Google is a godsend for new parents. Especially ones like me: an only child with very little baby care experience. Every unexplained noise, body projectile or behavior is worth a query, if only to see if we're within some online norm.
One early question was "How soon to take newborn out?" We're apparently a little outside that norm, which ranged from a few days to the more common one or two months.
Um, I've got stuff to do and I would lose my mind stuck indoors with a newborn with no reprieve for 8 weeks straight.
We've been out and about a lot already and took her to dinner when she was a week old. I figured, we're both feeling up to it, the baby's getting some immunity protection from my nursing, and everyone's healthy, so let's give it a shot. Plus, we went to a nice, quiet, nearly empty restaurant w/an out of the way plush booth, not some child-filled, germatorium fast food joint, and we both did great for a first outing: I nursed without flashing anyone and she ate without having a fit. It's a good start. She's a month old now and this is a shot of her on her first international trip: Vancouver, BC.
She's been a little cranky because she doesn't sleep as well in the car seat as she does on me or her dad, so when we stopped in West Vancouver for a snack and rest, she and her dad caught some zzz. Let me tell you: the only thing that compares to sleeping with a warm baby on your chest is swapping the baby for a warm puppy. Yes, really.
--------- Moblogged from my Treo
