3 Months

Back to Work

Whew! What a week! Returning to a new job after 5 months off with a newborn went considerably well. The morning routine that Brian and I have established is working seamlessly because we all made it to work and daycare on time every day. James did great with his babysitters. On Mondays and Wednesdays my parents come to our house to watch him which makes those days much more laid back. I was worried about getting James out the door in time to get to daycare, but that went well too. He has been very laid back about all the changes to his normal routine. This weekend the Grandma and Grandpa Rich are heading down from Michigan to stay with us for the whole week. They are going to take care of James during the day while I'm at work. They haven't been able to see him since birth so it will be great to get to know him now that he's changed so much.

My new job is great! I'm a part-time reading teacher in the mornings only. Going back to work has confirmed that I really would rather be a part-time working mom rather than a stay at home mom. I love getting up and at it in the morning and having a place to go where I can interact with adults, and being with the kids is the best. I work with first and second graders this year and they are so cute! It's funny how being a mom has changed my outlook on teaching. I'm a much more empathetic person now. The best part of my job is that I'm completely finished by noon! Although this week I worked most days until 1:30 in order to get organized, but I think the planning time will be cut down drastically once I get into the swing of things. Luckily, the next two weeks are short. We have Friday off for the next two weeks.

12 Weeks

Today James and I took a trip up to Overland to visit Brian at work. It was nice to finally see where he goes every day. It's actually a really nice facility in a nice neighborhood. Brian introduced us to the staff and we got to see the bulletin boards that he put up. I must say (and I'm a bulletin board master by now) that they looked really good. James got to go with us for lunch at Applebees, which ended up not being very fun. We basically asked for the check while we were placing our order. Today marks the official end to my 3 month maternity leave. I start back to work Monday morning. The party is over now! I'm a little excited about it though. If I was returning full-time I'm sure I'd be singing a different tune, but since I'm finished by noon each day it doesn't seem like that bad of a burden. There have been more days than I want to admit that James and I slept until noon so it will be nice to have a reason to get up and get going each day. James slept 10 hours straight last night. I sure hope he keeps it up for me next week. He's usually pretty good about sleeping, but there have been several instances recently that he's woken at 3 a.m. or even worse 4:30 a.m. (because at that point why go back to bed???) Those days will suck getting up and going to work, but luckily we can both come home and take a nap if we need to...which I'm sure we will. I will try to get on and post how the first week back goes. Monday my mom and dad are thankfully going to be here in the morning to watch James so I don't have to worry about being late for work. However, Tuesday I will take him to the sitter who I hired 3 days a week. We did a trial run to her house earlier this week and made it out the door pretty well. I'll just have to make sure that everything is ready the night before...and if he vomits or poops all over the place right before we have to go I have to NOT panic. The plan is to just keep an extra shirt in the car (for me just in case!) It's going to be an interesting week. I'm sure it will only be a matter or time before our little routine is second nature....but in the mean time wish me luck! I will need it!!!

Check-Up

James had his 2 month check up today even though he is 11 weeks old today! The doctor said that he looks perfectly healthy. He now weighs 10 lbs, 8 ounces, which is 4 pounds 8 ounces more since birth. He is in the 10th percentile for weight. We were a little worried about that, but his doctor told us that he is gaining weight normally and staying within the same percentile. He is 23 and 1/4 inches long, which is 3 and 3/4 inches more than birth. He's in the 41st percentile for length. Today he had his 2 month vaccinations which meant 2 shots (one in each thigh) along with an oral vaccination. Poor little guy was in a lot of pain! He turned bright red. Luckily Brian was able to come today too and he picked him up and hugged him tight until the pain stopped. He handled it well considerably. I was worried that I would cry too, but I didn't because James didn't seem like he was in that terrible of pain. He's been a little fussy this evening, but Brian has been holding him all night. Right now he's sound asleep against his chest. We are giving him children's Tylenol for the pain. Those shots are the worst! In other news, James is still smiling and "talking" to us all the time. He's a very happy little guy. It's hard to get him to smile for videos because he's too preoccupied with looking at the video camera.

Crazy Cute!