I Scream You Scream

Highlight of my afternoon? An outing for a free cone at Ben & Jerry’s. I highly recommend Imagine Whirled Peace. It’s AMAZING.

And tomorrow is 31 cent cone day at Baskin Robins. Just noticed that they have a crazy “hip” new logo. Anyway, cheap is not as good as free, but it’s nothing to sneeze at.

Of Wrenches and Rolls

Being back at work feels very odd. It’s hard not to be completely distracted, and I’m sure the sleep deprivation isn’t helping. We’re still in the process of trying to figure out our morning routine, but for the most part Jim and I have managed to get Max to daycare and ourselves to work by 8 am. Probably my greatest challenge has come from pumping at the office. I’ll spare you the gory details of that embarrassing and logistically annoying task, but I will say this: if you see a closed office door it’s best to knock and wait for a response BEFORE opening it, instead of knocking and opening the door at the same time. Otherwise you might be greeted by a sight best avoided.

It’s obviously tough being away from the little guy, but I do enjoy the satisfaction that comes from being able to complete tasks successfully. Between the laundry and general cleaning/maintenance, life at home was starting to feel strangely Sisyphusian. And I find that now I have a greater appreciation for the time Max and I spend together. I don’t take it for granted.

But back to the office. There I was on my first morning back, muddling through piles of emails and old projects when a big wrench got thrown into the system. I got a call from another daycare center that I visited back in the fall. The director informed me that they had a spot for Max, a good three months before they thought they might. So we had to make the quick decision to transition Max from his current daycare to the new facility. It’s a far smaller, and the caregiver to infant ratio is 4:1 (at most) compared to 5:1 at his current daycare. In addition, there is a nice outside area for the babies, and once he starts eating real food he’ll be able to take advantage of the amazing meal program. There is a staff cook who makes everything from scratch, and use mostly organic fruits and vegetables and whole grains, while avoiding processed sugar or preservatives. Quite honestly, we’ll have to step it up a notch at home since secreting Girl Scout cookies in an upstairs closet would probably be considered hypocritical.

So yesterday I had to tell the director of Max’s current daycare facility that he would be leaving. I had been dreading the conversation because all his teachers have been so nice, and the last thing I would want is for them to think they did something wrong. It’s just that I think he’ll do better in a more personalized setting. Anyway, all my anxiety was wasted effort—the director was very understanding and I left feeling confident that no feelings would be hurt and no bridges would be burned. Of course, just to ensure that fact I will bring delicious treats for everyone on Monday.

In other Max news, the big guy rolled over this morning. It wasn’t a seamless motion, but it was a roll-over nonetheless. I’m pretty sure his deep-seated hated of tummy time was the primary factor, but I’m going with the philosophy that results are more important than motivation.

Here he is. Not at his most photogenic, but it’s the thought that counts.

Wanting

I am such a sucker for good design. I saw these Japanese floor cushions at a maternity/baby store the other day and had an almost overwhelming compulsion to buy one, even though I have no real need for such an item. In the end I resisted. I know we have a whole mess of “stuff” already, so I TRY to keep my “gatherer” mode in check.

Here are some more items I’ve avoided buying recently, despite their grand appeal:

—Spinal Tap onesie (so appropriate!)
—Angela Adams correspondence cards (so pretty!)
—I Could Tell You But Then You Would Have to be Destroyed by Me: Emblems from the Pentegon’s Black World book (so interesting!)
—Paul Frank onesie (so cute!)
—Hip t-shirt (so monstery!)

Souptastic

Last Saturday night I went out on the town for the first time since I had Max. I have been loath to leave him, and since I’m his main source of sustenance, coordinating an outing is usually not worth the trouble. But I had finally had a good reason to try: some of my friends were going to see Joel McHale of Talk Soup fame at Comedy Works.

So here I go talking about television again. There are only a few shows Jim and I will go out of our way to see, and Talk Soup is one of them. The Office is another, and though I hate to admit it, Lost is the third. I have such a hate/love/hate relationship with that show. Anywho, I also adore the Daily Show, The Colbert Report, and South Park, but we’re never up late enough to watch them and we don’t like to keep our TV in Tivo mood all the time (it slows the cable controller wwwwwaaaaaaaayyyyy down) so it’s rare that we catch them.

But I simply could not pass up an opportunity to see Mr. McHale in person. And his stand-up set did not disappoint. I was laughing so hard at certain points that tears were running down my face. He stuck around afterwards for autographs and photos, and though I would not normally be swayed to meet a celebrity (it seems so awkward and I can never figure out what in the world you’re supposed to say to them) I made an exception. He was really gracious about taking pictures, etc., and joked that he felt like he was posing in a cheerleader photo because there was a whole gaggle of us.

So here we are. I have Joel McHale’s left hand on my shoulder. Good times.

He’s uber tall.

If you ever have the opportunity to catch his stand-up show, don’t hesitate. It’s WELL worth it.

One Down

Max spent his first morning in daycare today, and somehow I managed to survive.

I didn’t sleep well last night worrying about how things would go, but to my great surprise they went well. We arrived at the daycare a bit before 8 am, and spent some time chatting with Helen, who is in charge of the infant room. I decided to change his diaper before I left and then (after he unexpectedly baptized the changing table) Max started to whimper. By the time I needed to hand him over, he was crying. Not the ideal scenario, but I could tell that Helen was unfazed. She said it was probably time for his nap, and I left with my fingers crossed, hoping she would be able to calm him down.

When I walked out the door I had the strange sensation that I was leaving a crucial part of my body behind, like an arm or a leg. But somehow I managed not to cry. I’ve no doubt the fact that this was just a 1/2 “practice” day helped.

The phone rang at 10 am and I had a brief surge of panic, imagining it was daycare calling to say something was wrong. But it was just a friend calling to arrange a get-together. Whew.

So when I got off the phone I called the center to check in, and Helen told me Max had already had an hour long nap and had just taken first bottle. She said he was doing very well. I was somewhat in a state of disbelief. He NEVER likes to nap, at least not without a fight!

When I went to pick him up a little before noon I was shocked to find that he was asleep AGAIN! IN THE CRIB! I told Helen she must be a miracle worker. She told me she swaddled him and then wrapped another blanket just over his chin to help keep his pacifier in. I peered over the room divider and there he was—contentedly sucking away in his sleep. I hated to wake him, but I wanted to get him home in time for another feeding so I took a deep breath and picked him up. He wasn’t too happy, but calmed down once I got to the car and fell asleep again on the way home.

And now? He’s TAKING ANOTHER NAP. In his CRIB. He’s been there for almost an hour and 1/2. I tried the pacifier stunt and it worked. I am totally in shock. Is it possible that we’re actually going to get this daytime sleeping issue ironed out?

I’m still anxious about returning to work, but I feel slightly better about leaving Max. Helen seemed to have everything well under control and Max and I both made it through the first day without a hitch. One down, many more to go.

Argh

Daycare tomorrow
How will I leave Maxwell there?
Nervous and forlorn

Looming

I can’t believe my maternity leave is almost over. We’ll be easing Max into daycare staring on Monday, and Thursday the 17th will be my first day back at the office. I’m alternating between panic and denial, but doing my best to remain clear-headed about the situation and not catastrophize. As of today I have only been away from Max on three occasions, and never for longer than three hours. Somehow I have the feeling that he will do far better with the transition than I will.

Truth in Advertising

As we were perusing the produce section at the grocery store yesterday, I had to wonder: who came up with the name “Red Delicious”? They HAD to be aware that one of those words is a lie. An apple that’s mealy with a bitter skin? They should have called them “Red Unsavory” or “Red Repulsive”. Those names wouldn’t exactly sell product, but at least they’d be accurate.

Vegging

In general, I try not to watch too much TV. But I’ve had a lot of couch time lately, and have therefore more than my share of the idiot box. So here’s my Captain Obvious observation of the day: daytime television is painfully boring. I can’t stand the talk shows, and the interesting biography/history shows are few and far between.

Of course, there are exceptions to the rule.
#1: Clean House
I love love love seeing people get rid of useless stuff and ending up with a clutter-free, completely organized household. It’s like visual crack for a borderline OCD freak like myself. Plus, I dig Niecy Nash of Reno 911 fame. Sometimes I will randomly bust out with a melodious “Who wants a CLEAN HOUSE?”, which I’m sure drives Jim crazy.

#2 & #3: Reruns of the Daily Show and Colbert Report
The Daily Show is awesome, but I heart Stephen Colbert the very most. He is a comic GENIUS and I love the fact that he was on Strangers with Candy with Amy Sedaris, another of my fave performers. The whole pseudo-neo-con act is brilliant. A couple of weeks ago Stephen visited an exhibition about water. I thought I was going to lose it when he kept brining up the great flood. Good times.