Move over Rudolph

There's a new reindeer in town!

Isa took her first stroller ride yesterday and needed to be snuggly warm. And, of course, all the fashionable babies this season are wearing fuzzy reindeer suits!

Another good night of sleep with 6+ hours in the first stretch. For the last couple days, she's taken a nap at 7 a.m. (we're up no later than 5:30- blech!), so I got to shower this morning without an audience and even got to blow dry my hair. It was wonderful.

Today my friend Catherine came over with baby E, who is only 3 months old but about the same size as Isa. We went down the hill and had lunch. Isa had just been fed before we left and that, in combo with all the new and interesting things to look at, meant she sat happily on my lap for the entire time. In Ethiopia, Mom and I had to take shifts eating because Isa hated to be sitting down. One person ate their salad while the other walked around the living room with Isa, then we switched so the other could eat and so on for each course. Glad that the trend hasn't continued now that we're home!

I must admit that I'm getting to be rather good at One-Armed Mom manuevers. I've learned that it's easiest to set up the bottle ahead of time- i.e., scoop out the formula into the bottle ahead of time so that all is needed is the water and a good shake- but in a pinch, I can make an entire bottle from scratch while holding a crying baby on my hip. Scooping out the formula is the trickiest part and I will admit to a fair bit of formula that landed on the counter rather than in the bottle.... Darn bottles with their narrow necks. I'm pretty sure that Dr. Brown is a man and never had to actually scoop the formula into his clever little bubble-reducing bottles!