smiles.

Today was a lovely day. Patrick and I decided we'd like to borrow my Mom's pretty new van to take when we go out of town this weekend for a wedding. It's inevitable that I will be forced to sit in the back with the baby at some (or all) point(s) on the way to the destination and sitting back there with her is significantly less terrible in a van than it would be in a sedan. The car switch-a-roo would take place at my Mother's work, a rehabilitation facility for the elderly. It's essentially a place to go when they are not quite ill enough to be in a hospital but not well enough to go home, either. My Mom's a nurse, and a damn fine one at that.

Of course, we had to bring the baby in to see Granny. Can you believe my mother wants to be called Granny? I envision a "Granny" as the anciently old people my mom is taking care of... not her herself! But I digress. It's ultimately Emmaline's decision, anyway! So, we brought the baby in and Mom was just so excited to show her off. "Well, let me just show her to so-and-so. Oh, and I'm sure blank will want to see her too... Let's just walk by such-and-such's office and see if they're there." I knew Emmaline needed to be fed - she was sucking on her fingers like it was going out of style tomorrow! - but Mom was not quite getting the hint. Actually, if I know my Mom at all, she totally got the hint; she just didn't care! ha.

Anyway, Mom snuck us into an empty room and, despite having about 7 oz of breastmilk chilled in the diaper bag, I opted to breastfeed her. It's the first time I've tried doing it outside of the house (aside from when we tried at the hospital when she was first born, of course). She did great! She ate until she was full and then Daddy changed her poop diaper right there on the conference table! We got the van and headed over to Green Hills because Patrick's never been. After lunch, and a leisurely stroll through Whole Foods, the Pookie started fussing and I could tell she was hungry. I asked Patrick if he would be uncomfortable with me nursing her in the store and he said as long as I was OK with it, then he was too. So we found a nice sofa in the cafe section off to the side with a wall behind me and I nursed Emmaline right there with a cover. Despite thinking to ask Patrick if he was alright with the public nursing, it didn't even occur to me that it might bother other people in the store. It's likely because it didn't matter to me, either, ha. But no one said anything to me or even batted an eye. I figure if I'm going to get away with public nursing, the hippies at Whole Foods are probably the last group of people who'd say anything.

I am so glad I tried nursing one last time. I know Emmaline was getting all the benefits of breastmilk just the same with me pumping, saving, and bottle-feeding it to her later, but there is just something inherently special about the act of nursing your child. As I was telling Patrick and my Mom, there's really no way to explain it without sounding either perverted or cheesy... but it really is an amazing bonding experience. I like watching her while she nurses because she looks so content and peaceful. She gets this drunk, drowsy look on her face and she puts her little hands on my chest and I know she knows "This is my Mamma... and she's feeding me!"

Every day brings new, fun things that Emmaline does. To an outsider, it probably seems intensely mundane but you wouldn't believe the excitement it brings Patrick and me. Today Patrick got to see her roll over for the first time. She's done it four times now! It was awesome. We were both sitting there playing with her on the floor and bam! she was stunned looking up at the ceiling. My new favorite thing she does is when she's been sleeping or playing by herself for a few minutes and I come talk to her. She looks at me and then I can see it in her eyes that she recognizes my face and voice and she just starts smiling like crazy. She flares her little nostrils when she's really happy too!

Tomorrow we are going to see Patrick's parents and go to a wedding. I can't wait to for her Nana and Papa to see how much she's grown and changed in the three weeks it's been since they've seen her.