After a long day, I was excited to be able to relax, watch Charlie Wilson’s War and eat some leftovers. Alex didn’t like this plan. After not taking an afternoon nap, he finally went down around 5:30. When he woke up at 7, exhausted and needing to go back to sleep, I fed him and attempted to rock him to sleep, hopefully for the night.
He didn’t like that plan, either. Forty-five minutes later, he was no closer to falling asleep and was continually crying. I rocked and rocked, shushed and shushed, and then, much to my surprise, he threw up. All over me. At least he wasn’t crying for no reason.
I have a lot of issues with throw up. Blood, guts, gore, most things that people find immensely gross don’t bother me one bit. Throw up? Makes me want to throw up. I could smell it all night long.
After I successfully cleaned myself (and him) off, I brushed his teeth and started rocking him to sleep again. He was about to fall asleep when the fire alarm started blaring.
Again.
This is the fourth time in two weeks that it has gone off. Each time it has been because someone has burned food and decided the best way to let the kitchen air out is to open the door to their apartment. Great idea! Except that the smoke then causes the building’s fire alarms to go off, not just the single apartment’s. And once that happens, we all have to exit the building. 
So, Zach and I stood around for a minute deciding whether or not to go down. It’s like “The Boy Who Cried Wolf,” only it’s the old lady who burns her food every few days and then swears loudly as she walks down the stairs, yelling at no one in particular. One day, though, there could be a real fire. With Alex, we aren’t willing to risk it. So, I put a sweater over his robot pajamas and we headed out into the immensely loud hallway.
With baby in tow, we climbed down the many, many, flights of stairs. It was raining, it was an hour past Alex’s bedtime, and Zach and I were starving. We knew we had at least thirty minutes until they would get everything straightened away, so we went for a nice long drive.
Our drive took us to Whole Foods, where I bought some delicious sushi to have for our late dinner. In the end, I suppose it was worth the effort.
Unfortunately, I can still smell the throw up.
Ugh, they must not be too smart if they think opening the door that leads to the HALLWAY is a good way to let the smoke out! I bet you can’t wait to move away from there!
Oh, the joys of apartment living! I hope that Alex is feeling better! Sick, throwing up babies are no fun!
argh, that sucks. People are so dumb… why would they open their door? Sorry about the puke too… ick!
I’m like you. Blood and guts no problem, but throw up…can’t hack it. And I love sushi, but I wouldn’t want to smell throw up while downing the spicy crab!
Isn’t it amazing what we’re willing to endure for our kiddos? I think I had puke, poop, pee, and breast milk on me one day and it was just an ordinary day at the office!
Aww! Poor little guy. I hope he’s feeling better. How frustrating - having to deal with crazy neighbors who set off the fire alarm!
I’m beginning to think there is a conspiracy going on where Burgh people are rubbing it in that While Foods is too far for us to make it a routine stop. Y’all can quit any time now!