Well, everything is going fine. I am really happy working part-time, Julian is happy at daycare. It's a good balance, just enough time apart, not too much. I'm kind of amazed at how well everything is working out!

Julian *loves* his caregiver Leela, and he even has a little girlfriend! Zoe is a bit older than him, and kind of a funny-looking baby...she has huge chipmunk cheeks and an oddly long torso, but she is very sweet and gentle. She can sit up by herself, and roll around, but not crawl. Very important girlfriend factor...she can't get away from him! Heh.

Leela says that they never cry if they can sit together. They look at one another, and sometimes when I come at lunch I find them curled up like two puppies. Apparently they never try to poke each other's eyes out, or pull hair, which I find downright amazing, because Julian is constantly trying to touch my eyes and pull my hair at home, and all the other babies are always trying to grab hair or poke eyes as well. But he and Zoe have a mutual understanding, I guess. They are very gentle with one another. It's so damn cute.

Eyes are so fascinating to little kids and babies. They're all shiny and wet, and they roll around, and well...you just want to touch them, I guess! Little kids always want to pet Bugs right on his eyes, and I have to redirect them to his back or neck. But the fingers always wander back to his eyes. It never fails.

So Julian has his first little cold. No fever, it's just a runny nose. I have been suctioning out his nose with the bulb syringe, nursing him a lot, and giving him nice warm baths. He is getting better already. All the kids in daycare have it, but all the stay-at-home kids I know have had colds too, so it's not a big deal. I don't mind if he gets little colds...it gives his immune system something to practice on. As long as he's not miserable, which he isn't. Just a little under the weather.

He's tired. I am making a big effort to get him caught up on his sleep today. I nursed him down at 10:00am and he is STILL sleeping now at noon. I think that's a morning nap record, at least for the recent past. So that's wonderful, I'm glad that he is getting plenty of rest today, and it gives me a chance to get work done without having to keep him distracted with toys, etc.

I got my last(?) sling, an Ergo Baby Carrier. Can I just say, this thing ROCKS! It's really light and sleek, comfy for me AND for him, doesn't kill my shoulders and back, doesn't leave red marks on his legs, and I can get Julian on my back all by myself without having to lay down on the bed. I went for a fairly long walk yesterday with him in it, and my back didn't hurt at all. Yes! I just can't figure out the sleeping hood, which is a flap that you pull up over their head when they fall asleep so that their head doesn't bob around. But I've only had it for one day...I'm sure I'll figure it out.

I always have to keep Julian occupied in the morning while I am getting ready to go to work. Normally I put him in front of a Baby Einstein video, but I don't like to do that every day. So I put him in the Ergo yesterday after I got my clothes on, and I was able to wash my face, brush my teeth, eat breakfast, even pump a bottle of milk, with him happy as a clam on my back! I kept walking by the mirrored closet doors to check him out and he was grinning from ear to ear back there. He thought it was so great to be up high riding on Mama's back, checking everything out in comfort and style.

Such a cute, funny baby. I am really, really enjoying him. This is an adorable age, 5.5 months. He's not mobile yet, but his personality is really shining through. He's such a happy little man, always smiling and laughing and trying to catch peoples' eyes. He is a little charmer. He LOVES the ladies.

Lately he has been doing this hysterical thing where he'll fixate on a woman somewhere nearby, in the supermarket, or a restaurant, and he'll smile at her. Now mind you, she won't be looking at him at first, she won't even be aware of him yet, but he keeps smiling and looking at her. Pretty soon his target will start turning around, feeling his baby gaze burning into her, I guess. Eventually she spies him, and then they both crack up, him because she's looking at him and smiling back, and her because all of a sudden she realizes that this cute baby is giving her a million dollar smile. It's so funny, it happens over and over again whenever we are out in public.

He started drinking his bottle at daycare, which is great. He was having trouble eating for a while due to his new teeth coming in, but now he's chowing down again. He is getting very distractible though...if there's too much interesting stuff going on nearby he can't nurse, he has to be looking around, which is a bit exasperating, especially if I am trying to nurse him in public. He pulls my shirt up, beats on my breast a little bit with his hand, then dramatically pulls his head away with a loud sucking "pop" to crane his head around and look at what's going on, thereby exposing me to the world. Not like I really care that much anymore, but I try to maintain *some* decorum. Then he latches back on, making slurping sounds as he does, only to repeat the whole cycle a minute later. It would be more irritating if it weren't so funny.

Finally, just a word about pumping. Now that he's drinking his bottle at daycare I have to pump about 8 ozs a day of milk. This is the most odious, boring, time-consuming task ever. Sitting there with a machine attached to your breast, squeezing and manipulating it to try to get every last drop out...horrible. It's so dreadfully tedious. Nursing is great, but pumping is just awful. I hate it. Gotta do it though. Oh well, it won't last forever.

OK, must get back to work. Can't believe this baby is STILL sleeping! I went to go check on him just to make sure he's OK. He's fine, of course, but we're going on three hours now! Can you say T-I-R-E-D?