you take the good, you take the bad.

the good:
nola falls asleep WONDERFULLY 95% of the time. when she shows signs she's tired, we wrap just her tummy in a swaddle blanket, sit in the rocker, sometimes feed her a little bit, sometimes hum a lullaby and put her in her "bed" (her bouncy seat) while she's drowsy but awake and she goes to sleep. she doesn't need a pacifier, doesn't really like being patted, just wants some white noise and darkness. the other 5% is if she's overtired or if i put her down too soon. then it usually just takes a few minutes and an ounce or two of food and we're good to go. at night, when she wakes up (usually only once) she eats and then goes back to sleep without a peep. i really can't ask for much more than this!

which brings me to...

the bad:
nola falls asleep WONDERFULLY...when she's at home. :) so, that means when she's out and about-either in the car seat or the stroller-sleep isn't easy. or likely to happen.

this morning both girls got up, got changed, dressed and fed and i figured i had a good amount of time to take a walk before getting the little one home to nap. at some point i thought, "well, if she gets tired, she can sleep in the stroller".
i got about 10 minutes into the walk. she started yelling. and it's a good thing i turned around when i did, because by the time we got to the front yard, she was in full protest and avery was holding her hand saying "nolya? hi nolya! nolya crying..."
we got inside, i sat on the couch with nola to take off her sweatshirt and get a bottle ready, she fell asleep the moment the bottle hit her mouth.

i adore her being a baby. a smooshy, cuddly, warm, happy baby. but there's a small part of me that will be glad when we can leave the house again with minimal tears :) until then, i'll cherish every snuggle, gummy smile, and coo. i know it'll all pass too quickly...