Swaddled and Swell

Brynn is sleeping, and Hattie is swaddled and sleeping upstairs as I type.  It's a colorful getup.  Here's how she looks:

The sun is just up and I can see squirrels chasing each other around the tree in the front yard and bright red cardinals flying about.  I've been up for a few hours packing boxes, getting ready for our summer of moving.  I'm going to miss this house, this neighborhood, this city.  It's my birthday today, and we're going to go to breakfast at Banditos after Brynn wakes up.  Then I've got rehearsal and our first dress for the Ah, Wilderness Green Show.  Hattie and the Hambly's are going to come, as Harry and Vicky leave tomorrow.  We'll really miss having them around!  

In many of these pictures, you can see Hattie swaddled up.  Brynn and I are trying out the "cuddle cure" as described in a book and video that several people gave us and recommended.  The system seems to work pretty well.  If Hattie is fussy or crying, we check her diaper and/or feed her (she feeds like crazy.  Her eyes get this fiendish look when she latches on to the breast. Every time I see it, I remember that the new season of True Blood came out on video last week).  Then if she's fed, changed and still fussy, we Swaddle her (the 1st of the 5 S's!).  Quite often it works, as it did this morning. That swaddled angel you see above was a squirmy devil moments before.  Keys:  swaddle nice and tight so the arms can't escape, and don't be deterred if the crying/wailing increases when the swaddling starts!   

Another of the 5 S's we find helpful is sound/Shushing (loud Shushing!).  Like the swaddling, it recreates the sense of the womb (so they say).  We're also trying to think of these 1st three months as the "fourth trimester" (Which doesn't really make sense, grammatically).  We'll often use the "Sleep Sheep" as she sleeps to create white noise.  Here's a swaddled Hattie with her friend the sheep!

Rumpus is also acting a little funny.  He's dealing with a lot of change, with a new Hamkauf and a house in disarray.  We're not sure if he's protective of Hattie, or resents her for getting so much of our attention.  Either way, he's been banished from the people bed for the time being.

Rumpus: Full of Love or Bitterness?

Oh, she's waking up!  Gotta go!