Swinging!

Yesterday was Veterans' Day, so both Charlotte and I had the day off. Chris did not.  I'd kind of forgotten how exhausting it is to entertain a baby all day, even though I tried to keep us moving so as to not to incur bored baby wrath.  First, it was a long day.  We have given up on our swaddle weaning for now because she keeps flipping onto her tummy and waking herself up and deciding that while she's awake, she might as well eat some food.  The swaddle blanket allows for blissful sleep (she can only roll over if she manages to break free), which equals a happy mommy.  In fact, the past three nights in a row she has slept for 11 to 12 hours long - from 7PM until 6AM (6:45 this morning).  Amazing!  This, of course, means me waking up in sheer terror that something is wrong.  So we were both up at 6AM yesterday because Charlotte had had such a long sleep that she was ready for the day!

But after going grocery shopping, playing, eating, etc., I was out of ideas.  (On a side note, I tried feeding Charlotte applesauce.  She was not a fan.  But rice cereal mixed with breastmilk = yum!  I don't get it.)  Instead, I decided to go for a walk with her in her big baby stroller -- the one where she actually faces forward.  Charlotte liked this a lot because she could see everything.  Every so often, I stopped the stroller and would point things out to her like "there's a tree, there's a kitty, oooh look ducks!"  The greenbelt along which we live connects to these series of canals boarded on each side with bike trails.  The canals are just full of ducks and geese, and since it was a holiday, plenty of school-aged children feeding the ducks.  Charlotte loved hearing and seeing those ducks quacking and furiously going after bits of old bread.  This may have been the first time she's ever noticed ducks.

Anyway, we ended up at the neighborhood park about a mile and a half from our house.  There are plenty of closer ones, but Charlotte and I needed a long walk!   This park looks pretty fun, and I can't wait until Charlotte is old enough to take on the slide or the tire swing, but for now, the only equipment suitable was the baby swing.  She's still a bit small, but she really enjoyed it! I managed to capture her with the video on my iPhone, which seamlessly uploads to YouTube. Enjoy!