#MomlifeMusings Part II

Today’s #momlifemusings comes to us all the way from beautiful Monterado, Italy where my good friend Marjorie lives with hubby Chris, their 80 + pound fur baby Rooney and beautiful 9-month old baby girl Chloé! Chloé, just like her Mama, is a force to be reckoned with! The girl has plenty of opinions and is NOT afraid to let Mom, Dad and #Instaroo 🐶 know EXACTLY how she feels.. sound familiar? Chloé is Chickie’s spirit animal from across the pond… 😂😂

With Chloé still comfortably in Mama’s belly, Marjorie settled on combo of the Uppa Baby Vista and Nuna newborn car seat for baby girl’s traveling needs. Surely Chloé would LOVE taking long strolls through the vineyards in their property, right? Mom would sit in a Café atop the  hilly old town with baby girl peacefully asleep in the stroller beside her, overlooking the Adriatic Sea.. Can’t you picture it? Bliss! Well.. Not quite. It turns out that, as with most things in #momlife, Marjorie’s babygirl had VERY different plans for her stroller/car seat combo. Let’s take a peak inside Marjorie’s #mombrain to see how those picturesque daily walks really go down these days..

From Marjorie:

My baby is gorgeous! I am so in love with our little Chloé Mae. She sleeps in 10-12 hours stretches at night, she is a GREAT eater (the girl is half Italian after all so I guess this should come as no surprise? lol), when I put her down for a nap she falls asleep in about 60 seconds without fussing and she’s just about the most social baby I’ve ever met. I love my baby and  I’m so grateful for her existence. Please don’t think that I don’t by what you’re about to read… Please? Let’s make a deal- you don’t judge and I get real. How does that sound?  Everybody on board? Eeek! Ok, let’s get real..

I can count on one hand how many times our baby has fallen asleep in the stroller. I can also count on one hand how many times she has gone on a car ride and not whined the entire ride. You would think I’m talking about a newborn, right? Nope. I am talking about our almost NINTH MONTH OLD BABY GIRL! Yup, you read that right. It seems we have one of those “exception to the rule” babies when it comes to strollers and car rides. Anyone else?

“Take her for a walk in the stroller” they said, “the air will make her sleepy” they said… Wrong again, my friends.  Baby Chloé fights for dear life to get out of the stroller, fresh air or not. We’ve tried everything! We thought the newborn insert would be the answer to our prayers but yup, you guessed it- no luck. The insert made things marginally better but still nothing at all like all the kids and babies we see passed out in their strollers while mom and dad enjoy a coffee, or lunch, or shopping. The one time she peacefully drifted away to sleep in her stroller I didn’t know what to do with myself! An old Italian grandma approached the stroller cooing and saying how precious Chloé was; the poor old lady tried to strike up a conversation only to slowly retreat from the stroller after reading my eyes: IF YOU WAKE HER UP LADY…  THERE WILL BE TROUBLE!

“Put her in the car seat” they said, ”my kid falls asleep as soon as they hear the engine” they said..  NOPE! Remove the insert, keep the insert, install a toy bar, install a mirror, sit in the back with her, take a windy road, take a straight road, play music….no matter what we do, Chloé HATES the car seat AND the stroller with a passion!

Lets be clear – we are eternally grateful for our healthy, beautiful, fierce, bubbly, energetic little angel girl Chloe; but not being able to take a walk or ride in the car without the drama does wear on you. As Pharell would say, she wants to mooooooove. So, we have learned that we need to let this baby stretch her legs, we need to encourage her curiosity and not resent her for it. Recently, baby Chloé has started pulling up on everything. I have a feeling her first steps are just around the corner. Maybe once she’s walking she’ll tire herself out enough to WANT to go in the stroller? One can only hope..

I hope this helps any Mamas out there who may be in the same boat- you are not alone! And if it turns out I am the only one dealing with a fussy traveler, at the very least I hope this will make the rest of you appreciate and cherish your stroller/car seat-loving kiddos!

Back to SHR

There you have it friends, a peek into the frustration that is a stroller/car seat hating kiddo. Personally, I never had to deal with this until the past two weeks or so. Chickie has decided she wants to walk and ONLY walk. She screams at the sight of the stroller AND the car seat. It’s so frustrating! Could this be the beginning of the terrible twos? God help us..

That’s it for the second installment in our #momlifemusings series! I’ve been absolutely loving learning about your #momlife experiences. If you haven’t sent your in yet, you still can! E-mail me your thoughts in English or Spanish! A Little Too Loud would LOVE to have you and you experiences! BIG thanks to the Marinos for letting us take a peak into their daily lives and get to know their sweet girl Chloé. Will your story be featured next?? Stay tuned!