Five Things I’ve Neglected Since “Having” A Baby:

1. Putting away laundry. While I don’t have trouble doing laundry, mostly because its something you can do with a baby on your hip, I can go two or three weeks without putting any of it away. Shirts and pants hang neatly over the half wall, so they don’t get wrinkled, and other stuff lives in a laundry basket.
2. Personal hygiene. I actually don’t remember the last time I washed my hair. Its been over a week, I know that. Work, sleep, food, time with AJ and an hour of tv before bed all win out over an extended shower. And most times, over a shower in general. Good thing I don’t sweat. In addition, my feet have needed some extra attention for awhile. Luckily, I have not gotten to the point where I will forgo brushing my teeth and washing my face… yet.
3. Real cleaning. Straightening, I can do. And keeping my kitchen moderately clean seems obtainable. But the first floor of our house needs a lot of attention (how long have the cats been gone? yeah, the litter box is still hiding in its closet…) and I know I’ve only cleaned the master bathroom once since AJ’s been home. Terrible.
4. Punctuality. I used to be so on time to things. No more. Always late.
5. My well being. “Me time” is only found at work, running errands, or serving at church. Since AJ has been home, I have done THREE personally fun things sans baby and husband. Not that I spent much time “doing nothing” before baby… but now I wish I would have stocked up on relaxation. If thats possible. Regardless, I have really missed spending time with my friends and doing girly things. Thankfully, they all seem just as busy as I am.

Happy Birthday Corban! Another YotB turning one. Corban’s birthday was on Saturday, and though we hoped to celebrate it with him, AJ’s continued illness kept us home.

So, AJ went to daycare on Friday… his temp was down, and I had a conference I really wanted to attend at work (and how often do I really want to do ANYTHING at work?). So, though he had a late start, and he was still pretty fussy, I dropped him off and hoped for the best. Thankfully, he made it through the day. And he even made it through the night with my mom babysitting so we could attend our new parenting big/small group thing. But then he woke up around midnight, and sounded like Darth Vader. His breathing was so congested. Then he started coughing and sneezing and spent most the night unhappy and uncomfortable. Saturday was pretty miserable for him. And while I’ve always been amazed at my own snot production when sick, he definitely amazed me more. Such a little guy, with SO MUCH snot.
Thankfully, by Saturday night, he was starting to breath better, and finally - after 4 days - he laughed at something. It wasnt until he laughed that I realized I hadnt heard it in so long. Boy did it feel good to see him smile. Sunday was still kinda fussy, but there were smiles in between and this morning, he woke up happy. Ah, happy baby, I missed you so!
So, he’s back at daycare today - for what will hopefully be a full week without any illness. Wish us luck!

Well, so much for that first week of daycare. AJ is still home sick. Every time we think he’s on the mend, he adds a new symptom to the ailment, like when he started throwing up last night. I feel so bad for the little guy… he’s sleeping ten times worse than usual (which I didnt even think was possible) and now he cant even keep anything down. He goes from smiley happy to inconsolably fussy in .5 seconds. We’ve been to the doctor, and they werent much help. Apparently, there isnt much they can do for infant illnesses. They just advised to keep him hydrated and revisit if his fever doesnt disappear in 3-4 days.
Speaking of fevers, this being our first and all, I had been taking his temperature under his arm. He doesnt complain too much about it, as long as I keep him distracted with a book or something. However, the thermometer we have takes 20 minutes to report the temperature. It didnt take long for my patience to wear out with that. And so I bought an ear thermometer that does a much quicker job. I can take his temperature five times and get an average in a shorter amount of time than what the under arm was doing. Its a little less accurate, I think, but I’m okay with that.
Here’s hoping we wont be taking his temperature much longer… 3 days of sick is enough!

Well, I guess the first day of daycare went well enough. I had some romanticized vision of us reuniting that evening. Him smiling and waving his arms, happy to see me. Me whisking him up and twirling around. Both of us laughing gleefully as we run off into the sunset. But instead, I could hear him whining as I walked down the hallway to his room, and when our eyes met, all I got was a “where the hell have you been?” look. Oh well.
They said he did well. He didnt eat or sleep much, but thats to be expected. He still smiled and laughed for them, and greatly enjoyed his time playing outside (in sand, ick).
He made it almost all the way home without falling asleep, but at the last intersection, he dozed off. Not even the sound of the garage door closing woke him up. So, I let him nap for a bit while I fixed dinner and then we hung out for an hour before bedtime.
And then he woke up this morning with a temp of 101. Thank you daycare.

Well, I managed to drop AJ off at daycare without crying. The front office even offered me tissues, but I told them I would be fine. I had a few teary-eyed moments.
AJ was fussy while I was there… he would play and be fine, and then come fussing towards me. I had a lot to do while I was there, to get him settled. Diapers here, sheets there, bottles in the fridge. Stuff like that. But when I left him, with a hug and a kiss and a goodbye I love you, he just looked at me. I even waited outside for a few seconds to hear if he fussed.
Now I just have to get through the day without calling every five minutes.