"No Honey, Fifty-TWO, not Fifty-six"

My honey-man and I were just discussing the paperwork required to establish a flexible spending account for the pre-tax payment of our dear daughter's oh-so-crazy-expensive daycare costs, and we were trying to determine the annual cost value, and any no-daycare holiday weeks, etc., etc., and what not. At one point, we were both about to calculate the projected annual cost by simply multiplying the regular weekly $ amount by the number of weeks in a year, naturally...

Me: "So, $215 per week times 56..."

Mah honey-man: (he interrupts me) "Um, no honey, it's 52, not 56. There are 52 weeks in a year."

Me: (with an impatient and insistent tone) "Nooo, it's 56." (and I immediately open a web browser window to google the answer, speaking my inquiry as I type the words...) "How many weeks in a year?" (and the answer comes up...)

Me again: "What?! FIFTY-TWO??? 52?!?!! For years -- YEARS!!! -- for, for like, FOREVER, I've always thought it was FIFTY-SIX!!?! 52?"

Mah honey-man: (dying from laughter) "Honey, how many days are in a year?"

Window Cleaning

It's sooo cute when they do this...

Surprise kitty nose from Otis
Owen, he looks like such a lil' gentleman here...

6 Months of Chubby

Six Months Later, Headed Back to Work

I'm pretty subdued right now... woke up a bit dazed this morning as reality sank in... Last Friday really was the last day of my part-time contract.

For the last month, the whole "part-time in the office with the girlie in part-time at daycare" arrangement actually worked out really, really well. Our baby sweet potato girl loves her daycare, and I'm certain I could totally handle working part-time on a permanent basis. It'd be a perfect arrangement! She'd continue to get her time to socialize with other babies and people, "learning to trust others and the world" (another Leslie-ism), as she needs to do, and I could continue to help bring home bacon and get some adult time in it for me as well. Not sure though how I'm going to handle a full-time daycare arrangement... I know my baby daughter will be absolutely fine; she will be, I know it. It's me that's the problem - - As I've said before, it feels wrong to have my daughter spending the majority of her day with someone other than me... This new arrangement will be altogether different. My time with her will be so drastically reduced. I can't wrap my head around the fact that from now on, I will see my darling babe for about no more than 3-4 hours a day. Yeah, that's right: 4 hours, tops!

For the past month now, she's been sick, and so, her evening routine has shrunk down by about an hour and 30 minutes... She's been going to bed as early as 6:30pm for the past two weeks! In my head I've been trying to work out how we're going to spend our after-work evenings together, and unless I'm mistaken, they may look like this:

4pm, I scramble to leave my office and arrive at her daycare no later than 4:15pm. I get all her stuff together to be taken home, I read through her notes for the day, talk a moment with her day-tenders, and then she and I will take 5-10 minutes to say Hi to one another... We sit in the lobby together and I talk with her and hug her and smooch her cheeks instead of immediately swooping her up and throwing her in the car. 4:30-ish, we leave to make our way home, walking in the door by 5pm, hopefully. By this time, she'll be absolutely ravenous! I'm really hoping she'll be okay to nurse first, which would be not just a nice way for us to reconnect, but could also serve to placate her appetite well enough to buy me some time with which I could make dinner for me and her daddy first, before feeding her the rest of her dinner via highchair. We could all sit together for dinner then. I know already though that this may not always happen.

Whether I wind up feeding her first or cooking dinner, or getting to eat my own dinner at all, it'll be time for zee wee baby-girlie to hit the tub by no later than 6pm. If she continues to bathe in the infant tub we can place in our kitchen sink (although she now prefers her blow-up tub placed in the upstairs bathroom tub), I could use that time to empty the dishwasher or tidy up the kitchen or whatever while she plays... maybe. She likes to bathe for at least 15 minutes, if not a full 1/2 hour, depending upon how tired she is. [SEMI-RELATED TANGENT: Oh see, that's one thing I forgot to mention! Now that she's in daycare, she never naps for more than 30 minutes, not ever. In fact, for the last two weeks, a couple times each week I had her stay until 2:30pm, to see how she'd cope with a longer day (she was totally fine, unphased), but she still never napped for more than 30 minutes at one time. Sometimes her daycare naps aren't more than 15 minutes!?! When she's been home with me in the afternoons, she'll nap for 2 hours or more, but at daycare she doesn't want to miss out on anything. Plus, her head teacher tells me the crying babies still sometimes wake her up. Yeah, no decent naptime at daycare for our babe. END OF TANGENT] By 6:30pm these days, if she's not already in bed by then, she'll begin to rub her eyes and pull on her ears, and she'll whimper, super tired. For the past month, I really haven't been able to keep her up past 7pm. So, if I have her outta the tub and dressed for bed by 6:30-6:45, I could maybe read her one short story and then she'll be out and that 's it.

Doesn't sound like much, but that's all I'm gunna have once I resume my full-time work schedule tomorrow. Crap, my bottom lip is trembling.

A few weeks ago, there was one day I had a lil' series of emails back and forth with the angel boy-O's aunt Leslie, and she wrote me something I knew I would have to share here. I have since read and re-read that particular something she wrote me, I don't know how many times, to remind me that me and my baby will still be able to have quality time together, despite my having to work... Here's what she wrote:

"When you are in the car, you will sing, when you are fixing dinner, you will visit and tell her all about what you are doing. Pretty soon she will be playing in the pots and pans at your feet while you cook, or sitting in the sink watching you. You will play peek a boo with the laundry and tie a rope to the basket so she can ride as you pull it along the floor on the way to and from the washer. She will learn colors and shapes from veggies and fruit. She will learn to sort and match with socks and tea towels. She will stir and pour and put things in the salad for you. The laundry will be folded funny and dinner will be goofy, everything will take longer, but you will do it together and it will be quality time.

Don't be surprised when math is easy for her. It will make sense because she watched you measure and helped you count things at the grocery store. When she loves reading, and does it well, it will be because she saw you reading cookbooks and getting excited about ideas you found in magazines. She will know that you read the tags on a new dress before it goes in the washer so she will notice print everywhere she goes... don't let one second go by when you have even five minutes to laugh and visit and sing and dance. Relax and have fun, projects and housework be damned!"

I'm trying to be strong. I'm trying to be positive. I'm trying to look for ways to enhance our experience. I'm trying to believe that my relationship with my daughter will not be hindered severely - - or at all-- by my having to rejoin the world of full-time work. I am extremely grateful to have had 3 months of maternity leave and to have enjoyed a part-time contract for the last 3 months. I had said a long time ago that if I could keep my lil' sweet potato girl out of full-time daycare until she was 6 months old, I'd be happy... and she's 6 months old now, as of yesterday. I need to be happy.

However, right now, I'm super sad, regardless, knowing I'm about to lose so much of my time with her. She's soooo wonderful, so, so, so wonderful, and it just hurts to have to give that time up.

My Poor lil' Happy-Go-Lucky Sicky Baby

Sooo, my lil' sweet potato girl has been in daycare for a month now, and she's basically been sick for over 2 weeks now as well. I actually think her first cold ended early last week, but she picked up something new in time for this past weekend. As I type, I can hear both the two humidifiers we have running in her bedroom and her snotty breathing via the baby monitor. Anyhow, whatever she gets, we get it too. She's our very own little petri dish, growing lovely cultures she must bring home and share with us!

I have to say though (and this is really why I'm writing), she's been a remarkably resilient little sicky babe!?! Each and every morning she wakes up unable to breath through that tiny nosey of hers, yet she's smiling and downright perky as could be! My sister had babysat for us Sunday night, and she was amazed at how SICK AND HAPPY she is. Her head teacher in her daycare group has also noted several times that although she's sick, she sure is a happy baby despite how she may feel. It's unbelievable to me. I was expecting total misery ahead when it first became apparent she was getting sick, but other than the general worry and concern for her care and health, she hasn't behaved at all like she's sick and miserable. I'm not kidding -- The girlie is sick and she is sooo happy -! ?! The past few days I've been sick, I've been... well, I've been anything but happy. Time to learn from my own tiny-darling daughter's example, eh?

Man, she's just so delighted with each new day. How did I get to be so lucky?

Pink Martini!

Although I seem to have come down with a new cold (sneezing, running nose, blak), we managed to make our way to the Henderson Pavilion last night to see Pink Martini. [THANK YOU AGAIN, AUNTIE RYNER for watching our lil' still-sicky wee one!] I'd first heard of Pink Martini in 1999, listening to a morning NPR broadcast on the way to work. During their NPR feature, they'd shared snippets of several Pink Martini songs, all of which, I totally loved! That same day, later in the afternoon, I went online and ordered their debut album, Sympathique, and to this day, it's my favorite of theirs. They have a new album coming out next month!

Anyhow, Pink Martini is, um, is a truly unique ensemble in today's time. What an understatement. Nevermind the fact Pink Martini is a TWELVE members-large production! Their music is nothing short of amazing - - French, Portuguese, Spanish, and even Turkish?!? Oh, and yeah, last night's concert? It was fantastic! I feel so fortunate to have had the chance to sit and behold their creative magic in live concert. Their musicianship is absolutely spot-on spectacular and China Forbes is a powerhouse. I love them.

And now I must go back to bed and cough my eyes out, thank you.

5 Years Later...

Me: [meandering over from the kitchen to my honey-man, a sky blue plastic plate in my right hand, carrying my homemade mini-pizza, fresh from the toaster oven. I have a smug smile on my face.] "So, we've been together for FIVE years now. Do you finally admit and accept that you DO like my all my plastic and melamine dishes?"

Mah honey-man: [laying casually on the couch, reading one of his 'application architecture' books after having his own lunch on a dark blue plastic plate, a huge grin spreads on his face as he looks up at me standing over him] "Yes, yes I do. I love them now, especially for my lunches."

Me: "When we met, you hated them. For years you hated them."

Mah honey-man: "Yes, yes, I did, but they're sooo handy."

The latter is precisely the reasoning I'd offered him 5 years ago, as to why I had them.

Why I Love Mah Honey-Man ~ Reason 44

Because he can still make me weak in the knees whenever he comes home from work and gives me a good "ten second kiss" before even taking off his backpack.

Two Weeks Left

I have only TWO WEEKS until I am to resume my full-time employment contract, and my baby sweet potato girl will then begin attending daycare full-time. After this weekend, I will be spending ALL MY WAKING FREE TIME with my baby girlie!

I wrote the above on Friday, September 11th... um, I hope to catch up on some blogging soon (particularly our family blog), whenever my lil' babe is dreaming away come her bedtime, that is, if I can keep my own eyes open for more than an hour after she's hit the hay.

Our Sicky Baby is, um, well, Still Sick

I'm That Tired

This morning, I nearly left for work without any shoes on -- really, I did. I had my arms and hands loaded and I was headed to the garage, to my car, to leave for work...without my shoes!

And tonight? I just came downstairs after taking my shower, during which, I'd discovered I was still wearing my sunglasses on my head. Yeah.

I will be going to bed as soon as I click 'publish post' here (and finish with my mama-dairy 'pumping').

09-09-09

My mum would have been 56 years old today. Man, what I wouldn't give...

Sicky Baby

Late Wednesday night, our lil' girlie woke up in the night with a super stuffy nose, but once we had her humidifier running, she managed to sleep 6 hours straight. By this morning , however, it became official: Our lil' baby sweet potato girl has her first cold. Her eyes have been watery, she's sneezing here and there, coughing whenever laid down flat. Her nose began to run an hour ago and we now have a light fever of 99.9 registered on the thermometer... and this is all in time for her big brother's first weekend stay in Vegas since his new school year began in UT. Lovely.

She was with me at work today... we had a very productive day together (heavy sarcasm).

She'd been in daycare for 2 weeks and already, she's sick!

Ah ha! Total nerd now, posting via Blackberry!

Testing...

Nappy Times

Okay, so daycare began well. Now we just gotta work on the sweet potato girl's concept of nap time, both morning and afternoon. She used to run like clockwork, but ever since she hit the 4 months mark, nappy time hasn't been all that consistent. And now that she's in daycare, it seems she will no longer embrace the idea of a morning nap for any longer than 10-3o minutes at a time. The afternoons at home are no better unless she's glued to my side, or rather, to a boob. We did quit napping in her beloved swing weeks ago, about the same time she moved from her bassinet to her crib - - Yeah, absolutely no more 'based-upon-swing-motion' napping, that became the rule once I found out swings don't exist at her daycare. So now she's gotta learn to fall asleep simply because she's tired.

The ladies at her daycare tell me they have to rock her, more often than not, to get her to doze off, but that either way, she tends to fight nap time. It's not that she'll cry or protest (yet). She'll lay in their arms, drowsy as all heck, rubbing her eyes while smiling and cooing quietly, simply refusing to give it up and just conk out. And they say that once she does finally pass out, they'll lay her down in her crib, and she'll either wake up immediately or 10-30 minutes later. Today she had one 10 minute nap, and then an hour later, a nap for 25 minutes.

I arrived yesterday right when they had laid her down. The young lady in charge of her that day told me with a huge grin and a laugh that it was her 3rd time getting her to fall asleep that morning (and I'm hoping they continue to handle her refusal to nap in the same jovial manner weeks from now). By the time I had my jellybean's bottle bag in hand and had signed her charts, etc. etc., my lil' girlie had turned on her side and was smiling at me from her crib from across the room. Lil' stinker!

She just doesn't want to miss out on anything... sounds a lot like someone else I know (guilty grin spreading across my own mug).

Okay, I'm Ready Now: Our Babe's Daycare Dealio

Last week was mah baby sweet potato girl's very first week of daycare, and I gotta say it went very, very well. Yup, this mommie is very, very pleased.

First of all, I had told myself to expect some tears that first week. So, when I picked her up around 11:30am on her first day, and I found her wailing away in the arms of her group's head teacher, I wasn't too alarmed. They were both sitting on the floor on a playmat together and mah baby girlie was upright, clutching her white silky blanket to her face with big fat baby tears streaming down her chubby cheeks. I had actually heard and identified her crying from outside the entrance to her group's room, so I wasn't at all surprised when I saw her...

SOME BACKGROUND INFO: Whenever my lil' jellybean cries, there is normally a very particular and identifiable reason, and it's usually easy to stop her tears and quickly at that. We've found that the only times she'll wail inconsolably is when, 1) she has either unrelieved tummy bubbles or major fluffies [IMPORTANT SIDE NOTE: Baby girls do not fart! They 'fluff'.]; or 2) she's fried due to some kind of significant unrelenting over-stimulation (like after withstanding the first 5 hours of a loud, seven-hour-long, 11-innings baseball game on the 4th of July).

So, anyhow, I could hear her from outside, and it was no wonder to me why she was upset... Two other babies were totally screaming bloody murder, crying their little eyes out with such intensity, it was incredible! Immediately upon my arrival in the room, her teacher confirmed my suspicion: She'd been totally fine all morning long until one of the baby boys, poor lil' guy, had begun to scream uncontrollably (I knew which one too, as he'd been crying like that the first time we'd met him), and after 10 minutes of his crying, both she and the other baby boy couldn't take it any longer and they lost their cool.

So how is she coping this week with the other babies' upsets? When I picked her up today, that same lil' tyke was once again screaming his lil' head off, but this time around, my baby girlie was lying beside one of the daycare ladies, playing on a playmat placed no more than 2 feet away from him, blissfully happy, smiling and gumming some toy. Yeah, she's doing well.