Owned

It might just be that you've never owned anyone quite like you did when you were an infant and you owned your parents. Your boss can't make you change his diapers 12 times a day. The bank that owns your mortgage can't make you get up every few hours around the clock. And as she gets older, we'll expect her to fend for herself to some degree. But now, she has us right where she wants us- wrapped around her tiny finger. Liz and I just had a laughing fit wondering out loud when we'll ever get to sleep through an entire night again (we muffled ourselves, careful not to wake her).

Don't get me wrong- it's a joy. It's just totally without reprieve.

But it is getting a little easier. We've gotten through most of our N.A.D. issues and Nicole Huelan is six weeks old now. She's increasingly awake & alert, and those are the fun times. Just in the last day or two, Liz and I think that she's beginning to make social smiles. She's more interactive now, and seems to be very curious about us, even recognizing our voices from across the room. She loves following us with her eyes, but then again she also does that with her mobiles, so I am not sure she knows the difference.

Another benefit of this age is that she is beginning to have a schedule. We can usually count on her to take a long morning nap and another two or three in the afternoon. At night, we've been giving her a big "dose" of milk around 10pm in hopes that it'll tide her over for 3.5 - 4 hours. Four uninterupted, blissful hours of sleep. Yes, she owns us.

This past weekend was actually a milestone. During her morning nap, we took her out of the house for the first time (excluding the Sunset and the doctor's). We played it safe on Saturday, taking her to our Pho spot. Pho is served quickly and we can scarf it in case a quick getaway was necessary. But she slept the whole time and we were able to eat leisurely.

Sunday, we got the idea to hit up Aunt Mary's for brunch. This is a longer service and a louder spot, but she did equally well. She woke up for a while, which had us ready to spring into parental action, but she soothed herself and fell back asleep in her carseat. The pic above is us outside Aunt Mary's- notice how happy we are to have some sun on us.

This brings up another question. When the hostess asks how many, what do we say? a table for two is usually not big enough if we have the carseat, and defintely too small if we have the stroller. But if you say three, they usually sit you at a four-top, which would annoy a waiter during a busy brunch. So maybe two and a half is the right answer? Hmmm... we need more experience.

As a token of appreciation for getting through this rambling, scatted post, here's the link to Nicole Huelan's most current pics.