Sunday, July 03, 2005

The peanut and the squeaker

We're still casting about for a nickname for Melissa. "Squeaker" is a good fit, except for her high-volume periods of baby rage that can last for two or three hours. My own suggestion for those times was "Fussmonkey." Maybe she will have two nicknames, but probably she won't end up with either really sticking.

Anyway. Besides the evening hours, there is one other time Melissa is markedly LESS mellow than her older brother. One of the surest ways to calm down a fussy Matthew was to take him for a car ride. I can't count how many times I took him on early morning rides in Provo while Rachel got some rest. I had to be careful to drive East, towards the sun, until he was well asleep, otherwise, the sun coming through the back window would keep him awake and angry.

Melissa's car seat has a collapsible cover, so the sun wouldn't be a problem. She just hates her car seat. Absolutely won't stand for it. The best you can hope for is that if she's already asleep, she won't wake up for 15 minutes. Once she's aware that she's in the seat (and she never takes longer than that to wake), she will yell with the volume turned to 11 until she gets out. She really goes all out; I'm half afraid she'll choke on her splittle sometimes.

In the car, she's definitely a fussmonkey.

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