euphoria...

There are few things going on in her life right now. While there isn't much in her DayTimer at the moment, those things that she does do are frequently quite pleasurable for her:

- Eating. Duh. I love when we're feeding her and her eyes start to close and her arms hang back. There is nothing better in the world for her at that moment. Burps in between cause short blips, but the bottle suddenly returns, and all is well in the world.

- Having a poopy diaper changed. She hates actually pooping and sometimes cries about it (doesn't Freud have something to say about what effect bowel movements have on the Ego/Id or something?), but she is always quiet and content when I change the poopy diaper. Ahhh...cleanliness is Godliness.

- The bear blanket. I think we're beginning to see the connection to a "security blanket". This blanket has an unusual soft (but not hairy) synthetic fuzz to it. Anytime she is fussy, we can count on bear blanket to make it better. A second one is being purchased for Xmas, as my biggest fear is something happening to this thing and havoc ensuing.

- And that brings us to the Almighty papasan swing. A deep, round seat...sheer netting (much like a bug net, but I can assure you we don't have rain forest pests in our home)...butterflies that spin overhead...butterfly light show projected onto the netting. Oh yes, this is the mother of all swings (and cost enough that it should spit money out while it's at it). She will take a 4 hour nap in this thing in the morning (which is nap/blog/laundry/etc time). Might be throwing nighttime off, but who gives a crud? You get 4 hours, you take 4 hours.

- Finally, car rides. We all know this is a surefire way to get a baby to sleep. When you've run out of things to soothe a baby with, hop in the car and drive to nowhere. With gas prices what they are, it's an expensive pacifier, but all in a day's work.

If only these five things were enough to please us all. I think I'll try to hop into the papasan with her, cover myself with the bear blanket, and see what this craze is all about.