I'm supposed to be working...

... but I couldn't resist posting this picture of Ess from the other morning. She totally loves her bouncy seat these days -- thank god, since the swing is anathema to her. And the dress... it kills me. I have no idea who gave it to us, but it's ridiculously cute.


She is getting so big, and so full of personality -- it's amazing. And along with that she is starting to register my absences. She was in bed by the time I got home last night, so I didn't see her again until she nursed at 9:30 or 10. And I think when she realized it was mommy, and not those plastic bottles, she was thrilled. So we were up again at 12 and 3 and 5 and 6 and 7. She totally refused to take a bottle of formula from D after I nursed her at midnight (we've been getting a couple hours extra sleep if we top her off with formula after nursing once in the night), but stopped crying immediately when I latched her back on.

Part of me was irritated by this -- I really could have used another few hours of uninterrupted sleep last night -- but a bigger part of me was totally happy about it. She knows who I am, and she likes it (or, at least, she likes the milk direct from the source...). So today it's nice to be working at home; D is in charge of her, but I'll nurse her when she needs it and pop in to kiss those gigantic cheeks every now and then. So I'm finding that it is, in fact, possible to be totally exhausted and happy at the same time. (You can all commence with the "I told you so" now...)