Warning: Boring blog post ahead

It was Marlo's two-thirds birthday yesterday. Hard to believe she is already eight months old. She has celebrated this milestone by sleeping all night -12 hours- in her crib for the past two nights. Here's to hoping this is a long-term trend.

We have definitely entered a third phase of baby around here. Phase One was the newborn phase, where she pooped every ten seconds and slept whenever she wasn't eating. Phase Two was when she needed stuff like the swing and the bouncy seat. Lots of gear in Phase Two.

Phase Three is more like having a little kid, but I assume better because she can't get far on her own and can't talk back yet. Most all of the gear is put away. She only has a high chair  and an Emergency Johnny Jump Up for when I need a shower and she is not sleeping. She sleeps in her crib, she eats three meals a day, and she is even starting to take two solid naps instead of the on-again-off-again catnap crap.

Did I mention the gear is put away? You guys, for the first time in almost a year there is no baby stuff in my bedroom. This is mindblowing for me. No bassinet, no swing, no pack-n-play. All gone. If somebody told me (probably did) before Marlo was born that I shouldn't worry, it would only be eight months and the crap would be gone and she'd be sleeping in her crib, I would have said (probably did say) "what do you mean only eight months? Eight months is forever!" But it's not. It seems like it went by in a flash.

Something I want to enter on the record is this: I'm happy. Not that I was UNhappy before, but I would rate my job satisfaction higher in Phase Three than the other phases. Yes, the days can be a slog; yes, I often wake up thinking here we go again. But I'm happy. I think it's because there is structure to the days now. It's not all haywire anymore. I get up, I feed her breakfast, I watch her play, I put her down for a nap. I know I have these steps to go through. The day is parsed into manageable increments. Maybe this sounds horrifyingly dull to you, but it works for me. Structure is my friend.

I will try not to be so boring next time. I should warn you (make excuses) that my computer is in desperate need of more RAM which makes blogging quite a task AND my mother-in-law is here, so you may not see much of me over the next week or so. But it doesn't mean I love you any less.

My carbon footprint would make Al Gore cry

Okay, so I didn't spend my whole trip blogging. Sue me. But you should know that I am a licensed attorney in the state of Washington and my specialty is frivolous, made up lawsuits. Full disclosure and all.

The trip went well, although a certain baby who shall remain nameless did cry for most of the five plus hour flight home. We've been hard at work correcting our sleep schedules, laundering the laundry and unpacking the five metric tons of crap we carted around for two weeks. I really wish I was more of a hippie and had just done the trip with like a sling and some hemp products that all fit in one carry-on. Instead we had two suitcases each, a pack n' play, two carry-ons each and two boxes we shipped home. Not to mention the stroller and the car seat. Like I said, five metric tons of crap. I used to pride myself on my light packing abilities, so having to cart around all this baby gear is a bit of a blow to the sense of self. And we won't even get in to the minivan we had to rent to lug all that stuff to and fro.

So now I guess we just enjoy the calm before the storm that is the Holidays. Although there's not much calm to be had - Santa is arriving at the local ritzy mall on November 19 - the weekend BEFORE Thanksgiving. Two weeks from now! I'm not sure I'm ready for this.