First, the big belly: Thomas, my little Buddha, weighed in at 13 pounds 9 ounces, in the 90th percentile for his age. Of course, he's only 22 3/4 inches tall, in the 50th percentile. What a little porker! I know I need to get some photos soon. I've been taking them, but not downloading them. Next week I'll have a bit of a break- I won't be working at any jobs, so I will get some posted.
Today is my last day at the Journal. For nine years, it was my job, but it was also the place where I made my friends, and learned how to work in the real world. I'm 100 percent sure that I made the right decision to leave. Economic times are tough, and this is a great opportunity. But I'm going to miss it a lot. I won't miss the office junk, or the work environment, but I'm definitely going to miss the job.
This week was also my last week at playgroup. Every Wednesday, I meet with some other moms and kids at the Bannock Youth Foundation. They have activities for the kids and parents together, and then the parents leave the room and talk about whatever issues have come up in their lives. The group was splitting into other groups anyway because of funding issues, but I had to leave for my new job as well. I looked forward to seeing these women and kids every Wednesday. I'm going to miss that a lot.
It seems like a lot is said about the isolation of stay-at-home moms, and it's true. They need things like playgroups for adult interaction that working moms get at work. But there isn't much said about the working mom and her need for peers. I will be the only person in my new office hauling a breastpump to work and locking myself up three times a day to attach a hose to my breast and milk myself like a cow. I was the only one at the Journal when I pumped for Anne Marie. I will be the only one feeling the guilt that comes with leaving your baby each day. It would be nice to have other working mothers to talk to about things. The problem is, working mothers come home, and they need to spend time with the little ones they've been missing all day. I don't know what would help, but it would be nice if there was something that would.
I'm rambling, but I have a brighter note to end on. I think I must be the luckiest woman alive when it comes to grocery shopping. Twice in a row, others have saved me from my poor timing. The first time was two weeks ago. It was 4 p.m. and Thomas was wonderful for the trip, until I started bagging my groceries. Then he started screaming.
Now, once you get to the bagging point, it's tough to do anything about your screaming baby. So I just hurried. The woman behind me picked up Thomas's carrier out of my cart and started swaying. He immediately calmed down. I thanked her, and she told me it was a "grandma's touch."
The next week, the same thing happened, only this time he got fussy before I started bagging. He calmed down when I held him, so I started bagging groceries one-handed. A woman came up to me and asked if she could hold my baby so I could bag the groceries. I gave her Thomas, and she cuddled him for a minute or two so I could finish. I told her she made my week, and she really did. She said she understood- she'd been there before. Those women were so wonderful!
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Monday, April 13, 2009
An update
It's been awhile, so I thought I'd do a bullet-point list of my exciting life lately.
* A new job! I won't be headed back to the Journal when my maternity leave is over. I took a job at ISU in their public relations office. More money, better benefits, cheap school for both Matt and I. I waffled over whether or not I'd take the job, but now I can't imagine how dumb I would have felt if I hadn't. When I gave my notice to the Journal, my boss started with "That's great!" I got the feeling that I might have been the next in a string of budget-related layoffs anyway. There's no telling if I was the one on the chopping block or not, but it has since been confirmed that my quitting did stop a layoff. So yay for new jobs!
* Poor Thomas gets a bad rap. I'm feeling guilty for telling his dark secrets- the fact that his piercing scream is loud, long, and could be used by the military for interrogations. I should let the world know that for the entire morning, and usually until about 4 p.m. or so, the boy is nothing but smiles, coos and giggles. I think if he slept some of that time, he would be happy at 4 p.m. too.
* Day care woes. When I found out I was pregnant with Thomas, I almost immediately put him on the waiting list at Anne Marie's day care. He still isn't in, and I got a letter today saying that because of tight budgets, they are shutting down one of the infant rooms, which hurts his chances even more. So Anne Marie will be at a different place than Thomas, and my plans to nurse him on my lunch break since he'd be at the university with me are slowly dying. Which brings me to my next point.
* Thomas hates bottles. This seems strange because he is tongue-tied and can only nurse with a nipple shield. The nipple shield makes breastfeeding a heck of a lot like a bottle, but he still hates bottles. My new plan is to try all sorts of brands until I find one he likes.
Here are some photos of our Easter. There is no Thomas in the photos, and I'm feeling guilty about that too. But the poor kid was asleep for egg dying and was inside screaming when we took the photos of Anne Marie in her Easter dress.
At church, Thomas did everything that a baby can do in church to misbehave. He made it to the first reading, then screamed so we left. On the way back, he blew out a diaper- thankfully I hadn't made it completely through the huge throng of people standing up in the back of the overcrowded church before I left again. Then he got hungry, so I nursed in the parking lot and came back in as the priest was blessing the Eucharist. As the priest held up the host, he let out a gigantic fart that made several people turn and look in amazement.
I guess that while I was out nursing Thomas, Anne Marie had her own fun with my mom in the church. She was pretty good, although she did dance to every song. But when the priest asked the congregation to renew their baptismal vows, she said, "no." When the priest said, "Do you reject Satan?" Anne Marie responded, "No." "And all his works?" No. "And all his empty promises?" No.
Easter was a little wild, but it was still fun in the end. And today, Thomas, who had a really rough first Easter, decided to sleep through the night, take a nap during the day, and was a happy dream baby even in the evening when he usually becomes very antisocial.
This post is getting long. I waited too long to blog, and now I have too much to say. I'm amazed at how much Anne Marie and Thomas actually look alike when I look back to her baby photos. Here's their photos at 6 weeks old, first Thomas, second Anne Marie.
* A new job! I won't be headed back to the Journal when my maternity leave is over. I took a job at ISU in their public relations office. More money, better benefits, cheap school for both Matt and I. I waffled over whether or not I'd take the job, but now I can't imagine how dumb I would have felt if I hadn't. When I gave my notice to the Journal, my boss started with "That's great!" I got the feeling that I might have been the next in a string of budget-related layoffs anyway. There's no telling if I was the one on the chopping block or not, but it has since been confirmed that my quitting did stop a layoff. So yay for new jobs!
* Poor Thomas gets a bad rap. I'm feeling guilty for telling his dark secrets- the fact that his piercing scream is loud, long, and could be used by the military for interrogations. I should let the world know that for the entire morning, and usually until about 4 p.m. or so, the boy is nothing but smiles, coos and giggles. I think if he slept some of that time, he would be happy at 4 p.m. too.
* Day care woes. When I found out I was pregnant with Thomas, I almost immediately put him on the waiting list at Anne Marie's day care. He still isn't in, and I got a letter today saying that because of tight budgets, they are shutting down one of the infant rooms, which hurts his chances even more. So Anne Marie will be at a different place than Thomas, and my plans to nurse him on my lunch break since he'd be at the university with me are slowly dying. Which brings me to my next point.
* Thomas hates bottles. This seems strange because he is tongue-tied and can only nurse with a nipple shield. The nipple shield makes breastfeeding a heck of a lot like a bottle, but he still hates bottles. My new plan is to try all sorts of brands until I find one he likes.
Here are some photos of our Easter. There is no Thomas in the photos, and I'm feeling guilty about that too. But the poor kid was asleep for egg dying and was inside screaming when we took the photos of Anne Marie in her Easter dress.
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| From easter 2009 |
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| From easter 2009 |
At church, Thomas did everything that a baby can do in church to misbehave. He made it to the first reading, then screamed so we left. On the way back, he blew out a diaper- thankfully I hadn't made it completely through the huge throng of people standing up in the back of the overcrowded church before I left again. Then he got hungry, so I nursed in the parking lot and came back in as the priest was blessing the Eucharist. As the priest held up the host, he let out a gigantic fart that made several people turn and look in amazement.
I guess that while I was out nursing Thomas, Anne Marie had her own fun with my mom in the church. She was pretty good, although she did dance to every song. But when the priest asked the congregation to renew their baptismal vows, she said, "no." When the priest said, "Do you reject Satan?" Anne Marie responded, "No." "And all his works?" No. "And all his empty promises?" No.
Easter was a little wild, but it was still fun in the end. And today, Thomas, who had a really rough first Easter, decided to sleep through the night, take a nap during the day, and was a happy dream baby even in the evening when he usually becomes very antisocial.
This post is getting long. I waited too long to blog, and now I have too much to say. I'm amazed at how much Anne Marie and Thomas actually look alike when I look back to her baby photos. Here's their photos at 6 weeks old, first Thomas, second Anne Marie.
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| From Twin Falls |
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| From First St. Patrick's Day |
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