Babies and Candied Apples

Friday is here!
It's so good to have Sam back home. He was gone for a full week (Wed-Tue) and I don't know how single parents do it, but I have a great amount of respect for them. One week of single-handedly caring for an infant was enough for me. It actually wasn't the baby that was so tough, it was the baby plus the dogs.

Funny story of when we went to pick up Sam at the airport:

The airport is about 45 minutes away (without traffic), so it's quite a long time for a person who hates to be confined to be strapped into a carseat. Fortunately, E was happy and then she fell asleep shortly before we got to the airport to pick up Sam at the curb. So when he got in the car, he was so happy to see her, that he talked to her and woke her up. I can't blame him, she's stinkin' cute and he missed her a lot, probably more than he missed me. That was all fine and dandy for a few minutes until E got pretty frustrated that no one was picking her up. Great, we have a screaming baby, and 30+ minutes before we're home.
Well, Sam had bought me a caramel/chocolate/candy-covered apple in one of the stores in the airport, and it was conveniently cut into wedges, so we could eat it without getting it all over our faces. Brilliant, and delicious. Seriously, that was the best apple ever, and it was so sweet of him to get it for me.
About 5 minutes into the screaming baby ordeal, I have an epiphany: give her a slice of apple to chew on! I told Sam to lick the candy off of it so all she gets is the apple, and he does so, and says, "there will be some residual, though." Of course, that's fine. I had given her plain apple slices to gnaw on before, and she's loved them, so I knew this would appease her until I could get home to feed her.
A few minutes later, she starts squalling, and I glance back there to ask Sam what's the matter.
He's laughing. "She only wants the sweet part. She has candy all over her face!"
"What?! Babies aren't supposed to have caramel or chocolate or candy! You're supposed to lick it all off!"
"Well, oh well!" Sam just continues to be amused. "She's advanced, she can handle it. And she really likes it."
Of course she does. If she has a sweet tooth later in life, it's because she got started early on caramel. But the next slice of apple we gave her, I was sure to bite off all the sugary coating. A hardship, I know.

Here is a picture of the little stinker with her candied apple and caramel all over her face. And the big stinker, who got so much entertainment out of it.