How's it Going????

I'm in education, so let's give the last week a "grade" in parenting, adjusting to family life and attachment and bonding. This is pretty subjective, but I'm going to go ahead and give all of us a solid B-. I thought of going with C+, but I'm giving myself a little bit of grace here.

I like happy things, so let's start out with the positives, shall we?
- Cupcake is finding a decent sleep schedule. There are some definite bumps to this, but I don't know a baby that sleeps at exactly the same time for exactly the same amount of time every day.
-Cupcake loves to dance, and it makes me fall in love with her a little more every time she busts a move!
-Cupcake's blood work has been coming back with better results than we expected. Yay! We are still waiting on some tests to be completed, and we just dropped off 7 fecal samples on Monday, so results are still out. You can tell I'm trying to adjust my language to "parent speak" because prior to Cupcake, I would have said, poop, turds, caca, brown bomb, bootycakes, etc. 
-Cupcake is enjoying trying new foods and so far isn't shying away from the textures we are introducing.
-K has been home with us on vacation...the grade may slip when he returns to work on Monday.
-Cupcake makes the funniest faces, cutest noises, is starting to snuggle with us.
-We are slowly venturing out into the world. Key word, slowly. It is obvious that Cupcake gets a little overstimulated and overwhelmed with too many lights, people, colors, things to look at. We have made some Target runs, etc. for supplies, and we have been to the Dr. She does really well while in the Beco Baby Carrier while we are out. Thanks, A for educating me on that fabulous baby carrier!!!! We LOVE it!

--There are more positives, but those are the ones I can think of right now, and you probably don't have all day to hang out here...


What we need to work on:
-Someone, who shall remain nameless was flipping through channels and stopped on a station when interrupted by the dog trying to give a fecal sample on the carpet, and clicked the pause button. The DVR only pauses for 20 minutes at a time. I came downstairs to feed Cupcake and when the TV started playing it was on 'Jersey Shore' and club music was blaring out of the speakers. Normally, not a huge deal (though I don't think I'm the type of parent to really encourage our 10 month old to watch Jersey Shore), but it was a little unsettling that Cupcake really jammed out more than I had ever seen her before. The *one* who made the mistake of having Jersey Shore on, has been trying to teach Cupcake to fist pump, ever since.
-Diogee, the handicapable dog is slowly adjusting to Cupcake, but we still have about 2 episodes a day where the diaper sniffing obsession gets a little uncomfortable for all of us (this is better than the previous 12 hours/day).
-I have yet to figure out how laundry and dishes will get done with K at work.
-I have yet to take her in the car by myself, and need to face this challenge, SOON!
-Cloth diapers...I'm working on it, but am not there yet...
-I think I need a new vacuum, because Cupcake can find 12 pieces of fuzz that she wants to eat exactly 47 seconds after I vacuum.
-We really need to stop setting her in the bumbo on top of the counter...no, we don't just leave her there, no need to call CPS.
-Will I ever cut my dependence on Diet Coke?


That probably sums it up (for now). Okay, so I still haven't downloaded the pics off of the camera. I'll find time for that at some point, but here are two I can upload: 

Our first family photo in Iowa!

Notice how Cupcake looks in the airport photo, she looked pretty much scared out of her mind. I think this tutu picture is evidence that she is feeling more safe and secure and Cupcake has a big, sweet personality. Had to give her the toys so she would stop ripping the headband off of her head! :)