The answer is out there, somewhere.

Another reason I haven't posted much is that I don't know the direction I want to take this blog. Not like it had a perceptible focus before. Looking back on my posts, it seems mostly just my ruminations about news stories, happenings where I live, and politics. But now I have a baby. It seems there are plenty of successful "mom" blogs out there, and I don't really feel like I have anything to add to that discussion, especially since I'm the one going to those blogs looking for answers.

But, at this point, how can I think of anything else?

I have a fussy baby. I am still in the diagnostics phase. Is she lactose-intolerant, frequently overtired, wanting to nurse more, spirited, high-need, touchy, etc (or normal and I'm just a first time mom and wasn't prepared for this level of fuss)?

Also, did you know my way of coping with stress was the research the hell out of it? David has taken to yelling, "No more books!" whenever a new book on parenting shows up from the library. But it seems like a problem to me, and problems can be fixed, or dealt with. Or at the very least, maybe I could prepare myself for an 18-year battle of the wills after which she will move out of the house, get a tattoo, and date a jerk for a while before maybe realizing that Mom was right some of the time.

Genevieve likes: bouncing, nursing
Genevieve tolerates: sling rides, stroller rides
Genevieve dislikes: most things that are not bouncing or nursing, including diaper changes, being put down, being held while not bounced, car rides, baths, and so on.

What do I do?

"Just love her," says my mom and David.

But I'm sure I'll find some sort of clear definitive answer in a book or on the Internet somewhere that will give me clear strategies on whatever it is Princess Fussbudget wants and how to deal with her.

Unless dealing with her involves constant bouncing. I'm not sure which muscle groups are involved in bouncing, but I expect they'll be magnificent in short order.

Onesie says "I speak Wookiee."

Eat, play, sleep, repeat. Right?

I'm reasonably sure my few (very few) readers have noticed I haven't been updating. They also know why.

If you want to guess, it's rather obvious from previous posts: I've had my baby. And really, how does anyone have anytime for anything for the next twenty years?

My idea of a schedule, based on the E.A.S.Y. routine of Eat, Awake (play), Sleep, You time (which is the same time slot as sleep):

08:00 - Wake up when baby wakes up. Change and feed baby. Play with baby.
09:30 - Baby goes down for a nap. I can then eat breakfast and clean the bathroom and clean up the kitchen.
11:00 - Baby wakes up. Feed, then change. Play.
12:30 - Baby goes down for a nap. I eat lunch.
etc.

What actually happens:
06:04 - Baby wakes up. Feed baby, coax her back to sleep. Then try to sleep, but can't because baby, even sleeping is making a lot of grunting noises and it's light out. Try to get a few things done before she's totally awake, like brushing my teeth. Discover David cleaned up the kitchen (Hurrah!)
07:25 - Baby wakes up again. Change baby, feed her, play with her. Try to get dressed.
08:45 - Baby very fussy. Go for a walk. Baby calms down, but remains awake for the next fifteen-twenty minutes of the walk instead of falling asleep in the sling. Gets fussy again at the end, so I return home.
09:00 - Coax baby to sleep on the couch (cause we're both too warm at this point) with a pacifier (dang it, I didn't want to use that thing). Contemplate being productive. Start process to clean the bathroom.
09:30 - Baby wakes up. Bathroom not clean (shouldn't have checked Facebook). Nurse the baby. She proceeds to have two blowout diapers. Nurse again.
10:00 - Baby gets fussy. Walk around the house in circles with the sling (or it would be circles, except the dining room has tiles all over the floor. So more like crescents)
10:30 - Baby nods off. Take a quick walk around the block.
10:40 - I contemplate my options of things to do with a baby on my chest. I try blogging.
10:45 - I get warm and my back hurts, so try and ease baby off with sling. Baby wakes up, but seems to be falling asleep.
10:46 - Baby cries. I use pacifier again (dang it!).
10:54 - Blogging my excuses for not blogging.
11:13 - Download Dropbox and use GIMP to resize a picture so I can use it on my blog.

So as you can see, I have a very hard time finding time to be actually productive. And sleep when the baby is sleeping? Nice pipe dream. I have other things that I need to do. Anyway, I can't sleep in the morning.

And they're only supposed to be awake more as they get older. How will I be able to do anything!? I can see why parents invented bedtime.

She is pretty cute though.

I should probably go clean the bathroom.

Edit: 11:19 - Baby wakes up...