Wits end

For the last couple of weeks I have had some problems with Gwen, not major problems, just problems that involve a 1.5 yr old and not understanding that no Mommy does not want you running away from you so you could possibly be hit by a car. Actually this is a problem I have had on and off with Gwen for a couple months. Sometimes she will be great and stand by me and then sometimes she will want to play and run away from me. As you all know there is no reasoning with a 1.5 yr old. How do you explain to her that she will get hurt by a car is she runs out into the street, I am not sure she gets the concept of hurt yet. Today we got home from a play group and running errands and I didn't have enough hands to grab her hand, usually I can tell her to go to the steps and she will dutifully walk to the steps and wait for me. But today, the wind and the fact that it is 39ish and I have some stuff in my hands I guess means lets go run away. The only problem with this is the neighbors have a behemoth of an Expedition and so I can't actually see her if it is in the driveway, which it is today. I let her run off today and then she cried and came back and crawled up the steps by herself. Fast forward to nap time, for the last couple of days getting Gwen to focus, sit and read books doesn't always go well. Today I asked her if she wanted to read a book or get in her crib, she went to her crib and started to climb into it, as if she could! So we said her prayers and I put her in the crib. She laid right down, but she did not go to sleep right away of course. She is now sleeping, thank goodness, but I am not sure she will understand that Mommy loves her, but doesn't want to encourage this misbehavior!
Yesterday after swim class, Gwen's friend's father was there and he watches the girls while his wife and I get changed in the smallest pool bathroom known to man! Seriously, the college kids must have somewhere else to change, 'cause there is no room in that bathroom. Justin says to me yesterday Gwen listens so well, Sophia just ran off on him, but he would tell Gwen to come and stay and she did. I responded with well, she is not your kid, kids are often better when their parents are not around. Sadly, Gwen was upset when I finished changing, apparently Sophia ran off, Justin chased after her and Gwen was upset, Justin thought maybe Gwen felt abandoned. I suspect he was right.
Eric and I have not discussed baby names, and being the frustrating couple that we are, we most likely won't tell you when we do decide. I like that we don't have anybody commenting on the name and giving us a bad opinion on the name that we chose. We lucked out with Gwen I think, it is a nice name that most people like, but certainly I feel that most people you know aren't rude enough to say that's the worst name, strangers on the other hand, give their opinion freely.
My other dilemma is the stroller. Ugh! I do not want to have tons of strollers, we just don't have the room. My dilemma involves that we do the exercise group so I really need to have something that is like a jogger but that will accommodate the car seat since babies under 6mons can't ride in joggers, something about bobbing heads and whatnot. This stroller, seems to be nice compact and has several cool features. I like that it is light, easy to push and will fit in most shopping aisles. It also seems to be the only stroller that will accommodate the car seat. Several of the Moms have this stroller and one of our Moms is using it with her 2 kids. This is really hard to explain, but the top seat goes all the way down and you can use it as a bassinet, the child just slides in and out from the back, the child that is sitting in the bottom, that seat actually pops off and sits on top of the bassinet. What I don't like about this stroller is that it doesn't seem to have much storage space underneath, the child in the back can't see what's going out in front and most important it doesn't have a tray, which Gwen loves to have. She loves to sit up in the stroller and hold onto the tray. The second stroller which is not shown with the tray has the tray, but is hugely expensive and technically our car seat is not approved to fit in there. It is also a very light stroller, but would be a real pain to use in stores and what not, but I also know people with that stroller and it has TONS of storage space underneath. This actually stresses me out more than the fact that we don't have a name picked out, don't really know what we are going to do with this baby (as in where the child will live in the current TH) and that we haven't actually decided if we are going to buy a new car and/or look for a new house. Oh, and what we are going to do with Gwen when I am labor, we haven't figured that out either! Maybe I will be like Beth and have the baby at home (I am not really hoping for that, as I will most likely not have drugs, like last time, but I do like the idea of having Drs on hand if I need them)! The fire station is maybe 2 blocks from our house, so we wouldn't have to wait so long for the ambulance to arrive. If you get a chance go vote for Beth's birth story here. I wanted to participate in the contest, but unfortunately I never put together my birth story!
It seems that since Gwen took so long to get down for her nap it seems that we will not be picking up the camera today, which has finally arrived back at the store. Pictures and such non-wordy posts probably will conclude once the camera returns to our home. It is nice to get some of my rants out, since I know Eric is probably tired of listening to them. But I know how you enjoy the pictures and stories of Gwen.