Home Alone

Picture me slapping my cheeks and screaming Macaulay Culkin-style.  That was essentially my thought process going into my first week at home alone with the baby.

I was nervous about how I'd be able to handle everything on my own now that our guests had left and John was back at work.

I am happy to report, however, that things have been going great for me and O.

I no longer get to sleep in, since John leaves for work at 7:30 in the morning, but I've been able to nap for an hour every morning once O nods off around 8:00 AM or so.

We've been going on a lot of walks with the stroller and the Ergo baby carrier so that I get some exercise and Orelia gets a change of scenery.

Yesterday we ventured to Target together for the first time, and she did great.  She stayed awake as long as she could so she could enjoy the views, but managed to doze off right at the very end of the trip.

We've been having some diapering issues lately - mostly with poop leakage, but some pee leakage too.  (Ah, parenthood.)  The cloth diapers I'd been planning to use had leaked when she was first home from the hospital, so I had stopped using them.  Now that disposables were leaking too, I figured I might as well give cloth another try.  And what do you know, but the cloth has been keeping things in place much, much better.  I don't have enough cloth diapers to do that full-time yet, so we will be doing a hybrid method for awhile.  Once I figure out which cloth ones I like best, I will order more of those.  Right now cloth diapers are huge on her (giving her J-Lo booty), which I don't like, but at least they are doing the job.

Who knows what next week will bring.  Perhaps O has been easy on me this week, and next week I won't be enjoying our time together quite as much.  I don't know if I'm doing this whole mothering thing right (am I engaging enough, giving her enough tummy time, etc.?), but I'm quite proud that I've managed to shower every day this week.  So there's that.