As a working parent you learn to cherish those small moments of time to yourself. These are few and far between and most of the time you feel as if you’re overindulging by taking them. Clearly something is up because there is no way I have these 10 minutes of time to myself. And by the time you figure out what you’re going to do with yourself the moment is over.
The perk to working nine hour days is that I get every other Friday off. This has proven to be a wonderful schedule both in its flexibility and the chance it gives me to get caught up on the home front every other week. Keeps things at an even keel, so to speak. Because of the holidays the kids had not been consistently to a full week of daycare in a better part of two months. So when my Friday off loomed at the beginning of last week I very guilt free declared that the kid’s would be going in and I was taking Friday to be ALL BY MYSELF. Just the thought had me tickled, I would spend the morning getting everything done house wise and then the afternoon sitting on the couch, watching Oprah and doing NOTHING. Or basically doing whatever I wanted. In peace and solitude.
Moment of silence with me now for the day that never was.
Wednesday morning Teddy’s eyes looked a little bit irritated. By Wednesday night we knew he had pink eye. I was also literally near tears because I knew what that meant. It meant a Thursday pedi appointment and a day home with the little man while the antibiotic worked its magic. It meant a Friday at work because I have too few sick hours to my name right now and a pile of work sitting on my desk. It meant no guilt free Friday off. It meant no afternoon peacefully watching Oprah, taking a nap or, God forbid, reading a book in silence. As much as I felt for the babe, well, I was feeling sorry for myself too. I eventually got over myself, booked that pedi appointment, got whatever house stuff that I could on Thursday and hit that pile on my desk on Friday. Teddy was back to his old self by the weekend, life moved on. But I still want that day back.
The next Friday off is the 11th. I’m not counting on anything yet.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Monday, January 24, 2011
Because cramped sleep is better than no sleep at all...
I’ve kept my silence because I didn’t want to jinx things but at this point, screw it. Yes, folks, it’s time for another update from one of the world’s worst sleepers (shout out here to McCashew). We’re making progress at a steady pace, albeit much slower pace than we would like but steady nonetheless. We had one night where Teddy woke up twice but was content to go back to sleep with his paci, nights that he spent entirely in his crib, even with the wake ups, wake ups that seemed to get quicker and smoother with each passing night. Some good napping last weekend. Friday night we had a breakthrough, SEVEN uninterrupted hours of sleep. It felt like heaven. Add to that the fact that he really has seemed to have rounded the corner on the eating to the point that he’s starting to eat more and drink bottles less. Woohoo, I thought, we’ve got this licked now.
And then Saturday night hit us (me) like a ton of bricks. Back to the ol’ routine of 2 wake ups a night and an absolute refusal at about 2am to be put back down in his crib. Nope, not gonna sleep there when I know there’s a nice comfy bed in the next room with two people available for snuggling should I need it. And add to that the fact that Katherine woke up twice during the night with… “You lay with me?” strategically smack in the middle of Teddy’s sleep time. All this meant I was up with a kid just about every two hours. Amazing how much more painful this all is after a night of solid sleep. I was sore and I was cranky. Last night was more of the same, minus Katherine’s wake up (so I guess that’s an improvement!). It was Ted’s night but Teddy decided at the first wake up he wasn’t going back in his crib so I took a turn to try and see if I could rock him and get him back down. HA! Think I’m stupid lady? I know your tactics. I had that kid snoring soundly in my arms before I tried to gently lay him down. Those two little eyes popped open the second I pulled my arms away. Back to our bed where he was sound asleep within seconds of hitting the sheets (actually I think he fell back asleep on my shoulder on the way into our room). He spent the majority of the night with us.
Now, I know, I know. All we’re doing is prolonging it by letting him sleep in our bed. But seriously, at 2am when you’re dead tired from the previous night, the house is cold and you want to get back to sleep ASAP what would you do? 2am is not the time for straight thinking, I can plot and plan all I want with a rational head during the day, come nightfall there is one objective and one objective only. Get yourself and the kid back to sleep as soon as possible by whatever means necessary. When Ted called out from our room “Why don’t you bring him in here?” well, you don’t have to tell me twice.
Because cramped sleep is better than no sleep at all.
And then Saturday night hit us (me) like a ton of bricks. Back to the ol’ routine of 2 wake ups a night and an absolute refusal at about 2am to be put back down in his crib. Nope, not gonna sleep there when I know there’s a nice comfy bed in the next room with two people available for snuggling should I need it. And add to that the fact that Katherine woke up twice during the night with… “You lay with me?” strategically smack in the middle of Teddy’s sleep time. All this meant I was up with a kid just about every two hours. Amazing how much more painful this all is after a night of solid sleep. I was sore and I was cranky. Last night was more of the same, minus Katherine’s wake up (so I guess that’s an improvement!). It was Ted’s night but Teddy decided at the first wake up he wasn’t going back in his crib so I took a turn to try and see if I could rock him and get him back down. HA! Think I’m stupid lady? I know your tactics. I had that kid snoring soundly in my arms before I tried to gently lay him down. Those two little eyes popped open the second I pulled my arms away. Back to our bed where he was sound asleep within seconds of hitting the sheets (actually I think he fell back asleep on my shoulder on the way into our room). He spent the majority of the night with us.
Now, I know, I know. All we’re doing is prolonging it by letting him sleep in our bed. But seriously, at 2am when you’re dead tired from the previous night, the house is cold and you want to get back to sleep ASAP what would you do? 2am is not the time for straight thinking, I can plot and plan all I want with a rational head during the day, come nightfall there is one objective and one objective only. Get yourself and the kid back to sleep as soon as possible by whatever means necessary. When Ted called out from our room “Why don’t you bring him in here?” well, you don’t have to tell me twice.
Because cramped sleep is better than no sleep at all.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Awesome Aunt
It was Great Auntie Sue that gave this bib to him but I'll let you all duke it out to determine who is the awesome one!
-- Post From My iPhone
-- Post From My iPhone
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Weekend Catch Up
We're finally catching up this weekend on all of those little things after being away for the last three plus weekends (ok, technically we returned on New Years weekend but most of that time was spent taking down Christmas decorations). We are now really, officially, back in our routine and it feels good. It's too early to call it spring cleaning so we'll just say that in the spirit of a new year I'm making a mental list of all those things around the house that don't get attention very often such as baseboards, window sills, and bottom cabinets. I've been so busy this week that I haven't even looked at the pictures I took last weekend. Hopefully by the time I finish this post at some point tomorrow I will so I can include a few of them.
Seeing the city from the perspective of a four year old sheds a new light on things. It was all new to her, all amazing and everything needed to be touched (thank God she was wearing mittens), checked out (where do those grates in the sidewalk go?) and explored. The subway was always just the subway to me, nothing to terribly exciting, kind of smelly and dirty actually but to Katherine it was an adventure on the "underground train". She even met a police dog named Taylor at Grand Central Terminal on Sunday morning and got his card. And the rat running along those tracks?...WOW!
Of course, those little legs can't go very far, especially in the cold, so we did limit our journeys. The American Girl store took up most of Saturday, as planned, but she also dined while watching the skaters at Rockefeller Center with the highlight being the Zamboni whipping around the rink. Saturday night was dinner at Aunt Colleen and Uncle Sven's in which she promptly fell sound asleep on the couch as soon as she finished eating her spaghetti. Doll shopping is hard work. She was a trooper at what turned out to be one very long baptism, so much so that we took her back to the American Girl Store Sunday afternoon to pick out another outfit for Julie.
Seeing the city from the perspective of a four year old sheds a new light on things. It was all new to her, all amazing and everything needed to be touched (thank God she was wearing mittens), checked out (where do those grates in the sidewalk go?) and explored. The subway was always just the subway to me, nothing to terribly exciting, kind of smelly and dirty actually but to Katherine it was an adventure on the "underground train". She even met a police dog named Taylor at Grand Central Terminal on Sunday morning and got his card. And the rat running along those tracks?...WOW!
Of course, those little legs can't go very far, especially in the cold, so we did limit our journeys. The American Girl store took up most of Saturday, as planned, but she also dined while watching the skaters at Rockefeller Center with the highlight being the Zamboni whipping around the rink. Saturday night was dinner at Aunt Colleen and Uncle Sven's in which she promptly fell sound asleep on the couch as soon as she finished eating her spaghetti. Doll shopping is hard work. She was a trooper at what turned out to be one very long baptism, so much so that we took her back to the American Girl Store Sunday afternoon to pick out another outfit for Julie.
It will probably be a few years before we do any kind of full fledged visit to NYC to hit all of the tourist attractions. I think from now until then she'll be content with periodic surprises from the American Girl Store and short visits to Aunt Colleen and Uncle Sven from time to time.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Christmas Videos
I'm a bit behind but here's some video that we took over Christmas.
And since my parents just got 18 inches of snow today, here's Katherine sliding after their last storm.
And since my parents just got 18 inches of snow today, here's Katherine sliding after their last storm.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Happy Birthday Papa Coberly!
It's not just 1/11/11! It's also Papa's birthday! Of course, we totally forgot to give you your cards when you were here this weekend. They'll be on there way to you shortly!
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