I finally got a working laptop from our IS person yesterday, and she showed me how to use the dialin. So I should be set next week for my telecommuting day.

As much as I'd like to have Penny home with me all day on those days, I don't think it's going to be feasible to do that and get any actual work done. But I'm thinking that if I finish my work within an hour or so of lunch, I might go pick her up early.

Yesterday I took the afternoon off. After running a couple of errands that took longer than they should have, I collected Penny from daycare and called Matt's dad and Deb. They came over and held her while I managed to get a few things done.

I might've worried about reducing our guests to babysitters, but really, they were there to see the baby anyway. They didn't seem to mind.

Once Matt came home, we all went out to eat. We decided to go to Second Street, since it's just around the corner from our neighborhood, has good food, and is very baby-friendly.

While we were perusing the menu, we realized that they've updated their dessert selection. It used to be kind of boring, to be quite honest - we went to Second Street planning on great burgers, not dessert. But they've got some new things that sound marvelous, and so we tried a few of them last night.

I had a chocolate mousse that had me melting in my chair, and Matt and Deb each had a slice of cheesecake that had been dipped in coconut and then quick-fried until it was warm all the way through - omigod, that was good.

And Penny was fantastic - she woke up just as our meals were arriving, but she didn't get fussy right away. She sat in her chair and looked around at the lights and people. She didn't start whining until I was almost done, and then she was content to take a bottle from her chair while I finished my french fries. I didn't get to eat as much of my dessert as I would've liked, since she got bored and wanted to be walked around, but that's all right - the chocolate mousse was perfectly happy to come home in a box, so I can enjoy it later.

And she did get pretty cranky on the drive home, but once we got back to the house and got a bottle in her, she dropped off to sleep fairly quickly. Matt put her to bed around nine, and she didn't even twitch. So we finished a couple of little chores and then took advantage of her sleep to get some of our own.

And - hallelujah! - she woke up once, which we're used to, and then slept (or at least was quiet) until my alarm went off at 6. Even then, she was still asleep; we had to wake her up to take her breakfast.

We do tend to run just a little bit late when she sleeps until 6 - I lose half an hour nursing her in which I can't do anything else to get ready for the day - but that extra little bit of sleep feels so good. This morning, I feel almost... rested.

Today, Matt's dad and Deb are doing "the CW thing," and then we'll get together with them again this evening. We'll probably take advantage of their willingness to hold Penny to run out and get the week's groceries. Somehow I think the shopping will go faster if we're not balancing the baby on the cart and letting her suck on a finger as we peruse the vegetables.

It's just a hunch.

--Liz