It’s been a while, huh? Lately, I’ve either felt like I didn’t have anything to say or haven’t had any time to say it. That’s not such a good thing, since it means I’m probably not processing enough. But right now Daniel is in bed and Dave’s at work, so here I sit with a mug of hot apple cider (in one of my mugs from Malawi, of course, since they’re the best for apple cider.) I still don’t have any collected thoughts, but here are a few snippets that might give you a snapshot of our life right now.

- People often ask how we’re doing and I’m not always sure how to answer. I think we’re getting into a groove. I’m more comfortable in my role as a mom (although it still feels funny to see it in writing!) and we’re getting into some better routines.

- Daniel’s sleeping longer at night, which means I’m sleeping more too. Hurray!

- He’s more content to sit in the bouncy seat while I do other things – mainly eat or work in the kitchen. I’m cooking more often. I made pumpkin chocolate chip muffins this week that are really good. I’m cooking much more often than I am pulling things out of the freezer.

- I am absolutely loving the cloth diapers and I can’t imagine doing anything else. Daniel’s worn 3 paper diapers and they were all in the first 2 weeks. I’m really proud of that. It’s been fun trying out different types of diapers and finding out what we like best and what works best for different times of day. If you get me talking about diapers, I have to be careful not to go on and on!

- The house is not so neat and clean, which actually isn’t that unusual (unfortunately, I’m not known for being a neat freak), but it’s even more so with a baby. My top priority is taking care of Daniel and making sure that we have clean clothes to wear and food to eat.

- Everybody said that life would change when we had a baby, but I really had no idea how much. I had no idea how much time I would spend nursing, holding, walking, rocking. It’s been challenging for Dave and me to find time to spend together, though it’s getting a little better now that Daniel’s in bed earlier. For a while, we’d get Daniel to bed and all we could do was get ready for bed and crash. Even now, though, we tend to do a lot of tag teaming – one of us has Daniel while the other cooks dinner, washes dishes, does laundry, etc. We know that it’s important to focus on each other and our marriage, but it’s hard to know how to turn that knowledge into action. We’re not really sure what to do differently. Any tips from other parents?

- I started pumping a little bit of milk yesterday and we’re going to try giving Daniel a bottle. I’m still a little on the fence about it, though. Theoretically, I know it’s probably the best thing for him to be able to take a bottle sometimes, but part of me kind of hopes he won’t. I’m still not thrilled with the idea of him getting milk from a bottle and not just from me. But being able to take a bottle means that I could occasionally do some things in the evening and let Dave put Daniel to bed. Or it means that we’d be able to leave Daniel with someone while we go out for a couple hours. Besides, I don’t have any more good reasons to put it off.

- My dad keeps asking if Daniel does any tricks yet. He waves his arms and legs. He smiles at us when we talk to him. He’ll sometimes stick his tongue out if I do. He makes cute faces when he stretches. I don’t know if those count as “tricks,” but they’re fun to watch.

I guess that’s all for now. It’s 9:00, which means it’s time for me to go to bed. I’m hoping to post some pictures more pictures before too long, but not tonight.