Swing Baby, Swing

So yesterday was a big day in more ways than one.  You already know about Amelia's surgery that went exceptionally well.  The other milestone is that yesterday marked the end of the two weeks that the neurosurgeon told us to to wait before letting Amelia be on her back as often as we (and by we, I mean she) like.  It's exciting and freeing not to have to worry about how long we have her out and on her back!

How did we celebrate this momentous occasion?  Brian, my dad, and Xander put the swing together that we received at Christmas.  We were fortunate enough to borrow a swing when Xander was tiny, but now we have our own adorable one (seriously, it has ears!) for Amelia.

 

Amelia's been in swings at church and at the YMCA, so the concept wasn't new.  She seems to like hanging out in there, but she doesn't really fall asleep in it like I had hoped.  I thought maybe this would be a good way to get her to learn to sleep on her back.  Last night we put her to sleep on her side with her bunny pillow propping her up from behind, but she woke up every couple of hours crying out.  She finally woke up for good around 6am, far off her usual wake-up time around 8:30.  Of course, I don't know how much of that is the new position and how much is because (hello!) she just had surgery.

 

As you can see, she really doesn't mind being in the swing (or anywhere, for that matter) if she can see big brother.  In fact, she got a little fussy while Xander was watching a cartoon and I was doing some things around the house.  I thought she might like to swing front-to-back instead of side-to-side, so I switched her.  She fussed in this new position at first, too, but as soon as her eyes locked onto Xander, she calmed right down.  I love seeing the bond develop between them.

This last shot is Xander's work.  I've been showing him how to hold the camera so that every picture he takes isn't of his hand.  You can see the smile that Amelia likes to give her big brother.