Hold On!

I wouldn't trade Eli for anything in the world. And although I love every minute I spend with him, there is one thing I miss about my pre-Eli days. Before I even start, let me say that anyone who knows me knows that I am not into cars, both for what they look like and for what’s under the hood. That being said, I think the hardest adjustment to parenthood has been my new wheels. Before Eli, I drove a beautiful blue 2000 Honda Civic Si. This was the first car Lehr and I bought together, and when we retired the Nissan, Lehr got a new car and I happily took over as primary driver of the Honda (at which point I ‘installed’ Hawaiian seat covers, I hung a sea bean from the rearview mirror, and I immediately named the car “Betty”). I really love(d) that car; nothing made me more happy than to throw my bike on top, pop in a No Doubt CD, roll down the windows and just drive…. I knew this would have to change once Eli arrived. For starters, the car is a two-door, so maneuvering a car seat in and out of the back seat would be difficult. Then there is the whole ‘safety’ issue that Lehr kept trying to hammer into my head. I tried; I installed Eli’s seat in Betty and gave it a good few days, but after bruising myself even more than usual climbing in and out of the cramped back seat, I resigned. The car Eli and I cruise around in now, Earl, isn’t a bad car by any means. (“Earl” is a black, 4-door Acura RL.) It is, however, a sedan, and it is, however, ‘safe’ (read: B O R I N G). No seat covers, no sea bean, no stick-shift, too big, too grown-up… I know in my mind it is the right car to drive with Eli, but in my heart, I miss Betty every day….

This brings me to my Eli moment of the day. I had the opportunity to drive Betty a few times this weekend (I snuck out when Lehr and Eli had their backs turned), so when I got into Earl this morning to drive Eli to the park, I was still in Betty-mode as far as my driving goes. I didn’t really notice until I looked in the rearview to catch a glimpse of Eli holding on to the car seat handle as if it were a roll-bar and we were about to go down a bumpy road. Maybe I should stop driving Betty on the weekends; old habits are hard to break. It just made me realize that you can take the girl out of Betty, but you can’t take Betty out of the girl…

Also, Eli's second tooth popped through while he was sleeping; he now has a matching pair on the bottom. (If you look closely, you can see them.)