January 30, 2012

We had a fun day today. This was our first night-to-morning without doggie 'episodes'. Hooray! Everyone, dogs included, got some good sleep. We were in great shape for the day ahead.

After a quiet lie-in, we put on a spiffy outfit and went out to pick up Morgan. This was the first time Olivia stayed awake for the car ride. I'm not exactly sure what she was looking at, but she was busy observing something. Morgan & I got some lunch and ate in the car and then we went to Blueberry Baby. It was recommended to me by Adam, who's been doing lots of research even while he's in Afghanistan. It's a fantastic shop! I saw many things that I liked, bought a few, and have a few on my list for our next trip. I didn't want to over-do all in one day. On my shopping list (from reading ahead of time) were reusable nursing pads, a baby wrap and a *new* tub designed for babies who don't like baths. We found all that and more! I splurged and got some cute organic toys, some locally made, since I really haven't bought much in the way of toys myself.  We've been so lucky to be showered with gifts, that I haven't had any need to go shopping!

I also picked up some literature on cloth diapering. I've been thinking a lot about how many diapers we use and when I saw a mother using a cloth diaper in a cover the other day, I was newly intrigued. When I read how much money we could save, and the new ways that there are to care for cloth diapers, (such as using  biodegradable, flushable liners) I was even convinced that this was worth investigating further. I've been doing a bit more reading, and have set Adam on the task as well. We 'talked' about it tonight and we're going to give cloth diapers a try. After pay day, I'm going to go back to Blueberry Baby to get some supplies. We've got a stash of disposables still, and I plan to use them up, so we can start slowly. If anyone reading has experience with cloth diapering and cares to share advice, I'm happy to listen!

When we got back from our bonanza shopping adventure, it was time to eat. Today we introduced Olivia to a bottle. She was great! Took to it like a duck to water. Morgan was the one to start it out, because I didn't want her to be confused by my wonderful 'eau de milk'. I am so glad that this was an easy step. This affords me a little more flexibility, especially since I'm building up a store of frozen milk, and will allow Adam to participate in the feeding, too. For the second bottle, I gave it a try and she even took it from me. Boy she can put away a lot of milk!

Olivia seems to love her new toys. She has a new little baby doll that's easy to grab and is already a big hit, but the big winner for today was a present from Morgan - a stuffed endangered sea otter. His name is "Slow" and Olivia was mesmerized by him. Later, she preferred to watch Morgan & Slow having conversations than simply to 'play' with Slow herself. This was very entertaining for all of us.

All said, today was pretty productive, enlightening and fun. The evening closed with a delicious meal from Erica and a movie (Detroit Rock City - I think Olivia likes KISS). Olivia & I took Morgan home and now she's in a milk coma. Since it was such an interactive day for her, I'm expecting her to sleep well tonight. (I hope I didn't jinx it!) Just before her last feeding, she was entertaining herself in the nest - looking at her books and blowing bubbles. She's getting more and more fun to watch every day. The best part of the day was that we had the most 'Olivia smiles' to date. Best smiles I've ever seen.