How to make apple dumplings with a 4 month old, a step by step tutorial

1. Put baby down for an afternoon nap. Figure that she'll sleep for at least 2 hours since she had a rough morning where her napping was thrown off because of her 4 month well baby check-up and subsequent vaccines. Ouch.
2. Poke around on the internet for at least the first 20 minutes of her nap figuring that you have all the time you need and more. While poking, do pretty much absolutely nothing but check email for about the third time of the day and then look at the Atlanta Braves website again.
3. Strain ears to hear even the slightest peep from sleeping baby. Nothing? Proceed to step 4.
4. Pull out recipe. Since you only make these once a year, refresh your memory about how these all go together. Note that apple dumplings really consist of three basic parts--making the syrup, making the dough, cutting up the apples and assembling the dumplings.
5. Make the syrup. Easy.
6. Begin to make the dough (aka the no-turning-back-now part). Hark! A peep.
7. Try to ignore the increasing peepage coming from the other part of the house in hopes that baby will put herself back to sleep as she's only been asleep for about 35 minutes now, a bit short even by her standards. (Sidenote...this is completely wishful thinking as baby neeeever puts herself back to sleep after waking up from her afternoon nap.)
8. Lament the 20 minutes that you wasted poking around mindlessly on the internet at the beginning of baby's nap.
9. Put wooden spoon down in semi-frustration. Go check on the loud protestations and gnashing of gums issuing from the crib.
10. Try to calm irate baby. Change diaper. Feed baby. Mentally rue the oven that was started to pre-heat about 20 minutes ago. It's ready.
11. Sigh at unhappy baby, who was not mollified by fresh diaper and mid-afternoon meal. Baby demands to be held. Clingy baby will not tolerate being set down.
12. Go rummage out carrier that sister-in-law made for you as a baby shower present. Frustratedly mess with carrier, trying to figure out how to put it on and secure it and having poor success. Baby cries.
13. Attempt to work on cutting up apples with crying baby in carrier. Baby cries some more. This is not working for her but you give it a go anyway. Remove baby. This is just as well.
14. Put baby in exersaucer. Baby is satisfied just long enough only so long as you are within her sight at all times. Baby does not play, but just kind of props her head up. You sing songs to her about what you are doing. 15. Construction of dumplings complete and pans in oven.
16. Sigh.
17. Hug and soothe baby while wishing that your spouse would just come home to give you a break for a few minutes.
18. Enjoy delicious dumpling knowing that you're a multi-tasking expert.