Catching Up

It's been a few weeks since I've had a chance to post anything, so I thought I'd post an update entry during my lunch break. I've been out of touch mainly because my maternity leave ended a few weeks back and it took some time to get back in the swing of things, especially now that there are two kids instead of one to manage.

Anyhoo... some points of interest:

1) Fiona had her 2 month check-up and is continuing to thrive. As of three weeks ago her weight was 10 lbs, 4 oz, and she was 22 1/2 inches long. The two month appointment is the point when vaccinations typically start in earnest, and she no exception. She had one oral vaccine, plus four injected vaccines (two in each thigh!) at that appointment. I really hated putting her through the shots, but I do believe in vaccines. I know that many people, including a number of my friends, question the wisdom of administering vaccines, but I believe the good outweighs the bad. Still, it was hard to lay Fiona down and let the nurse poke her. Thankfully, the nurse was very fast and Fiona was quite the trooper. She seemed more angry than anything, and screamed for about thirty seconds before settling down to nurse for a few minutes. Fiona seems to me to be remarkably resilient in some ways, and it seems the nurse agreed with me, commenting on how quickly the baby settled down.

2) After 2 months of having to keep quiet, I can now happily announce that I received an offer for an internal position at my company that I interviewed for back in December. The job was offered to me just before Fiona was born, but couldn't be announced until I returned from leave. I now have the job title of database manager and will primarily be occupied with helping the editorial staff that support electronic products at the company work more effectively with the other functional areas that contribute to these products. I'm excited about the job, though a bit nervous too, and am making a point of reminding myself that every time I have had to stretch myself professionally, I've been a success.

3) Chris got to attend the NCAA Final Four and Championship games--yay!!! It was a dream come true for him, even with MSU's loss in the final game. I'm so glad he had the opportunity to go! Of course, his voice is still in rough shape from all the screaming he did, particularly on the Final Four game night. Last Sunday, he could barely croak out a few words at a time. Thankfully, Sam deigned to allow me to read his bedtime books to him, sparing Chris a bit. One thing that came of Chris going to the games was that I found myself on my own at bedtime with two kids for the first time since Fiona was born. I've put multiple kids to bed as a babysitter in the past, but never as a mom. It was a challenge, since Sam's bedtime falls at the time of day when Fiona wants to nurse non-stop, but I did it. Sam was a REALLY good boy, which helped, and seemed to enjoy having Fiona sit on my lap while I read his bedtime books to him.

4) Sam has definitely bonded with Fiona, I am happy to report, and sees her as a member of the family rather than an intruder. If I come down from the bedroom without her, he asks after her and is concerned about leaving her on her own. Last week I asked him if he loved her and he said he did, and even bent over to kiss her when I told him he could. This is a big deal for Sam, as he's not big on giving kisses, though he does like receiving them. Ms. Emma, his caregiver, even managed to take a couple of photos of Sam holding Fiona, something we've never been able to do:

5) As I mentioned earlier, I'm back at work, which has been a challenge. I now have to get up at least 2 hours before we leave the house to make sure that I'm ready to go and Fiona is nursed and ready. I'm lucky in that Chris manages most of Sam's morning routine these days, freeing me up to focus on Fiona, but it's still a lot of work. I've got no less than 9 bags of stuff that I have to make sure leave the house with us: my laptop bag, my purse, my tote bag, my lunch bag, my breast pump bag, Fiona's lunch box (for bottles), Fiona's diaper bag, Sam's diaper bag, and Sam's backpack 'o stuff (usually a large number of matchbox cars). I look ridiculous going into the office, like I'm moving in, but need everything that I bring.

Once I'm at work, things calm down a little, but I do have to go pump 2-3 times a day, which means that my workday takes a little longer. Then, after work, we've got the marathon of getting home, getting dinner on the table and the baby nursed, playtime for Sam and then bedtime, all by 8pm, if possible. Now that the weather is getting nicer, I've also got to start trying to get Sam some out of doors time, as well as some walks for me. Once Sam is in bed, Fiona is at that time of the day when she wants to nurse constantly. If I'm lucky, she falls asleep for good around 10 or 11pm, at which point I try to do a few chores and get organized for the next day before going to sleep. I'm then up again at 3 or 4am to pump*, since Fiona is the Amazing Sleeping Baby. Seriously, she sleeps 8-10 hours straight, every night! She has always been a great sleeper, but I was astounded when the sleeping through the night thing started just before I went back to work. I love it, though it'd be nicer to nurse in the middle of the night than to pump. Anyhow, after pumping, it's back to bed for an hour or two, then the whole thing repeats.

*Don't be surprised to get an email from me or see a Facebook update with a 3am time stamp. Pumping is boring and there's really not much on TV in the middle of the night!

6) We just had a very nice visit with my sister Katy and her husband Pat. They came and stayed with us for Easter weekend, and Sam was delighted to have his favorite playmate (Katy) come to stay. On Sunday, we headed off to my grandma's house for Easter dinner with my extended family. Fiona got to meet her great aunt Jan and cousins Cole and Jessica for the first time, since they were able to come down from where they live near Torch Lake for the weekend.