Time for some random baby updates

Sadie has started smiling. This is what all you parents were talking about. Words can't describe this feeling. Babywearing is my favorite thing ever!! I'm way too much of a multitasker to not take advantage of wearing Sadie. And while I'm able to clean, cook, walk, read, work on the computer, etc...Sadie reaps the benefits of being close to me (rather than left in a swing or cradle for much of the day). She can hear my heartbeat, smell that I'm nearby, and hear my voice. She sees her surroundings and has the same sensory experiences that I do. What a wonderful way to bond with her AND have the use of both hands! Yay for babywearing!

Cloth diapering is going very well; frankly, better than I expected.

After using disposable diapers for a few weeks after coming home, I finally bit the bullet and started in with my sizable stash of cloth diapers. I told myself I'd give it at least a week and wouldn't be afraid to come out with my tail between my legs and sell my stash on Craig's List if it wasn't working. However, within 24 hours, I was hooked, and so was Brian. We love cloth diapering! Not only for the warm fuzzy feeling we get knowing we're not tossing all those diapers in the trash, but especially because of the money we're saving. It's amazing how many diapers a newborn goes through. Oy! There are times when I go through 3 or 4 diapers in ONE diaper change. How does that happen?

When we found ourselves spending $20 every couple days on diapers, we became pretty motivated to give this cloth thing our best shot....and I'm so glad we did. We couldn't be happier with our decision.

And now I have to brag a bit. I knew that if Sadie was anything like her father, she'd be a big fan of sleep...and is she ever. Of course when we first got home, mom and baby were so mentally and physically exhausted that we did nothing (really, nothing) but sleep for a few weeks. See Sadie on my chest? Lily was also quite happy with this agenda....

All that snoozing must have set the stage for Sadie to be a great sleeper. During the day I nurse her whenever she wants and she sleeps whenever she feels like it. Somehow, though, without really any concerted effort on our part, she's figured out a pretty reliable nighttime schedule. Sadie goes to sleep in our room between 10:30 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. and gets up to nurse between 5:30 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. I'm about to go ahead and call that sleeping through the night. I'm up for about half an hour with her and then I put her back to sleep in her crib (in her room) so she's slowly getting used to sleeping in there too. She'll sleep until 9:30 a.m. or 10:00 a.m. when we'll both get up and start our day. Wow, this is the life. How'd I get so lucky? And she usually even wakes up smiling!

One of our bigger challenges the past couple weeks has been introducing Sadie to a bottle. After exclusive and successful breastfeeding since birth, a bottle at 6 weeeks was somewhat of a rude awakening for her. But, Brian has been very patient and loving with her, and little by little they are forming a feeding relationship too. I've been able to pump so that Sadie will continue to receive only breastmilk until she starts eating solids in several months. I'm thankful that we're making progress with the bottle, as that'll be very important when I go back to work. But for now, it just means that I can leave her for more than a couple hours at a time. And although I don't really want to ever leave her side these days, I did leave her with Brian for the morning today and went to a meeting in downtown Denver. And they did so well together, that I even spent some time at the knitting store before heading home! Hee hee.

Bathtime is so much fun already (for us at least, maybe not quite yet for Sadie)...

A couple weeks ago, Sadie met my oldest and dearest friend, Angela, who came to visit from Boston. It was amazing to watch this woman who I have known for 28 (!) years (since we were just babies) hold my daughter.

Sadie attended her first Passover seder. What a joy it was to take our daughter to the Bernsteins to join us in what is one of my favorite nights of the year.

And of course she had a role to play in our reenactment of the Passover story....

Last weekend, Sadie met her great-grandpa Peterson, who came to visit us from Holdrege, Nebraska. Grandpa Peterson was so happy to meet his first great-grandchild.

What a wonderful thing to have four generations of Petersons together in our home.

We also were able to celebrate Sadie's first Easter with the Petersons

Life has changed a lot. It's wonderfully busy and joyous. And now Sadie and I are gearing up for her first airplane trip. Florida, here we come!!!