As I Live and LearnBack   to   My   Universe

Yesterday went pretty well.

The trip to the grocery store was relatively easy due to the versatility of the car seat. It's designed so you don't have to take baby out of the seat to switch transportation modes (it has a turned handle for hand carrying, clips in and out of the car seat base, and slides in and out of the stroller, and even has an inset for sitting snugly over grocery cart seats!)

The baby saw her first (I assume) play: "A Mid-Summer Night's Dream". First off, it was done in a wonderful setting, that being an outdoor arboretum. Secondly, it's a great play and was very well acted! I loved the experience. The baby also seemed to enjoy much of the play, she really liked the Nymphs and when Puck did active monologues, and she was only scared once which was when all the people ran screaming in fear. We might have a budding Shakespeare lover here!

It's abundantly clear the baby likes to watch things, especially things in motion. Which makes it petty easy to entertain her. But the problem is that with only me in the house, and me not being an active person at home due to computers, there is little for her to watch. So unless I'm playing with her or explicitly entertaining her, she tends to get fussy. I'm also a bit worried about TV watching. From almost the first instant I turned on a child's program (I figured she'd enjoy the bright colors - my place is a plethora of greens and matching colors, not contrasts) she was engrossed in it. Not such a bad thing in concept, as it kept her quiet and "entertained", but she was SO entranced she completely stopped moved and didn't much respond to anything (except maybe a bottle) unless I turned her enough away that she couldn't turn her head to see the screen. I will definitely keep this info in mind for when I need to work without distraction this week, but I also have to not let her watch TV too long!

In general getting her to sleep when she needs it is easy enough. And usually her fussiness isn't a need for food, so I have to try everything else first - especially since she started teething the day before she came (early! Just like her big sister). Which means sometimes when she seems to want the bottle it's really just because the action of sucking on the nipple eases her gums. But you can't give a baby an empty bottle 'cause swallowing air causes all sorts of problems. But I bought a teething toy that has seemed to ease this problem, it has six different plastic things on it designed for gumming on, each with a different pattern and texture so she can use whatever feels best. (I learned yesterday the reason babies gum on things when they teeth, preferably things with varying textures, is that it helps break the skin! I've always known teething toys, or a finger/knuckle when nothing else is available, help ease the pain, I just didn't know why.)

End of day feelings about having my own baby:
- I can do this, no problem.
- I don't want to do it alone.