We’ve been having fun with Eleanor: last night she had her second bath since her umbilical cord stump fell off (ick). We just fill up our tub and one of us bathes with her. Her eyes grow very wide when she feels the warm water and she generally seems to dig bath time. She also likes quiet alert time with either of us diligently making faces and turning our mouths into smitten new parent “O”s. I know newborns don’t smile but she gives us some sort of equivalent and nothing is finer.
Ellie also decided to re-read the “How to be a Newborn” book and has delighted us with textbook-regular naps and even a 4-hour stretch of sleep last night. Today she and I went to Trader Joe’s and the hardware store with her in the sling. I felt extraordinarily competent carrying baby and groceries. And then I saw a mom with baby, groceries, second baby and third baby. And then I remembered this statue of Garibaldi’s wife (Ana Maria de Jesus Ribeiro da Silva di Garibaldi) in Rome:
That’s right: she’s suckling her babe, while riding a steed into battle brandishing a pistol. But we all have to start somewhere, right?
Avanti, Emilia!
If you went to Trader Joe’s with Ellie during the afternoon rush, that would be equivalent to Sra Garibaldi plunging into battle!