This week I really feel pregnant. Today starts the 8th week. My boobs filled out (yay!), I'm nauseous half the time (I barfed yesterday after breakfast), I feel like I'm short of breath all the time, I'm always thirsty and have to pee three times as normal, and I'm a little more tired than usual. I'm not really showing yet but I have noticed my jeans are fitting tighter around the waist. I don't really have any carvings yet, at least not consistently.
I had a dream earlier this week that I was in labor and the baby came out quickly. We discovered the baby was a girl and were surprised since we had forgotten to check the sex beforehand. I hear that moms sometimes just know what they're going to have. This may be true for some, but I need proof. I'm hoping to get a sonogram of the little bugger in the second week of April. Maybe by then we'll have some clue as to the sex.
In other news, we are making progress towards moving into a newer, bigger house. I love almost everything about this house and hope we'll get it. Nothing in guaranteed right now, but it looks promising. It's a whooping 2.1 miles away from where we are now!
Specs: 3 bedrooms, 2.1 bathrooms, 2 story, enclosed library/study, open game room, 2578 sq. ft., built 2001, includes covered patio and children's play set in backyard (woot!), sprinkler system, wood floor downstairs, carpet upstairs, ceramic tile in kitchen, new light fixtures & fans, granite-type counters in kitchen w/ an island, gas stove-top and plantation shutters. The neighborhood is adorable and comes with a community pool, elementary school 3 blocks away, and shopping and hospital under a mile away. It's in Carrollton city, Denton county and Lewisville school district. In a nutshell, the house was very well maintained and upgraded for efficiency in summer. There's fiber in the neighborhood (yay!) and Rusty's commute to work is the same distance as from our current home.
Snags: It's further away from the highways so I'll change to a nearby pediatrician after Josh's 2-year check up. I discovered there is a convicted pedophile a few blocks away (scary, yes, but really they are all over this country!). There is a dining room and living room, but no front entertaining room so the piano will go in the dining room and our dining will be in the kitchen nook. When we have guests we'll add the table sleeves to make room for everyone. We may have to buy a new refrigerator, if they won't sell it with the house, and rugs for some of the wood floor area. That' about it for downsides.
Our house will go on the market some time next month after we have the carpet cleaned, kitchen walls painted and a few other touch ups. I'm thinking of bailing out of town during all that chaos to keep myself and Josh away from the paint and minimize messes. I'm hoping to sell our home within 45 days of going on the market.
Time to get busy!
We found a house we really like (yay!) that comes with a community pool, near school/park and shopping and include kids play set in backyard (yipee!).
The guy who was interested in buying directly from us flaked out so we're putting the house on the market asap. Which means I have a TON of work to do: pack, clear clutter, schedule carpet cleaning, get kitchen walls redone, do touch up painting and maybe refinish the deck with fresh stain. All this while working some.
I may take Josh to see grandma or great-grandma for a weekend while they paint our kitchen and clean our carpets. I think he would enjoy that more than being constantly restricted from doing anything fun at home.
We decided yesterday it was time to drop the "binky". The 'kiki', the 'dummy', the 'paci', the 'nooki', the 'baby pacification device'. We waffled over the timing: after his birthday? before? when we move? before? sometime in the summer? next weekend?
We decided there was no good reason not to try it sooner. At bedtime, Josh didn't make his usual request immediately following his bath. We thought "Maybe we got lucky? He doesn't seem interested." Instead he waited until it was almost time for books, a good 30 minutes after his bath. Once it was clear we weren't giving him his binky, oh boy was he pissed! Crying and pleading and bucking out of our arms. We managed to get through one book. I sang him a song and recalled some bedtime rhymes before laying him down. He cried a little asking for his binky but eventually asleep.
We thought- that wasn't so bad. Heh.
Around 2 am he woke up and couldn't get back to sleep. I took him to his room again, laid him down, rubbed his back and that seemed to work. 10 minutes later he was back in our room. I put him down again then laid down on his floor to keep him company (and to re-enforce my wishes for him to stay in bed). I crawl into bed after he's out. A little after 3 am, same thing. This time I kick Rusty out of bed. He doesn't do so well. Josh cries and screams and wails no matter what Rusty tries. I give up and take over again. Soothe, sleep on the floor. Repeat again at 6 am. Take over from Rusty, soothe, sleep on the floor. Josh didn't wake up until close to 9:30 this morning. Which is fine- he slept like crap all night. But now our whole day's schedule is shifted two hours off norm.
We're bracing ourselves for nap time today and the binky battle again tonight. Whatever happens, we've resolved to be 100% consistent. No binky, no exceptions, sorry kid.
Joshua now says his name. He says it like "Hoshwa". So adorable! He also had school portraits taken last week. Somehow they managed to get him to sit still, cross his legs and even smile at the camera. I'm jealous! The majority of my pictures are blurry b/c he won't stay still for 2 seconds. Well, that's also because my last camera sucked balls. The new one does a much better job at capturing a moving target.
My tooth is better. And just in time for morning sickness, which continues to rear its head this week. If history repeats itself, I'm doomed next week until end of April. ;(
By the way, if you ever want a way cool desktop for your computer, I recommend interfacelift.com. I downloaded a rendered image of a drop of water. And the images are all free. Gotta love that!
We went house shopping again today. Our favorite today was the one we nicknamed the "Frat House" due to the style. It's my favorite so far. It has two stories, all bedrooms upstairs, with a study, the balcony attaches to the master bedroom, there's two living areas, a nice kitchen, and you can see a nature reserve pond just behind the neighborhood from the back of the house. There's a park nearby and a Montessori school at the end of the development. No schools in walking distance and no shops in walking distance. We'll continue our search next weekend.
My tooth hurts less today (YAY!!) but is still sensitive and I can't chew on that side. I'll go back to the dentist later this week to figure out why it's still sensitive and what we ca do about it. I just pray we don't need another root canal. I'm complaining about the experience (the endodontist was actually very gentle aside from the shot of pain killers through the roof of my mouth, which I don't recommend that even to my enemies) but it's the cost. We paid nearly $1K after insurance and certainly can't afford to do it again right now.
This week we officially begin packing. I've packed the CDs and movies and found a bunch of boxes at a cardboard recycle bin to begin packing other stuff. Josh will be a challenge while packing. He wants to get into everything, unpack, open boxes, climb on boxes, put random stuff in the boxes... I'll stick to packing when he's away or asleep. Or better yet, find some good friends and grandparents to watch him for a few hours on the weekend.
Morning sickness arrived on time. This week I am 6 weeks along. It's still very early in the game but things are happening on schedule. With Josh, I started getting sick a week before I knew I was pregnant (yeah, I was that aloof) which put it at about 6 weeks. By week 7 I was really sick, like puking in the mornings and during lunch. That lasted until the 4th month, when hormones settled down. Well now it's the start of the 6th week and I felt a bit nauseous, ill-ish, this morning and yesterday morning. Nothing so bad to send me to the porcelain god, but enough to make me breathe slowly and take it easy for fear of feeling worse.
On the note of being nauseous, here are some synonyms for that morning sickness ickiness: vomit, vomit up, purge, cast, cat, be sick, disgorge, regorge, retch, puke, barf, spew, spue, chuck, upchuck, honk, regurgitate, throw up. I like honk. Not sure what the reference is here (maybe the sound in some perverse way?) I may use that in future as a non-offending way to describe an offending act.
So how exactly did I not know the first time? How does a women get to be 7 weeks pregnant and not know it? Heh. Well, my periods were not being very regular at the time. I was days early or late on a regular basis so when I missed a period I blamed it on being irregular. I had even had 2 "failed pregnancies" prior to the being irregular which caused a near week delay (the second two weeks early) followed by a surge of bleeding that wasn't menstrual in nature. Fast forward to the missed period in September 2004. I missed a period but observed a brown-ish discharge. Ha! I thought, this is all I get this month? I weird but I'll take it. By that loose definition, I had it in my mind that I had a weak, light period. I didn't feel pregnant and didn't know what being pregnant was like. Then I started feeling a bit nauseous after my birthday. I blamed that on something I probably ate or some stomach virus I probably got. I remember eating a meal of pudding, cream soup, milk and bread as these were all safe. I went to my acupuncturist for a routine appointment. We were working on leveling off hormones since I was being irregular and not getting pregnant. Little did I know... I mentioned to him that I had been feeling sick lately. He asked if I had missed a period and I told him, no I had a weak, light one that was probably due to being irregular. He looked at me very skeptical and suggested I do a pregnancy test. "I'm not pregnant, I assure you, but I'll do that just to put the notion out of my head." After the appointment, I did just that. I bought a stick on my way to a coffee shop to study for an upcoming Series 7 exam. (I don't recommend taking the Series 7, BTW. That was no fun.)
I ordered my double cappuccino and while I waited for my order, went to the bathroom. I peed on the stick and seeing no line immediately was relieved and proceeded to wash my hands and flush when I looked again and saw the second line bright as the first. I don't exactly remember what went through my mind in that moment. I suppose I was in such shock I was devoid of thought at all. Emotions came rushing at me. I grabbed my coffee from the barista, my books, my bag and hastily went to my car. Who is the first person one calls in a time of trouble? Mom, of course. I was barely breathing and overcome with the shock of it all. I blathered on the phone for a second. My mom asked me what's the matter. "I just took a home pregnancy test and it has two lines which means I'm pregnant and this changes my life and I don't know if I'm ready for it and I'm sorry to call you in such a state but I don't know who else to talk to and..." I rambled on for a bit. In the course of conversation, my mom was overjoyed with the news and sad that this was such a stressful moment for me.
With Newby II, I am paying attention to the subtle clues I missed the first time. Nausea has set in exactly the same time as last. My breast have filled out a bit. I knew I was pregnant before I missed a period thanks to observation of colored discharge. Now I just hope this goes as well as the first one. I told my midwife I want a pregnancy that is healthy, normal and low-maintenance.
Last note, just as the first one, pregnancy for me is an emotional roller coaster. I cried at lot with the first pregnancy: First found out- I cried. Telling Rusty- I cried. First heartbeat- I cried. First sonogram- I cried. Seeing other babies- made me cry. Hearing songs with any mention of a loved one nicknamed 'baby'- made me cry. Thoughts of labor- cried. Thoughts about my son growing up and would I be a good enough mother?- I cried. And so that pattern returns. But with a little less crying this time. Perhaps it's all a little more predictable this time.
I have been in agony for days, almost 2 weeks! It's not due to being pregnant, though that is a contributing factor. I am referring to my toothache. It has been killing me slowly and just this week has grown so bad it effects how I eat, sleep, talk, and even move around. After a root canal on Monday, no change. I visited two dentist offices yesterday for further examination where they adjusted my bite, no change. They prescribed me Vicodin and to take as much Advil as my midwife advises, no change. That's right. Vicodin had no effect! I was shocked. An hour and a half after taking a pill, my mouth was still throbbing and I didn't feel any different. I wonder if I got a sugar pill instead. Or maybe this is the type of drug that has to settle into the system to begin working? Either way, I am still in agony with this ache. I'm at the point where pulling the tooth sounds like a reasonable idea.
The difference between a doctor's office and a midwife:
Doctor- Fill out multiple forms before first visit, provide insurance and proof of ID (usually a driver's license)
Dinah- She asks me questions in person writing down the answers throughout our visit and expanding on information where necessary
Doctor- Lots of nurses walking around working, no one knows your name unless they are leading to someplace
Dinah- There are two people in her office, both know me beyond just my name
Doctor- Sterile office setting, cold floors, minimal fixtures and furniture
Dinah- The office is in an old house transformed into a business so there's wood floors, home-like furniture intermingled with office furniture. It's always comfortably warm.
Doctor- Nurses check all vital signs before doctor appears for exam and questions
Dinah- Dinah does all the work in an appointment and inquires about everything before checking vital signs like blood pressure, heart rate, weight, protein/glucose test, etc.
Doctor- Payments made at each appointment with insurance taking care of a portion
Dinah- Payments made at each appointment with insurance taking care of a portion at the end
Doctor- Informs patients on each stage of pregnancy and answers any questions
Dinah- Informs patients on each stage of pregnancy, answers any questions, checks diet intake and provides feedback for improvement, inquires about dreams, stress, home life, family history as applicable, recommends exercise and books for further reading
Doctor- You wait 15 minutes to an hour to see the doctor in some busy offices
Dinah- If she's running late, her office will call you to let you know before you arrive
Doctor- Available by appointment only
Dinah- Available by appointment but is flexible in available if needed
Doctor- Usually has blood lab and ultrasound/sonogram machine in office or building
Dinah- Sends blood to outsourced clinic (no extra charge) and schedules you for sonograms at a nearby medical office
Doctor- Prepared for complications
Dinah- Prevents complications but is prepared to transfer care if needed
Doctor- One option: Hospital birth
Dinah- Several options: Hospital birth, home birth, or birth facility. I imagine if a woman was laboring in the car she's meet her there on the street too.
Doctor- Office smells clean and neutral if not slightly like cleaning disinfectant products
Dinah- Office smells like herbs and plants
Doctor- You sit on a tall, cold table with a paper liner
Dinah- You sit on a sofa covered by throw blankets and pillows
Doctor- You're lucky to have a window
Dinah- As many windows as a home, each with curtains to give soft lighting
Doctor- Answer to questions about pain: epidural.
Dinah- Answer to questions about pain: you are strong and capable of handling the natural process of childbirth. Be prepared for what to expect by taking a Bradley Method class, get your partner involved, go to yoga classes if possible, learn to internalize and prepare for contractions
Doctor- Probably drives a vanilla if not upscale car
Dinah- Drives an fuel efficient Honda decorated with bumper stickers like "I 'Heart' My Midwife" "Childbirth is Natural" "The Breast is Best" and "World Peace Begins with Childbirth"
I'm out of ideas and you get the picture. Doctor experience described above is based on my experience with an OB/GYN I saw in the first 5 months of my first pregnancy before switching to Dinah's care.
I had a root canal done today. The appointment was supposed to be for Wednesday but I was in agonizing pain and moved it to today. Trouble sleeping, headaches, sensation of swollen face/cheek, sensitivity to pressure and temperature change (read: eating and drinking)- it was a sharp piercing pain that felt to extend deep into the tooth and perhaps beyond. I bought two types of Orajel, Sensodyne toothpaste and took some Advil just to put the pain aside for a bit. But it kept coming back. I'm hopeful this root canal today solves the problem. If it doesn't I may cry. Again.
In other news, I have an appointment to meet with my midwife tomorrow morning. It will be our first appointment. I'm rather excited not only to work with her again but to go through the whole pregnancy process again. The first one was such a pleasant experience (well, ok, honestly it sucked the first 3 months when I was hormonal and nauseous) but this one will be different. Different seasons, different working environment, different home life, different home!, different baby altogether. I pray for a healthy pregnancy and baby. Boy, girl, I don't care. I want healthy. Rusty however, REALLY wants a girl. We'll see this summer what we're getting.
Home shopping is way more fun than selling. We looked at several homes today, two of which we really like for different reasons. Next weekend we'll venture out again to continue our search. Meanwhile we're hoping to sell our home to a certain prospective buyer by May. Fingers crossed!
Quote from Rusty as he runs from the dinner table: "No, no, no, don't play the piano with asparagus!"
that moment brought tears of laughter
I went to my second research appointment with Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas this morning. It was brutal but worth it. The time went long so they agreed to pay $25 extra. woot! The coolest part of the whole ordeal, aside from the requirement to lay down and relax (wish I could do that more often), is the echo cardiogram. The use a sonogram machine to watch my heart beat. Once the technician locates the heart I can watch the valves pumping. The image of the heart pumping sort of reminds me of 
the dancing brooms in Disney's Fantasia where the stick is the ventricle wall and the bristles are the valves moving up and down. I had a hard time staying awake during one breathing exercise. I was soooo relaxed and tired from a restless night (Josh was restless for some reason) that one researcher had to tell me to stay awake a few times. I couldn't help it!
This is looking to be a busy weekend for us. We have work to do around the house to prepare to sell it. Rusty has loose ends with work to do. I have a website to add content to and finish designing. To help us, Rusty's mom has graciously agreed to watch Josh in the morning for a few hours. She tells me she will run her errands with him. I'm sure he'll love the adventure.
Matt: how did it go?
Me: We went out for sushi. As he's checking out the menu he recommends we get a FujiYama Special together. I told him I'd rather have some udon instead. He asked why I didn't want sushi. "Well, I'd love sushi but I can't it have it for a while. I'm pregnant."
He had this deer in the headlights look for a moment. Jaw dropped slightly.
He's excited and happy and hopeful for a girl. We talked briefly about it then moved on to other conversations about our day. It was a much cooler way to make the announcement than the first time around.
Matt: heh, nice. :)
Here were suggestions people had on how I should break the news:
My Dad- Wait until September and see if he notices.
Barb- Buy a double stroller and tell him he has 9 months to figure out how to put it together.
At least my tactic scored me some eel sushi. :-)
There are various tiers of who we know. There's the family tier. People immediately related to us and who are as close as family. There's the friend tier. Those we keep in touch with, hang out with, confide in, do stuff with. There's the loose friends. Those we see or hear from occassionally, like once or twice a year. There's the distant friend. We talk to them once every few years. They tend to be on the same level of contact as many of our acquaintances, another tier of people. There's the work tier. The church tier. The school tier. The neighbor tier. All these classes of people we associate with and share information about ourselves with. Some we are intimate with, like our friends and family. Others are kept in the dark about our true selves, like some neighbors and coworkers.
So what of the blog tier?
I have a wide audience consistenting of family, friends, coworkers, acquaintances, and of course strangers. My disclosure of my personal (and sometimes mundane) life is on display for any tier. I am often conflicted as to how much detail and what types of detail to publish. For example, family enjoys getting the updates about our son. Friends want stories about us. Most others are just checking in to see what's new, how I'm doing, and if I'm still blogging. I am.
When I started this blog last year July I had serious doubts of my ability to keep it up. I was notoriously lazy about keeping a journal or diary as a kid. But somehow not only have I managed to keep it going, I've also kept the same tone and premise: to keep everyone updated about Josh and myself in the new role as a mom. I thank you for reading this and hope you'll continue to check in periodically. Especially since this year promises to be more interesting than the last.
It looks like Lubbock outside. Today's wind gusts are up to 40+ miles per hour. There's dirt in the sky and shingles flying off buildings. We talked to our neighbors for a bit. They just had their roof worked on in November and now they have a dozen or so shingles either peeled off or flapping in the wind. Crazy.
In Josh news, he's learned how to sing the melody to the "ABC's Song". Well mostly. He doesn't know the words but he knows the melody and some of the sounds. He sings it like this: dee-dee-dee-dee-deh-dee-deh. te-teh-ah-ah-see-deh-de..."
It's quiet.
Josh is at school and I finished working early. I will be working with other moms this afternoon preparing our stuff for an upcoming consignment sale. I haven't decided whether to pick up Josh on the way or let him stay in school until later. He would probably love for me to pick him up early.
Yesterday we had a bit of a traumatic moment in the backyard. If you've been to our house you know we have a deck in our backyard that's a couple feet off the ground. Rusty nailed a trellis on its side to keep Josh from crawling under the deck, but he managed to fit through it. I was keeping an eye on him while in the kitchen- next thing I know, he's out of sight and crying. Rusty crawled under the deck and helped him out. This weekend we're going to try wood lattice to keep him out. It's moments like this that make me wish we had a backyard with grass instead of a deck. The deck is great for parties and holds up the hot tub, but it's not much fun for kids. He can't play with sand (some would get lost through the deck cracks), he can't examine bugs in the grass, roll around or dig in the dirt. Well, we have some dirt under the crate mertil, but that's not enough.
Today was odd. Not in a bird flying around the house way, but in the timing of things. Josh woke up with a slight fever that quickly became over 104 degrees. I gave him Motrin and waited for it to take effect. Once it did, we ran errands and played for 15 minutes at a park. He went down for his afternoon nap at the usual noon time. I had some energy to burn so painted a large portion of the living room wall "gleeful" green (from Sherwin-Williams). Against my better judgment, I decided to lay down for a bit instead of eating lunch. Josh woke up at 2pm but was still sleepy. I also woke him up entirely in the process of making my lunch then realized he had fallen asleep on my shoulder. O-kay. Quick to adapt and capitalize on extra snooze time for myself, I grabbed my new book* and laid on the couch with him.
Josh napped on my chest until 5:30p!!
Essentially, he napped five and a half hours! A record nap time I'm sure. No wonder he doesn't want to sleep now (Rusty's sitting in the hall to keep him in bed). I'm hoping the epic nap was what he needed to fully recover. He did have another fever after his nap (about 101 degrees) but felt fine otherwise. Well, not entirely. He coughed so much at one point of the evening he barfed a little. But that was a mechanical problem, not viral.
Needless to say, I didn't get much done today other than the morning chores and keeping the boy alive (and asleep). Tomorrow I plan to work at least a half day. I'm taking Josh to Coughs & Cuddles, a daycare behind Plano Presbyterian Hospital that takes sick children while the parents go to work. Apparently they take any sort of illness and charge only $6. I know Josh is super-needy when he's sick but it's been almost a full week and I'm getting restless not working.
* Oh yeah, my new book. Today I bought "Made to Stick" by Chip & Dan Heath. It's a communications book about how to get a message to stick in the minds of whoever you're communicating to. I read through 75 pages while Josh napped this afternoon. So far it comes highly recommended to anyone who is a manager, marketer, mom or something in between. Here's the NPR interview I heard before buying the book.
Just when I thought Josh was getting better and recovered from his cold, things turn south again. Either he relapsed or he caught Rusty's cold imported fresh from a business trip in California. Both of my guys have the sniffles. Lucky me- I haven't caught their germs yet and don't plan on it.
Rusty & I went to the DSO last night again. The performance overall was good. I enjoyed the Ravel pieces best which was the second half of the concert. First was Tzigane for Violin and Orchestra with soloist Vadim Gluzman (who I dubbed the Elvis Presley of violinists), then we ended on Suite No. 2 from Daphnis et Chloe.
Josh spent the evening at Nolan's house. He played well, ate well and went to sleep on time. Although he was awake during the drive home, he went back to sleep within minutes in his own bed. AND he slept well waking up only twice. Speaking of, here he is awake from his nap.
Josh is better today- mostly. He's drooling profusely though. We suspect he's teething. Add teething to a cold and you've got one slobbery wet cranky child. Last night was brutal. He slept two hours at the longest stretch waking every hour or more until pre-dawn when we crashed on the couch together. So far no breathing problems! I'm hoping he'll be well enough to go to school tomorrow. Fingers crossed!
Today has been very productive for me.
I worked from 9-4pm like a mad-woman on a mission to complete a project thrown to me last night. In the last hour of work, the school Josh goes to calls me to say he has a fever. Drat! I pick him up in record time, dashed to the store for more crackers (we were out and he LOVES Toasteds), then got him home. Not even ten minutes of being home he falls asleep on my shoulder. I laid him down and he's been out since then. I finished my project while he napped and now have some spare time.
Since Rusty's not going to be home (he's working in Irvine, CA this week) and Josh will likely go to bed late and/or be up a lot, I'm about to make great use of my time by snagging a bite and resting/vegging while I can. I hope his cold is short and easy. We'll see tomorrow!
Josh attended his first birthday party as a toddler this morning. His friend Sydney turned two today. The kids (and some parents) played at the Wiggly Play Center in Frisco. Josh had fun the first hour but then got super cranky so we had to leave a little early. He feel asleep on the way home and normally this is where a story ends.
Except...
Some time during Josh's nap he barfed up some of the juice he drank at the party. We have bathed him and fed him and are doing laundry. Other than a low-grade cold he's working out, he doesn't seem much effected by an upset tummy. In fact, he's playing with his new toy sunglasses, a party favor from Sydney's mom. Oh wait, now they're broken. But he's still playing with it.
Anyway, I'm hoping the upset tummy is an isolated incident from too much sugar or coughing a lot.
For work, I'm testing out SugarCRM. It's not the best open-source program I've found, but it doesn't require a server upgrade and it seems to cover the basics. Shopping around for CRMs hasn't been much fun but it's necessary to help Dan improve his business.
Questions People Keep Asking Me
So how is the new job?
It's going fine. I feel a little lost at times figuring out who's who, how things operate and what's going on, but I'll catch on quickly I'm sure. I enjoy what I'm doing, enjoy who I'm working with and love the ability to work from home.
How did you find the job?
It came about from an offhand comment I made to our financial advisor, Dan Bramschreiber. I mentioned to him that I would be looking for a new job soon to do something in the marketing field part-time. He told me he needed someone to work on his new website he plans to launch and an upcoming newsletter. The conversation evolved into a casual offer for work that I accepted after a couple days of contemplation.
How often do you work?
I work three full days a week on average on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. That's about twenty-four work hours. Josh goes to school those days and stays home with me Mondays and Fridays. The flexibility in my job is awesome: if I work during the weekend, I take back that time during the week. Monday this week Josh spent half of his day in school meeting his classmates and teachers so I worked for three hours. That extra time on Monday covered my dentist appointment today.
How does Josh like daycare?
He doesn't mind it after he gets over the fact that I leave him there. He's pretty upset when I leave him but happy as a clam when I return.
Is he sleeping better and is he more tired?
The jury's still out on that one.
Do you miss having him around?
No, because I keep myself busy working. I couldn't have done this any sooner than now. I waited until I was really ready before thinking about working again. I enjoy eating lunch without multi-tasking or guarding my plate.
Has Josh gotten sick yet?
Not yet. He's got a slightly runny nose but his friend Nolan might have donated that last weekend.
Waiting for dinner. Josh is climbing furniture. Here's my chance for a quick post.
Josh spent three and a half days in school this week. Preston Park Montessori Academy was the best daycare solution I could find in the area for part-time enrollment. He seems to like it by the end of the day. He has a ravenous appetite when I pick him up. I learned quickly to arm myself with a granola bar, Nutri-Grain bar, graham crackers, and the like. For lunch today, they fed him potatoes, jam, green beans an peache with milk. He had snacks twice with goldfish and cup cake (celebrating a class mate's birthday). The morning drop off is still rough though. He clings to me with all his strength crying and begging me not to go. (If you haven't seen Josh in a while, you'd be surprised at his strength. Being an expert toddler climber, he can lift his weight easily.)
Dinner time. More later.
Today was Super Bowl Sunday. We had friends over to visit and watch the tube with us. Some good commercials, a couple great, the game was ok and everyone's company was well worth the clean up afterwards. My top three favorite commercials were:
Combos- Fever
Bud Light- Hitchhiker
GM- Carwash Dudes
Other notable mentions were the CareerBuilder.com ads, most of the Bud Light ads, The Snickers Kiss, Sierra Mist Beard Over, and the Doritos Crash. The Ford commercials all sucked, Coke was mild, and Chevy was lame and GoDaddy.com was a repeat of last year's idea. I'm surprised at who did not advertise: AT&T, Pepsi, McDonalds, to name three.
Overall, this was a superb day, especially for Josh. We visited Rusty's parents late morning, Josh napped for 2 hours, we had a decent turn out of guests, Josh had fun playing with grown ups and his baby friend Nolan, and the house wasn't totally wrecked afterwards. Tomorrow should be busy the first half of the day. Josh & I are meeting with mom friends for breakfast at Ikea, then playing at Stonebriar mall, lunch and nap, then Josh will spend the afternoon in daycare while I begin to toil with marketing for The Helix. Hopefully Josh will sleep soundly tonight. We all need some rest.