Evie's been home for one week, and what a week it's been. New pictures inside...

There have been ups and downs this week, along with a huge learning curve for her parents to get over. We're still working things out on our side, but thankfully Evie has been patient.

Thursday was a long day for Nanc and I. For the past several days, we had been falling into a specific routine with Evie. On Thursday, Evie had other plans, and decided to sleep a lot more, and not feed nearly as much. This sent Nanc and I into a tizzy of uncertainty and worry. We were microanalyzing every cough, cry, and snort. Were there too many diaper changes or too few? Were the lights too bright? Oddly enough, the only relaxed person in the room was Evie.

Finally, we wore ourselves out at the same time that Evie decided that she'd caught up on her sleep and was mighty hungry. Mom and Dad were so relieved, even though there was nothing wrong. [sigh]. What a difference a day makes, huh?

We just got finished giving her a bath. She's still getting sponge baths even though [tah-dah!] Evie's umbilical stump fell off yesterday. Her belly button is getting smaller and smaller by the minute. It's almost magical. There are pictures of this new belly button on the sidebar.

Another 'first' of note: She's started to interact with things with her hands a bit. Instead of flailing around or just staring at an object, she's started reaching out and touching. Of course, this could be random, but I did catch her doing it a couple of times today.

We got a visit from April from Green Baby Diaper Service. She was so nice and brought us an emergency supply of diapers to get us through to our normal delivery day. I'm sure that we've been making a standard amateur new parent mistake, and changing the diapers too soon. Often when Evie's on the changing table, she will feel the need to make us change her diaper two times in a row. We're getting better at waiting her out now, and making sure that she's done before we start.

Today was a megatrip to Babies R Us. Well, for me anyway. Nanc and Evie called in 'newborn' and stayed home. Even though my first few trips to BRU were massively overwhelming, this one went pretty well. I had a specific list of items to buy, and I was familiar with the layout of the store from when we worked on the registry. One of the new items that came home was a glider chair for the nursery. We had test naps with Evie in it today.

Speaking of the nursery, I'm still painting it. I'm working on the trim now, and I will be starting in on the mural soon. Everything about this painting project is taking much longer than I had hoped. The delays have been for the best, since my ideas are still changing. Now that I'm painting for Evelyn instead of 'Baby Collins', my head is full of new designs. Who knows what will end up on those walls?

Well, that's it for this dispatch. Somehow it became 4 a.m., and I should get to sleep. Enjoy the pictures.

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