, before her come home."