Thirteen Weeks!

Alex is thirteen weeks old!  If I were returning to work, my maternity leave would have ended last week, and I'd be there right now, staring at my computer and blinking back tears as I wondered if my baby was missing me. Returning to work after Andy was born was beyond heartwrenching, and I'd break into sobs whenever anybody asked me about him.  Granted, this time around, it would probably have been a little easier since I'd gone through it once before, but I know it still would have been rough, and I'm glad that I don't have to do it.

Staying at home is not all smiles and giggles, either.  Not being at work means that I miss out on a lot of "me" time that I don't otherwise get.  Even a brutal commute can be a relaxing venture when you have coffee, Pandora, and a backseat that is empty of screaming children.  There's no leisurely bathroom breaks or lunch hours filled with joyously greasy fast food.  My lunch hour now is standing over the sink stuffing a piece of toast in my mouth while Andy demands a popsicle in lieu of a sandwich.  And I miss my work friends most of all.  I miss the gossip, the laughter, the Seinfeldian conversations about nothing.

But do I miss work itself?  Of course not.  And would I rather be at work than at home?  Hell no.  If my two choices are working mom and at home mom, so far I'm glad that I am currently at home mom.  I love being with my babies and having slow mornings that find me sitting on the sofa around eight thirty, cuddling Alex in my arms while watching Andy choo chooing it up with his trains.  I love that I feel like I am getting to know Andy more and that I'm fully in charge of him now.  I love nap time maybe more than I should, in which Andy naps upstairs in his big boy bed (finally, after way too many weeks of me allowing him to nap on the couch) while Alex dozes in my arms and we watch an episode or two of "Wife Swap" on Lifetime.  Remember "Wife Swap?"  Well, it's back.  In rerun form.

Things are going pretty good.  I'll admit, the first couple weeks after Chris went back to work and it was just me and the boys, I thought that I was going to lose my mind and/or succumb to some minor child abuse.  These children, they really know how to suck the fun out of a day.  But, not even that slowly, we got into a groove, my post-pregnancy hormones adjusted back to normal, and now I might dare to say that I'm loving it.  I also think that Andy is much better behaved now that he's not in day care.  This may be a coincidence aligned with his overall development, and it may also be that I've become stronger with my discipline in the last weeks.  I don't let him get away with the things that he got away with before, and his behavior and my sanity is better for it.  Or, it may be that he really is better off at home than in day care.  Even though now that he's started preschool twice a week, he basically can't wait to leave the house on those special school days.

But I think I'm doing good.  He goes to preschool Tuesdays and Thursdays, we have a mommy and me class on Fridays, Wednesdays we go to the library, and Mondays are our free day for the park or other things that come up.  Every morning we go do something, then we come home, nap and eat, and spend the afternoon doing whatever.  We finally have a rhythm, and it's great.

And, Andy and Alex are now officially sharing a room.  How is that going, you ask, wondering why we don't just put the house for sale and get a bigger one or why Chris doesn't just give up his office and stick his computer in, say, the garage?  Well, it's going just fine so far.  Andy sleeps through Alex waking up. And there's something very sweet about the two of them sleeping together in the same room.

So that's my thirteen week update.  Alex is an amazing baby.  He smiles so much more than I remember Andy smiling, even though I always considered Andy to be a happy baby, too.  Alex is superb at snuggling and incredibly kissable, huggable, and lovable.  Of course now he's screaming for a bottle, so- blog entry, done.