Hey Girl - nice to see you back here! Sorry about the sleep problems... what Jess suggested is a great idea, and I hope it works for you. Routine is really important, and even though feeding to sleep can be nice, and works for some people, if it's causing problems for you it needs to change. If you google "parenting baby to sleep", it's an interesting blog on the subject with some gentle tips and ideas that you can use. Also tribalbaby dot com has some supportive ideas for how to get baby to sleep, without tears. I hope you find something that works for you. DS will still fall asleep in my arms or in DPs arms, and sometimes feeds to sleep, but I don't mind it because I know he can go to sleep without it, and all babies learn to sleep eventually! I'll be grateful when he sleeps more than 5 hours in a row again.

Jess - I know what you mean about baby-proofing the house! I've put foam mats down on the floorboards now where DS plays, because the playmat just isn't big enough for his adventures! He's now sitting up by himself for ages but he's started trying to climb onto the coffee table. I'm seriously considering a playpen... and I always hated that idea, but he's just a little terror!
As for men in the baby change rooms, it's a bit yuk sometimes. DP comes in with me, but will wait outside if there's anyone else feeding in there. I've had a few occasions where I've had to stop feeding DS and make it pretty obvious that I'm waiting for some guy to leave coz he's staring. I wish I knew what to say to these men who find it so acceptable to stare... it's great if they're changing their bub or bottle-feeding, or taking their toddler or kid to the toilet, but it's not some kind of voyeuristic opportunity to check out some mum's norks... geez, get a magazine or rent a freaking dvd!

Well, I went out without DS for dinner the other night with the ladies from my mothers group. Thankfully DS was very well-behaved for DP, but I would have enjoyed myself more if everyone didn't talk about babies the whole time... oh well. At least I managed to get out of the house on my own and wear something nice that wasn't necessarily BF-friendly and wasn't going to get chucked on!!
Yesterday I was out at lunchtime, and gave DS a bit of avocado out of my sushi roll... well he screamed and threw a wobbly until I gave him more, then I had to get another roll because he ate it all! Then I was at a friend's place for dinner, and DS as sitting in my lap and grabbing at everything on my plate, so we gave him some more avocado. He ate half a small one all by himself. This is the beginning of him eating me out of house and home... considering last week was a struggle to get him to open his mouth, it's an amazing change. He's ready now, I guess!
And now he's screaming... better go get him out from under the couch, where he's no doubt got himself stuck again...