That moment...

We had it...that moment that every parent cringes at. While on vacation in TN we decided it would be fun to take a trolly ride at night to see all the beautiful Christmas light displays that they had around the town. We thought it would be perfect timing since it started right after Coleman's nap.

We had gone to dinner, gotten him to sleep in his carseat and were planning on him sleeping for part of the trolly ride, feed him on the trolly, enjoy the lights (since he loves shiny things), and we'd get to enjoy the lights too. Coleman had other plans. He woke up during the transfer from carseat to my arms for sleeping (lesson #1 learned, we should have just brought the carseat along). We got on the trolly with about a dozen and a half people, squeezed the three of us into a tiny seat made for two small people and I began to give Coleman his bottle. He ate like a champ, as always, and burped like a champ too.

Off the trolly ride goes and he was doing quite well. Blowing bubbles, jabbering away, then he decided he didn't wan anything to do with standing on my lap or being held, or looking out the window. He was screaming in protest. I didnt have any other ideas at this point after bouncing him and trying to burp him.

Justin and I tried to remain calm while talking with one another and whispering as to not disturb the tour guide and other passengers trying to enjoy a Christmas light trolly ride without the sound of a screaming baby (and we all know that Coleman has a great set of lungs!). Justin took Coleman for a bit and we switched spots. He couldn't get him to calm down on his lap so he took Coleman to the floor of the trolly. He somewhat enjoyed that in various intervals. To sum it up, we spend 50 out of the 60 min. trolly ride on the floor of the trolly with Coleman attempting to keep him calm. Justin did great with him for a little while, then was out of ideas after he became fussy again, so I sat down on the floor and ended up singing for 20 minutes the itsy bitsy spider, his name song we made up for him, and the ABC's (the only songs that calm him down right now). So that was fun.

It was one of the situations where we were so worried about ruining other peoples experiences. We knew Coleman was tired since he hadn't taken a long nap, he didn't get a good burp because we were afraid of him spitting up over someone sitting behind us, and he just wanted to be on his own to play and not be held for a bit. Poor little guy - Thankfully everyone on the trolly was very forgiving and understanding. One nice lady even said "weren't we all babies at one time?". Of course, as soon as we got off the trolly he was a total ball of joy as he usually is (go figure). And did I mention that he was wearing his "Little Stinker" shirt that evening too? It was very fitting for the event.

I give props to my husband and I for keeping our cool with one another during the situation and for doing everything we could think of to keep Coleman entertained amidst his fussiness. We learned some valuable lessons that day as parents and now know how we'll handle the situation differently next time is comes up (because it definately will).