Call me Ishmael

Elliot is living large on all of Samantha's new stuff.  Here she is lounging in the new papasan with Phat Cat and his new diapers (all her Entourage is diapered now).

President's Day was my first day at home alone with both girls.  I'd say it was a success, but not without a whole lotta help.  Ben made sure we were up & rolling before he went to work.  Laura, Elliot's former nanny, came by to take Elliot to lunch at S&S Deli.  Then Ami came by in the afternoon for a video dance work-out with Elliot and all the B-I-N-G-O they could handle.  

Hey! By the way, as some of you know, Laura has a band called Bridget and the Squares.  (Laura is Bridget).  She wrote a song for Elliot and its on her Myspace page if you want to check out her band or Elliot's Song.  (Remind me to post the link).

So here is me trying Samantha in her Peanut Shell sling.  She fell asleep instantly, but I wondered if it was because her head was pitched forward and I was cutting off her wind pipe.  Elliot was starting breakfast in her kitchen here. 

Then Samantha graciously napped in her comfy chair and looked adorable.

Until Ben came home from work and we decided to weigh her on the kitchen scale contraption Ben rigged to weigh babies.   Sam has a little issue we need to watch and monitor her weight gain closely.  We are supposed to go to the doctor for weigh ins frequently, which we do, but in between, we get antsy and do it ourselves.  You can see how much she loves it...but look at that little hand!  She could palm a basketball with that thing!

Here is cousin Alex holding Samantha.  Don't tell Elliot that "Alleee" came over yesterday while she was not home!

Later on, Gabriel (of Gabriel the Greatest) came over for dinner, so they cooked of course.

Now here, Gabriel is not so sure about his mommy holding another baby.  But the bigger thing in this picture is that darn Moby Wrap staring me down.  It that little green pillow looking thing on the couch.  Harry's mom Crystal sent me this, and at first, I could not have been more thrilled.  I wanted to try out a sling this time around and she swore I would feel like a real mom once I mastered this authentic piece of crunchy granola mommying.  Well, I squealed with delight when it arrived. 

And then for 4 days it sat on the couch taunting me.  You see, when we first opened it, there was enough material to sail the Black Pearl with and a 52 page instruction book, and directions to several websites for additional support & instruction.  Oh, and there are no latches, or buckles or zippers, so you either wrap your bambino in it correctly, or she falls out of it and its all your fault for wrapping it wrong!  Ben gave it an attempt first, but gave up when Elliot went screeching out of the room rather than be his guinea pig.  

Then Wendy came over and I gave it another go while she held Sam.  I practiced with the teddy bear and felt a little like the Statue of Liberty when it was done.   No baby in this sling yet.  Needs more practice.  

But then, everyone left and Samantha wanted to be held and I wanted to finally feel like a real mom, so I did what any loving mom would do, I bound her to me and stuffed her into the pouch with only a tiny opening for her head.  Very marsupial.  She was not so sure and she wanted to look at me instead of nuzzle in like the picture suggested.   Baby steps.  She did wind up falling asleep and I went on to make dinner for Elliot...thinking I need to invent a MobyWrap that is also a heat-proof splatter-proof apron.  

PS - Crystal, thanks for the wrap - esp. now that I am no longer afraid of it!  Stay tuned for when we finally get Elliot rigged into it.