Friday, March 25, 2011
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
We'd post new photos, but the USB connection on Chris's camera is malfunctioning...
Atticus's one-year stats:
weight--23 lbs 2 oz (50th percentile)
height--33 1/2 inches (off the charts)
head circumference--48 cm (90th percentile)
The first couple of days back in the office full time have gone well. Atticus doesn't even seem aware that anything has changed. I'm visiting him at lunch, which helps both of us. Today I nursed him and rocked him to sleep. The first thing he wants to do when I pick him up after work is go outside. We hang out in the parking lot for a few minutes--he hangs his head out the window and beats on the car. Then as soon as we get home, we or Chris or I alone take him to the park to swing. So far, so good.
The pediatrician says we need to teach Atticus to point to what he wants. It seems like every well check-up he brings up something we should be doing that we're not. sigh. :) Atticus is, however, now signing "cheese" as well as "milk." And I think he's signing "bath" a little bit too.
We saw a different pediatrician yesterday to check that A's ear infection had gone away. It had, but she also remarked that he'd had quite a number of ear infections and that we may want to investigate getting tubes put in. It seems far too early for that, in my opinion. I'm not so desperate I'll let him be put under anesthesia at this point. Plus, his regular pediatrician has yet to mention it. And it's warming up big time here in Tucson. Hopefully, there will be fewer colds and fewer (none?) ear infections.
I signed Atticus up for swim lessons. He starts in 2 1/2 weeks!
Atticus's one-year stats:
weight--23 lbs 2 oz (50th percentile)
height--33 1/2 inches (off the charts)
head circumference--48 cm (90th percentile)
The first couple of days back in the office full time have gone well. Atticus doesn't even seem aware that anything has changed. I'm visiting him at lunch, which helps both of us. Today I nursed him and rocked him to sleep. The first thing he wants to do when I pick him up after work is go outside. We hang out in the parking lot for a few minutes--he hangs his head out the window and beats on the car. Then as soon as we get home, we or Chris or I alone take him to the park to swing. So far, so good.
The pediatrician says we need to teach Atticus to point to what he wants. It seems like every well check-up he brings up something we should be doing that we're not. sigh. :) Atticus is, however, now signing "cheese" as well as "milk." And I think he's signing "bath" a little bit too.
We saw a different pediatrician yesterday to check that A's ear infection had gone away. It had, but she also remarked that he'd had quite a number of ear infections and that we may want to investigate getting tubes put in. It seems far too early for that, in my opinion. I'm not so desperate I'll let him be put under anesthesia at this point. Plus, his regular pediatrician has yet to mention it. And it's warming up big time here in Tucson. Hopefully, there will be fewer colds and fewer (none?) ear infections.
I signed Atticus up for swim lessons. He starts in 2 1/2 weeks!
Friday, March 11, 2011
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
I forgot to mention that Atticus is now routinely signing "milk." A lot of the time he does it with both hands at the same time. It's cute. And often if I say "milk," he signs it. The other night I said it every time he signed it, timing it just so, so that it was as if he was my puppeteer. He laughed and laughed. This morning it was the second thing he did upon waking--after giving me a smile.
Atticus has been sleeping later lately. For the last five days, he's awoken at about 7, sometimes later. I think this too may be contributing to his especially high spirits. (On Sunday he napped for 3 hours 45 minutes!) He's no longer exhausted when I drop him off at daycare in the morning. He bounded off again to the one-year-old room this morning. When I said bye, he turned from where he was standing at one of the tables and gave me a huge grin.
I didn't realize it until I made the decision to keep him where he's at that that daycare transition (which was really a dozen transitions in one) was what was stressing me out so much about going back to the office full-time. I'm not saying I won't at all miss having the majority of my afternoons with him, but knowing he's at a place where he's comfortable and happy, where he's known and loved, that is on my way home and just 10 minutes from both work and from our house (so as to maximize our time together) makes such a difference. (Several different people at the daycare have spoken to be about how happy they are that Atticus is staying. They genuinely love him, and it's so heartwarming.) I'm planning to visit him at lunch, possibly nursing him to sleep, since that's what we normally do in the car in the parking lot when I pick him up now.
Atticus has been sleeping later lately. For the last five days, he's awoken at about 7, sometimes later. I think this too may be contributing to his especially high spirits. (On Sunday he napped for 3 hours 45 minutes!) He's no longer exhausted when I drop him off at daycare in the morning. He bounded off again to the one-year-old room this morning. When I said bye, he turned from where he was standing at one of the tables and gave me a huge grin.
I didn't realize it until I made the decision to keep him where he's at that that daycare transition (which was really a dozen transitions in one) was what was stressing me out so much about going back to the office full-time. I'm not saying I won't at all miss having the majority of my afternoons with him, but knowing he's at a place where he's comfortable and happy, where he's known and loved, that is on my way home and just 10 minutes from both work and from our house (so as to maximize our time together) makes such a difference. (Several different people at the daycare have spoken to be about how happy they are that Atticus is staying. They genuinely love him, and it's so heartwarming.) I'm planning to visit him at lunch, possibly nursing him to sleep, since that's what we normally do in the car in the parking lot when I pick him up now.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Atticus enjoying the wind
Well, I'm feeling quite a bit better about going back to work full time--at the moment anyhow. I made a decision that has helped a lot. We're no longer going to transfer Atticus to a different daycare. The place he's at now told me I could bring in whatever food I want if we stay. And that was the main reason we were leaving. Plus, staying where we're at will save me at least an hour a day of commuting, which means an extra hour or more to spend with Atticus. And, this morning when I dropped him off, the door that connects the infant and one-year-old room was open, and as soon as I put Atticus down on the floor, he took off for the one-year-old room, never looking back. Apparently he loves it in there. I didn't know this. It was really, really good to see. The place he's at now isn't perfect, but then neither is the place I was going to transition him to (and no place is). Despite having initially told me they had no problems with me bringing in substitute snacks (they provide snacks at the alternative place, but not lunch) last week I was urged to bring snacks that looked just like the snacks all of the other kids are eating. Umm. Fruit, cheese, and yogurt do not resemble goldfish or ritz crackers in any way that I can think of. Plus, the caregiver then said that if I couldn't do that, at the very least make sure Atticus's snacks didn't look more appealing than the status quo. She said, for example, when the other kids are having crackers, it would be helpful if I didn't bring snacks like fruit and yogurt. Umm. What would she have me bring? Cat food? She said that the other kids would probably steal Atticus's snacks and conflict would arise. As if she couldn't possibly prevent or alleviate such conflict. Argh. And on the few days that the snacks aren't crackers, they're replaced with various items from McDonald's--Mcyogurt, Mcappleslices, Mcmuffins. No thank you. Plus, there was some business about shoes. She wanted Atticus to wear full-on sneakers even though he's not walking yet. If he has to wear sneakers that don't allow him to grip with his toes, he may never walk.
In other news, Atticus no longer seems to mind grass. He's willingly crawling around in it. What he really loves are rocks and keeps trying to put them into his mouth. We argue about this. I wouldn't mind if I could trust him not to try to swallow them.
He wants to do just about everything himself these days. He tries to comb his own hair, feed himself with a spoon, grab the reins of the swings, etc. If I put a hat onto his head, he takes it off and puts it onto my head.
He's been especially happy these last few days, it seems. Perhaps it's because I caved and started the antibiotic--no more pain. And daddy returned home Sunday.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
I think I've been too busy dwelling on the huge upcoming transitions our family (namely Atticus and I) is about to make after Atticus's upcoming birthday to write blog posts. My time is up. I'm supposed to return to the office full time when Atticus turns one. I chose this date largely because I felt it was probably all my company would be willing to allow. I know they're not very comfortable with me working from home. It's gone tremendously well, and I'm sure they feel that way about it too; but nonetheless, they frown upon it. And it's not exactly easy for me. I LOVE having the afternoons with Atticus, but that means I work all evening Monday through Friday. It's getting old--so hard to find any time leftover to read or write fiction or heck, even watch a 30-minute sit-com. I think I also imagined I might be done nursing Atticus by now. I just didn't know what to expect. But here we are--his birthday in just a few days--and I nurse him as much now as I did six months ago. I love it; I'm not complaining. I'm just saying it complicates things. Now the prospect of sending him to daycare all day is that much harder. I've never been apart from him for more than 5 1/2 hours. And not only is he transitioning to full time, we're moving him to a new daycare. I think it's a good change, but nonetheless, it's a lot of new stuff all at once. So I've been a whirlwind of emotions these last few weeks. One day I'm excited about going back to being done with work when I leave the office in the afternoon. The next I'm sad, sad, sad. The cycle repeats. I try to reason with myself that this is much harder on me than it is on him, but I'm not 100% convinced. Then I remind myself that ultimately, I have choices. If we do this for a few weeks, and I'm still sad, sad, sad, then I can request to work part-time. It would mean losing seniority, which stresses me out, but I suppose that if this move to full-time makes me unhappy, then I won't care about that so much. And this isn't all to say that I believe I'm going to be unhappy. I don't. I think there's a strong chance that Atticus and I will both adjust rather quickly, and that I will be happy with this decision. But, well, I'm not certain of that either. I've gotten used to hanging out with him in the afternoons. I think that in my perfect world I'd work six hours a day, and pick up Atticus right after his nap. I'd still have the afternoons with him. But in that dream scenario, somehow I'd retain my seniority and everything at work would go on as normal, which, of course, it wouldn't. sigh. Maybe I just need to get over the seniority thing. I'm sorry to go on and on... It's been a rough few weeks.
Rough but lovely. Atticus and I have had several splendidly lovely days together this weekend, despite that he has another ear infection. After taking him to the pediatrician to confirm the ear infection yesterday, we sat in the parked car for over an hour--he nursed to sleep while I read in the back seat, a perfect breeze coming through the window, the sun shining on us. We had dinner with Eleanor and Deborah; Atticus chowed down on grilled chicken, bread, macaroni, hummus, etc.
Today we sat in the parked car again--this time downtown--I read while he finished his nap in his car seat. We had lunch at a lovely new restaurant called Pasco--almost all local produce, grass-fed beef, etc. Delicious. Atticus had goat cheese and pork for the first time. I took him to the chiropractor for the fourth time this week--trying to avoid an antibiotic. We went to our weekly mom-and-baby group. Then this evening, Celia, Teresa, Amber, and Amber's two kids came over; we had pizza, cupcakes, and beer, and celebrated Atticus's upcoming birthday.
Rough but lovely. Atticus and I have had several splendidly lovely days together this weekend, despite that he has another ear infection. After taking him to the pediatrician to confirm the ear infection yesterday, we sat in the parked car for over an hour--he nursed to sleep while I read in the back seat, a perfect breeze coming through the window, the sun shining on us. We had dinner with Eleanor and Deborah; Atticus chowed down on grilled chicken, bread, macaroni, hummus, etc.
Today we sat in the parked car again--this time downtown--I read while he finished his nap in his car seat. We had lunch at a lovely new restaurant called Pasco--almost all local produce, grass-fed beef, etc. Delicious. Atticus had goat cheese and pork for the first time. I took him to the chiropractor for the fourth time this week--trying to avoid an antibiotic. We went to our weekly mom-and-baby group. Then this evening, Celia, Teresa, Amber, and Amber's two kids came over; we had pizza, cupcakes, and beer, and celebrated Atticus's upcoming birthday.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)