Picture Day!

So my mom took pictures of each of her seven kids when they were six weeks old. All the girls ended up wearing the same dress and so it was really fun to compare our pictures as babies. As a kid, I would study the similarities between my picture and my sister Jena's thinking that if we looked a little bit alike as babies, maybe there was still hope that I'd develop a little bit of her beauty.

Anyway, I decided I wanted to take six week pictures, too. I bought a dress special for the occasion, Jane looks great in blue, and carefully planned my day so that Jane would be happy and clean, her dress would be clean and ironed, and so we'd get to the studio in plenty of time and hopefully with minimal stress. Jane is the sweetest in the morning, so I went for an 11:15 appointment. She's not on a schedule, but going by her habits of the past few days, I thought she'd just have finished her nap and be extra smiley.

The mischief started when Jane had a totally un-Jane night. She went to be later than usual and woke up every two hours. We slept in a little longer than usual, but I managed to get her bathed with no tears and dressed. I ironed her dress the night before and had everything packed. I adjusted our timing and decided I'd leave extra early so I could feed Jane out in the car when we got there. I live about five minutes away from the studio, but I hadn't been there before so I gave myself an extra 20 minutes for finding the place.I left the house on time. Jane didn't protest in her car seat (which almost never happens!) and I thought she'd probably remain calm on the short drive. We got on the freeway and just as we got up to speed, we started to slow down. And then we stopped. There was an awful rollover wreck a mile in front of us. And then Jane started crying. And we remained stopped for a half hour. I could have walked to the studio faster than we drove...


Why is it that Jane's crying causes me physical pain?

When traffic finally started moving, I was already late for our appointment. Jane was still screaming, and she kept screaming until we pulled off on our exit, i.e. the last minute of the trip. She had fallen asleep. They managed to squeeze us in at a later time, however, and my darling Jane woke up just before it was her turn to say cheese.

So, in the end, we got some good pictures. In fact, Jane had a small crowd watching her session and one lady asked what my secret of her good behavior was (then she dropped her voice and asked with narrow eyes, "drugs?") And I find myself once again counting my blessings that Jane is such a good baby. But even with a good baby, who knew it could all be so stressful?

Speaking of stress, I find myself more impatient when I'm out and about these days. When the line is extra long at the grocery store and I know Jane's had it, I think--don't they know I have a baby? And I want special treatment. Even stopped at traffic lights when Jane is howling, I think those lights ought to know what I'm experiencing and change a little faster. Doesn't make much sense, I know, but very true.