One Minute Behind

As an addendum to my previous post that describes my daily routine I must comment on the significance of a minute. To some, one minute may seem but a fraction of time barely worth mentioning when it is lost, yet in the world of a parent, it is a very valuable moment in time and once "lost" can mean the difference between late and on time. Case in point... baby has her first cold this week. Poor little thing has a stuffy nose, and when babies have a stuffy nose, every parent knows where to turn. The notorious bulb syringe, or, a more colorful name that I've heard it referred to as the "booger sucker". Yes, disgusting in the visual it presents yet accurate. Well, the ritual nose cleaning of baby must take place before she eats, before she sleeps and basically any chance we can to help clear the airways. So in the morning, before I take her to daycare, I want to make sure she is as clear as I can get her. This can be tricky as M has gotten particularly good at worming away from the "evil" bulb. So inevitably, with the worming and squirming and the adorable "mewing" noise she makes when she's mad and telling me so, I can fall one or two minutes behind and that, well that just throws the whole schedule out of whack! One minute over and I'm late starting and loading the car, which puts me two minutes behind when I would have left, which puts more cars on the road then would have been two minutes earlier, which inevitably leads to running late. So to be clear, one minute is no minuscule fraction of time, in fact, seconds count because they add up to these precious minutes of time. I'm sure many parents can attest to the sacredness of "the minute" and I'm not only referring to the minute that can make you late, I'm also referring to the minute you get home and get to enjoy every second away from work as you can. After all, every minute counts! Late or not, that doesn't mean you have to rush, it just means you'll be one minute behind. No use trying to rush to catch up because once that minute is gone, it's in the past! So enjoy each one!

Laughter

What is the most beautiful sound you’ve ever heard? When you read that question, does something immediately pop into your head? Is it the voice of your favorite singer? Or something more like the crashing of waves on the shore or wind chimes chiming in the breeze? For me, it’s a more recent sound. The sound of my baby girls laugh. She laughed for the first time this past Sunday. Now I don’t believe that most people would even qualify it as a laugh or even a giggle. In fact, some might consider it merely a “ha” lacking its fellow “ha”, but to me, it was definitely a laugh and it was the most beautiful sound in the world! It was pure, unadulterated joy. With her little toothless grin beaming at me from the silly sound that had brought on this mirthful moment. I can’t even adequately describe the feelings I felt hearing that and seeing her beautiful face in that moment but my heart sang. This beautiful little angel made music with a laugh. I fully believe that this is the sound that can change the world if you let it. If only the world would listen and know the innocence that exists and take us all back to that kind of joy there might be a lot less to worry about. Don’t you think? Daddy has yet to hear this joyful babble, she’s only done it one other time yesterday at grandma's. I’m sure it'll become more frequent and become even more full in giggling glee. I definitely look forward to the laughter we’ll share with our daughter with each new day.

A Day in the life of this Working Mom

Well, I've been back at work for three weeks. It seems like longer! Work is fine, I'm back in the old routine there, still bored. But my home routine is totally new and very busy! Here is a glimpse into my day:

5:00 a.m. Up to take my shower
5:30 a.m. Get Mila out of her swaddle to start waking up in the crib
5:45 a.m. Blow dry hair, do make-up, eat breakfast
6:00 a.m. Tummy Time for M
6:05 a.m. Give M her Vitamin D
6:10 a.m. Feed M
6:30 a.m. Get Breastmilk out of the freezer, pack breast pump bag
6:45 a.m. Change M
6:50 a.m. Load the car with diaper bag, breast pump, lunch bag and warm car
6:55 a.m. Load M in carseat and into car
6:58 a.m. - 7:06 a.m. off to daycare singing our ABC's
7:10 a.m. Drop M off with Ms. Sue at daycare
7:15 a.m. Drive to Work
8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Work
Pump at 9:30 a.m, 12:30 p.m., 3:30 p.m.
5:00 p.m. - 5:40 p.m. Drive Home
6:00 p.m Feed Mila
6:45 ish to 7:15 ish - Story for M and down to sleep
7:15 - 8:00 Eat and some sit time
8:00 - 8:45 Clean all bottles, pump parts from daycare and work, make lunch
8:50 p.m. Wake M, change and feed.
9:30 ish - 10:00 ish Put M to sleep
After 10, me to bed, wake M to feed between 2-3 a.m.

... and start all over again at 5!

Luckily, Marc helps with the dog and around the house stuff or else I might drop! But I truly wouldn't trade a moment. I love being a mom. Watching my little one learn new things every day, growing and smiling and cooing and kicking! I would, however, definitely trade moments at work for more moments with my family and my little girl. We'll see what we can do about that!