Oh right, I have a blog...

Belle's down for a nap, so I thought I'd check in on you poor neglected readers.

It's been very busy for us the past few weeks: I started work again and Belle's begun day care, so we're adjusting to new rhythms and schedules. Also, we bought a car!!!!
We are the proud owners of a 2006 Subaru Outback in dual-tone Atlantic Blue (w/silver). It's an automatic transmission, and it's a basic model; the only option-thingy it has is heated seats which, if you could choose one, that's a good one to choose. Now, I said we're 'owners', but I didn't say 'drivers', because we haven't yet had the car seat base installed and checked out at the local police station. It's a sticky situation, because they only do inspections on Tuesdays, which is one of the days when I go to work and D takes care of Belle. But D is confident he can install the base properly on his own (since he did it for the other two cars before getting a thumbs-up from the police), enough to drive over there with Belle this Tuesday.

I've also had to go shopping for some work clothing for my post-partum figure. You may recall that I had a HUGE pregnancy belly - well, that doesn't go away all at once. A deflated belly creates a new figure, one that requires differently-cut clothing. And I have to be careful about it, because I still have numbness on my lower abdomen. This should wear off in another 6 months or so, but in the meantime, I have to take that lack of feeling into consideration. For example, if a normal person's belly is hanging out of their clothes, the tiny hairs and nerve endings on the skin will alert them to the exposure, because you feel drafts, etc. Not so for the numb! I could walk around all day with a saggy gut hanging out and never realize it. This is why I am still enamoured of my pregnancy camisoles - they cover everything. But I'm too small now for my preggers pants, so I must shop a bit.

Speaking of shopping, have you SEEN the adorableness available at Gymboree?? OMG, SQUIRRELS! And hedgehogs and bunnies and tiny gnomes! I have $17 in store credit and a 20% off coupon that expires in two weeks, and I'm trying to decide how to wield them to Belle's best advantage.

Day care is going ok for Belle, but not great. I call to check in one her twice a day, while I'm pumping at work, and one day she spent the whole morning fussing, and another day she had loose stools (which they'd send her home for if she wasn't fully breastfed) and a minor fever (99.3). But she's had some okay days too, so I think it's going to work out. Yesterday, she cried when Daddy left, both times. (He stopped by in the afternoon because they called me at 2pm to tell me that she'd been refusing to eat all day since her 9am feeding.)

She's still sleeping like a champ, which is so very very lucky for us, and totally undeserved for me, because I was a terrible sleeper as a baby. She has mastered rolling over from her back to her belly, as long as she rolls to the left. I wonder if this means she'll be right-handed. Handedness is interesting to me because I'm a lefty and D's a righty and I'm so curious which way Belle will go. She also has figured out the leg movements for crawling, but she hasn't figured out that her arms need to help out, or that it would be easier if she lifted her belly off the floor. The result of her legs-only pushing is that she kind of pushes over onto her head. It's cute. It's also only a matter of time before she figures it out and starts crawling. Yikes!

She still isn't very interested in toys at all. Hands are for observing and sticking in her mouth, not for reaching or grabbing. If a toy gets in her hand's way, then it might be contemplated with a bit of interest, but as a minor obstacle only.