Daddy Day Care

Justin is keeping Roxanne all day every day this week. I think it's fantastic, and I can already see that they are getting closer and more bonded. Our babysitter is at the beach this week, and while we had been planning to take a family vacation as well, it didn't end up being a good time for me to take off work. Justin had already requested the week off, so he is spending a whole weeks worth of vacation just hanging out at home with Roxanne. I'm a little jealous. So far, they seem to be doing great! I keep calling to check in, which I should probably stop doing. I know that Justin is a great dad, and I do my best to not bother him about these things, but I'm a mom. I can't help it. In any case, it's nice to come home to both of them, and they usually both have a lovely smile for me. Roxanne is really into bouncing right now, like a baby Tigger. She especially does it when I come home and she is excited. But she does it while she stands in my lap, and while she lays on her tummy, and while she nurses, and while she's in her high chair. I'm sure Justin is getting a really good arm workout.

She is also learning to wave, which is extremely adorable. She is also learning the subtle humor inherit in smacking people in the face and listening to them say "ow." Last night I lay with her on the couch with my head near her lap as she was sitting up. At first, she was just tangling her fingers in my hair and patting my cheek. It was very sweet and gentle. Then she rared her arm back and smacked my eye a few times, wriggling her fingers to try and get my eyelashes. With her other hand, she tried to grab my teeth. With this sudden flash of baby attack, I yelled "ouch, be gentle Roxanne!" and of course she started giggling. She starting slapping my cheek over and over, and since it wasn't painful, I was saying "ouch" in a silly voice each time as she giggled and giggled. Then I thought about it a little and realized this was maybe not a great game to play. Maybe that's a game better suited to Daddy... :)

Nails on a chalkboard...sort of

Now that Roxanne has a top tooth, or at least part of a top tooth and then another corner of the other top tooth, she has discovered that she can click and grind them against her bottom teeth. The sound is very yucky to me. It's almost as gross as when you can hear someone scratching their leg through a tight pair of blue jeans. For some reason, that sound grosses me out, too. Well, I shouldn't say it's gross, just sort of uncomfortable. It's a lot like when Roxanne goes in a play pen. She scratches at the inside of her play pen like a little prisoner. Honestly, I respond to that faster than I do to crying. I can't blame Roxanne for these noises, especially when I think of how weird it must be to be doing these things for the first time. It brings me back to that Wim Wenders movie, Wings of Desire, which has a totally stupid English title. Apparently the actual translation from the German title would be Angels Over Berlin, but that's beside the point. It's a lovely movie, and Peter Falk, better known as Columbo, is in it, as an angel who gives up his immortality to become human when he falls in love with a woman. He is describing the experience of being human to an angel who is considering taking the plunge, and he describes every day experiences like tasting hot coffee and drawing with a pad and paper in the most exquisite way. I'm not sure if Roxanne would be as eloquent, but I would love to hear her thoughts on the first time she ground her teeth together, or scratched nylon with her little baby nails.

This is not a paid promotion

But I have to give a big thanks to Pastries A Go Go in Decatur. It's officially our favorite brunch restaurant in Atlanta. Justin and I love going to brunch, and it's really a treat for us. Plus, the timing works well with a little one. Going to dinner can be difficult since pushing things too late ends up with an exhausted baby and a meltdown. But brunch is just right. We're learning that there are certain parts of town and certain restaurants that are less than baby friendly. For some places, it's the lack of changing tables in the bathroom. This might not seem like a big deal, but after changing Roxanne in the trunk of our hatchback once or twice, I've realized the merits of the public bathroom changing table. Then there is the obvious disposition of the staff and patrons at certain restaurants towards little ones. Some ignore them, some fawn over them, and others act like you are polluting their establishment with the pitter patter of little feet. Pastries A Go Go has a lovely changing table, and the staff is tolerant of little ones. They don't fawn over them, which is actually refreshing for people like me who get a little overwhelmed and stressed by the constant and seemingly undeniable urge that strangers have to touch Roxanne's hands (gross and rude, even if well-intentioned). The high chairs are functional and clean, and there are usually quite a few other rugrats running around. The food is also delicious. Like seriously delicious. The photo above is Roxanne sitting at the table at Pastries. Doesn't she look amused? That's the face she makes after she has tossed one of her toys off the table for the ninth or tenth time. I think I will only buy toys for Roxanne from now on that come equipped with a leash. And that was the other thing. No one at the restaurant ever gave us a dirty look, even though Roxanne was throwing things like a little Tasmanian devil. She doesn't scream though. And she was flirting with a little boy at the table behind us. He was screaming. Maybe he sensed that no one really minded...

Tough call

I think one of the hardest parts of being a working parent is trying to deal with my baby being sick on a regular basis. I think it might qualify as some form of torture to watch someone who is so tiny and helpless get sick over and over. Then you have to try and decide when the baby is just a little sick and when she is really sick. Like now. It's 5:00am, and Roxanne is very fussy. She has a cough and a fever of 101.3. Of course, my mother hen instincts tell me I should take her to the emergency room, but after googling "baby fever 101" I find that since she's over six months old and her fever is under 103, it will be fine to give her some Tylenol and try to console her back to sleep. So I will wake up in the morning, call the pediatrician's office, and try to figure out whether or not I've used up all of my leave at work. My sick leave is definitely gone, and I'm pretty well through my vacation time, too. Not for a vacation, but for baby illness. I have to point out that I don't mind staying home with Roxanne when she's ill. In fact, I love it. Not that she's ill, but just getting a whole day with her. But there is so much stress when you are a working mom. My job is very busy and when I'm out, it's difficult to catch up. Plus, I'm always worried that my employer is going to finally just fire me for missing work. But I had to go back when Roxanne was only 7 weeks old, and her immune system will probably take a year to catch up (according to her doctor).

I wish that I lived in Switzerland or Canada where they have longer maternity and paternity leave. America has a long way to go in this area.

Fourth of July Cold Feet

This was Roxanne's first Fourth of July. We spent most of the day just running errands, but it was still fun. We had a birthday party to go to, so Roxanne and I had a little shopping spree. We went to Ross and found some foam squares for the floor. We can put them out when Roxanne is having tummy time and pack them up afterwards so our beagle, Katie, doesn't get them all funky and hairy. It's one of her skills. Then we went to Petco where I let Roxanne watch the birds. She loves them all, but I think the finches are her favorite. They are so small and busy. After that was Target, where we agonized over what to get for Dylan, the birthday boy. It was his first birthday, and so there is this weird disconnect between baby toys and toddler toys. We ended up going with a Little People bus. Pretty cute. Roxanne seemed to like it, since she tried to chew on the box the whole way through the store. She's still not quite ready to sit in a shopping cart, so I had her in the sling. It works well until she gets hungry and starts slapping and head banging me in the chest. She's got these subtle cues...

The birthday party was at my co-worker Denetrice's house in Conyers. Her son, Dylan, is adorable. The party was HUGE, and it was lovely. Their house is on a small lake, so we stood on the little dock for a while and chatted with one of my other co-workers and his wife. They have a sixteen week old son, Griffin. He's very cute and has lots of hair. There were tons of people there, and a clown, a jumpy castle, and little games. There were ribs, chicken and hot dogs on the grill...whew. Roxanne did very well, and didn't fuss at anyone, and she loved Griffin. She kept staring at him and touching his face. She put her finger in his mouth a few times, but I think it's a sign of affection. Right?

Fireworks were scheduled to start around 9:00, but we left at 8 or so. I just decided that it might scare Roxanne, and we can always wait until next year. Maybe then she will be old enough to tell me if she's scared and wants to leave. For now, I figured it was better safe than sorry.

Newborn Nostalgia

Last night when Roxanne woke me up at 2am with her teething pain, I was holding her and looking at how grown up she is getting. Admittedly, she is only 6 months old and it is probably silly to be thinking about the "old days," but she made this little gaspy sound that she used to make a lot when she was her little wrinkly and floppy new baby self. I thought about how tiny she was and how we could spend hours just snuggling and singing and being quiet and calm. I snuggled her closer thinking about what a mess I will be when she is going off to kindergarten for the first time, and, gasp, college. She is still a very laid back baby, and we still can spend a lot of time cuddling, especially since she is a breastfed baby. But she is more and more active, and more and more determined to see and do everything. Sometimes she continues to kick her legs and swing her arms even when she is nursing.

Justin and I are still trying to figure out if we want to have another baby, and if so, when. It's a big and important decision, and we're certainly not in a rush to make it, but there are moments, like when I bought Roxanne's big girl "convertible" car seat this weekend and I have to figure out what to do with the infant seat, when I feel a little more pressure to decide. But then I think about paying double day care, and trying to bathe two babies instead of one, and trying to get two little ones to sleep in their own room when I can't even get Roxanne out of my bed and into the crib. Whew. I do think that things just sort of happen when they are supposed to though. It's just worked out like that for us. And maybe once Roxanne is a big toddler with little time to snuggle up to her mama and stare into my eyes for twenty minutes at a stretch, I'll be ready to start all over with a new baby. Plus, I need a few more years to forget how horrible labor was. I did after all, swear to my OB during the second hour of pushing that I would never have another child.