Saturday, September 15, 2007

Picture Perfect Day

Today was the calm AFTER the storm.
Friday ended up TERRIBLE.
Apparently, Evie began the day with naps but then spent the better part of the day whimpering/fussing and refusing to sleep at all. And Rob, is HORRIBLY sick. Put these two things together - you get disaster. One irritable dad and a cranky kid.
At 4:30PM on Friday, I mistakingly called to see how homelife was after I found out I have MORE work than I thought I had. I had just exited a meeting and was looking at doing some OT to make a 2PM Monday deadline. I'm a little stressed-out, to say the VERY least. I'm rusty at work after having been gone so long coupled with extreme fatigued. All this, and I work for a national (well, technically international) retailer that is approaching the holiday season... its busy times to be had at work!
When I call, Rob is in no mood to deal with baby anymore. I find this all upsetting (I'm getting hit from all angles) and I hang up. And cry. I cry and stare at my cube wall trying not to cry. Which, makes me just want to cry all the harder to just get it all out. Get all the frustration out of my system so I can get over it, buck up and move on. Instead, I'm sitting there with kleenex in sweaty hand... with the trickle effect of silent tears. Dear God, let no one walk by right now.
I do buck up and get working. I held together pretty well and by 5:30PM... I say to hell with it and head home. I end up smiling on my way to my car after trying to make a co-worker laugh at my home-life. I tell him what a mess it is having a new baby at home. I thoroughly enjoy sharing my horror stories with people because, ultimately, it ends up making me act like a comedian with an audience. It cheers me up in the end. It didn't hurt that my co-worker then said I should write a book.
Maybe I should.
So, I get home baby is napping (finally). I take over. I command Rob to go to bed and I'll do everything. Rob is in bed at 8PM and asleep (with lights and TV on) shortly thereafter. I get bottles washed, coffee maker ready, dogs out one last time, house picked up. I eat cold chinese while feeding one last bottle... its 8:00PM. Evie is out by 8:30PM and I crawl into bed at 9:15PM.
Yes. 9:15PM. I haven't gone to bed this early since grade school. And then it wasn't by choice, it was under my mother's force.
Evie does not wake up... are you ready for this? Until 2:50AM. Do the math, people - I had 5.5 hrs of straight sleep.
Evie eagerly sucks down a 5oz bottle in record time. She falls asleep, also, in record time.
I am back in bed by 3:30AM.
Evie wakes up at 6:20AM. I'm not even sure she wanted to be up, either. I think she just wanted a bottle. But, I got her up just the same. I was energized from a whole nights sleep.
Rob slept in and Evie & I were up till 8AM or so.
Then she napped until 10AM. Who-hoo!
I vacuumed the entire house (ok, not our bedroom), washed baby clothes, washed all dog towels/floor rugs, washed bottles... all while she napped & then Rob started to give her a bottle. I showered and went out to get a haircut. I hit a paper store for gift supplies and Target for the baby's prescription.
Its now only 2PM.
Evie had napped again from 11:30AM-2PM and was waking right as I came home. Rob had enjoyed silence in my absence - this is good for him so he could also nap. I gave her a bottle while dad took a break at the coffee shop.
Evie and I later strolled to the coffee shop for a quick hello. She fell asleep coming back home and napped again for 2 hrs. Could this be happening? Dear God, I think it is! Its the perfect freaking day!
Evie then had a dinner bottle - bath and story before crashing out again. (I read her board books but she generally just tries to rub her eyes out of her head while fighting off sleep. I think the books are more for me at this point).
She'll wake again to take a late bottle at 9PM and will hopefully have yet another good night.
I swear. For every 2-3 horrible days... the clouds will lift and give us one fantastic day. Maybe its a sign of her getting into a routine finally. Maybe its due to approaching the situation more relaxed and take it as it comes.
I'm beginning to really and truly live the "day-by-day" way of life. I am trying to live "in the now". Trying to not look too far down the road and what may be. I'm trying to not focus too much on how the day went the day before in determining today's path (yes, I write about it but I really do treat the next day as a whole new possibility). If we have a bad nap... we have a bad nap. We'll try and get back on track as soon as we can. What more can we do at this point. I mean, besides kiss the Gods for smiling and raining down sunshine on our lives these last 24hrs.
With that being said, here's cornball photos from today. (Oh! And Evie sat up unaided in her bebe pod seat. This kid has one strong neck, lemme tell ya).
Looks nothin' like me
Hilarity
Baby loves strollin'
Sittin' up for the first time - alone!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

OMG..She looks like Rob Jr.! I haven't seen her in a while. Dag.