Getting the hang of things.

**caveat to this post** I am not deluded enough to think the following scenario will be a regular occurrence:

What a difference a day (and some sleep makes). We put Dani down to sleep last night around 10:30pm, and we went to sleep around 11pm. She slept until 2pm. Tag-team the feeding and diapering; back to bed at 2:30am. Wake up call at 5:30am and another tag-team feeding and diapering. Finish at 6am, and I send Big Man to our bedroom, shut the monitor off and let him get some solid sleep for a few hours. I doze a bit in the guest room which is right across the hall and with the door open I can hear everything, and Dani is up at 6:30 and she is hungry again. So she has a little bottle. Fuss, fuss, fuss. Diaper change at 7am, and then I wake up on my own at 8:45 and then wake up Big Man. A decent night's sleep. (We've been keeping a log of bottles and diaper wets so we can get the hang of frequency and know she is eating and wetting enough.) Wow!

Today was the planned bath day, so we cranked the bathroom heater and we set up the bathroom sink. We figured sleeping-ish baby would be the least bath resistant, so we brought her in. I think we erred on the side of the water not being warm enough, but the delay so mommy could take photos, because mommy's got priorities. Dani was not pleased. She was so not pleased that we didn't even use soap, just kind of swiped her with a washcloth and hurried her out of the tub.

A few minutes later (and warmer) baby was happily snuggling with daddy in her cool hooded towel. Big Man's hand looks like it could encompass the baby, but I think it's a foreground/background illusion, because his hands are big but not that big.I think I posted a few weeks ago about my planned baby present for Big Man--to get the local Chicago Bear to autograph a onesie that I could frame for the nursery. My neighbors helped me as they are friends with Josh Beekman's parents. (Josh Beekman is a local guy who was drafted by the Bears two years ago, and is now a starting offensive lineman, #67.) Doorbell rang today and it was our neighbor Paul, and Mr. Beekman (Josh's dad) who were there to personally deliver the autographed onesie for Big Man along with a photograph. What a great surprise! And, Big Man got to talk football and Chicago and Big Man was happy!

In other football news, Big Man and I are head to head this week in the fantasy football playoffs. I have the best record in the league and he's the wild card, but it's not looking good for me.

Visitors: Yesterday our Grandma Emeritus Debi came over and spent a few hours with her local granddaughter! Today Dani met Aunt Renny and Uncle John. Our friend Aimee also came over, and brought us some baby stuff she no longer needed--a great swing and a formula pitcher, among other things. She also was super helpful with tips and ideas and ran to Target to grab a couple of baby things we needed. Since I can't drive and am still pretty sore and moving slowly, and we don't know what the heck we are doing, we've decided that unless absolutely necessary neither one of us needs to be alone with the baby for any real length of time--just until we are more settled in.

I spend a bunch of time today holding the baby. We've managed to get her to slow down during her feedings, and take breaks for burps and such, because although she doesn't really spit up, she gets the hiccoughs every time she eats. So, when she is done eating, I have been more actively burping her over my shoulder, and then just let her lay there for a bit so that she is ready to sleep. She just lays with her head turned my way, and occasionally lifts her head to look around. It is the sweetest thing in the entire universe. I could do it forever. So happy.