Bravo to moms!

I've made it through one week on my own and all I can say is Bravo. Bravo to all the single moms out there who do this on their own day in and day out for years. One week alone and I am exhausted, lonely and taxed to the point of tears. And that's with a baby who sleeps 12 hours a night and is a perfect angel 90% of the time that she's awake! The most heartbreaking thing is the look on her face and the way she reaches for the screen whenever we talk to her dad on Skype. If there was ever any doubt in my mind about babies needing their daddies it has been erased by her reactions to those conversations! I know that the experiences she's having are great for her developing senses but I feel terrible taking her away from a person that she clearly loves so much.

I should clarify. So far we've had really great days and there are a lot of baby friendly free activities to do on the Big Island, more on that in another post. It has been a lot of fun and Kaitlyn has made a lot of friends wherever we go. Today, however, we had a rough ride down winding mountain roads as Kaitlyn screamed in the back for no reason other than that she wanted to be out of her car seat. I was hopped up on all the coffee samples and starving. We arrived in the little village of Holualoa only to find the cafe closed, after struggling to get a stuck stroller out of the car with Kaitlyn still crying. After she finally fell asleep I popped into local artist Shelly Maudsley White's gallery because she had an inviting looking sofa and brightly colored paintings, and I really needed a break. We talked for a while and she ended up giving me a print that I had admired! Even sleeping, Kaitlyn is winning hearts. That or Shelly could tell that I really needed a pick me up since I almost lost it in her gallery.

One week down, two more to go.