Meet Milly

I knew it was just a matter of time. Inevitable. The major meltdown in a public place. We've come close a couple of times, but we've been able to avert disaster so far. Not today. 

It started as a perfectly wonderful day. We had the best weather today that we've had since April. Low humidity, sunny skies, warm temperatures. I was planning to get together with my friend Jeannette and her baby girl, Jade. We were going to start at Babies R Us, have some lunch, and do some walking outside. Lily woke up happy, and she was content while I was getting ready. She was OK in the car, she started to fuss at the red lights, but I put in the vacuum CD, and it worked like a charm. 

Jeanette and I were looking at baby clothes, shooting the breeze, and Lily started to fuss a little. So I picked her up and put her on my shoulder. She wasn't any happier with that, so I thought maybe I'd check her diaper. Babies R Us has a nice little room for changing and nursing, so we headed back there. 

Her fussing had turned to full-on crying by the time we got there. I figured she was hungry. 95 times out of 100, she's hungry. So, I decided to change her first in the hopes that if she fell asleep while nursing, I wouldn't have to wake her up to change her. 

By the time I finished changing her, her crying had turned to screaming. SCREAMING. So I hurried and tried to feed her. She wasn't having it. I picked her up and tried the shoulder. More screams. Tried again to feed her. She kinda tried to nurse, but she was crying too much. I tried and I tried, but I couldn't calm her down. In her short little life, NEVER has the boob not done the trick. It may not work for long, but it always works. Until today. 

I didn't know what else to do, so I left. I hoped Jeannette would see me on my way out; I figured she and everyone in a 4-mile radius would hear us at least. I felt rude leaving, but she's a mom, so she gets it. 

Lily got quiet when we got outside -- for a minute or two. Long enough for me to get her into the car without someone thinking I was a kidnapper or something. In the car, I turned on the vacuum CD and it worked. Until we got to the interstate. 

Just as I'm pulling on to I-75, Lily starts back in with the screaming, and there was absolutely nothing I could do about it. Even if there were a good spot to pull over, there was nothing I could do to console her but try to get her home. 

Finally, we got home. I turned on the vacuum, held her, and bounced until she fell asleep. I called Jeannette and she came over so we could at least have our lunch together. And, as a novice mommy herself, she probably knew that I needed a little extra support after that little episode. 

I still have absolutely no clue what upset her so much. No idea at all. It was like she was a totally different baby for a couple of hours, so I started calling her Milly, Lily's evil twin. She's never -- ever -- cried/screamed like that. Ever. In fact, she doesn't cry much at all anymore. She's happy most of the time, except when she's hungry, and that doesn't last long. So she really threw this at me out of nowhere. 

She slept for the rest of the afternoon, apparently having a total meltdown is exhausting. Daddy came home, Milly was gone, and my sweet Lily was back. She and I talked. I told her how she freaked me out, and I was scared because I didn't know what was wrong with her. She smiled at me and said "kkkghhh."