i love taking care of annabel.
i mean, who wouldn’t?
but on weekends when i feel like i need to get things done, it can actually be a little stressful. often one of us is on call, so there’s no contention about who is with a. for most of the day. but if we’re both home, i have to admit that sometimes it can be a little more complicated.
the truth is, we both love being with her. but we both crave some self-time — time for rest, hobbies AND just to get things done. yesterday, i made a decree at 8:30 in the morning that we were going to take 2 hour shifts with babybel, not counting naps [because really those are breaks for both parents!]. we ended up each enjoying 1 shift yesterday, and 2 today. so far, i really like this. alternating means that i can really be present with her when i’m ‘on duty’ without stressing about when-am-i-going-to-get-to-do-XYZ?. and in truth it makes me feel less guilty about taking some time for myself. i’m going to go out on a limb and say that i don’t think that most fathers have this problem, but i am sure that many other mothers do.
example:
this morning, i got up at 6 to get annabel and hung out with her until 8
josh had her 8 – 9 — nap was 9-10:20
josh had her 10:20 – 11:20
i had her 11:20 – 1:50 [ok, a few extra minutes there]
josh had her 1:50 – 2:30 — nap was 2:30 – 3:45
josh had her 3:45 – now [4:22 as i’m publishing this].
theoretically he’s still got time in his ‘shift’ but i miss her, so i think we’re done with shifts today.
things i did during my shifts:
— ran [today. yesterday i took a. out in the stroller.]
— tons of laundry
— made baby food purees: potato/pea/carrot/leek, butternut/cheddar/whole wheat pasta, and lamb/sweet potato/tomato [all recipes from this book which i mostly bought because the author’s name is annabel — i know — but it turned out to be pretty useful]
— made our family calendar, an annual photo project that i had been putting off for weeks but NEEDED to get done for obvious reasons
— wrote this post
things i did not do:
nap. and i’m a little sad about it, but i will be in bed by 9 pm tonight, so hopefully will feel rested tomorrow anyway.
NYE 2012
probably the tamest since i was annabel’s age myself. but i’m okay with my 10 pm bedtime. we did manage to drink some decent bubbles:
and had a nice menu, including black-eyed pea salad served with pita chips, steamed snow crab [my choice – LOVE it], and pumpkin pie that josh made for me because i complained about not getting any this season!
snow crab with butter:
snow crab looking far too much like a hand in this pic:
photogenicity aside, it was delicious.
assorted details:
half marathon training: going well. i’m really not doing anything particularly hardcore, and am happy with the 21.3 miles i accumulated last week [missed one run due to a cold, or it would have been 25]. i’m also getting faster with the stroller — 3 mile PR yesterday at 9:03/mi pace
weaning: is happening. i’ve been breastfeeding annabel 3x/day for the past 2 days — morning, mid-day, and before bed. tomorrow i head back to work, and am not bringing the pump. here’s to hoping i don’t uhhh, explode or anything. i think i’ll be okay, though — the one nice benefit of less-than-impressive supply is that weaning isn’t so bad! as i’ve written previously, i’m hoping to stick to twice/day feeding for as long as i can.
resolutions: excited to work on my AM routine — more thoughts on this to come — and FLOSS tonight. studying will start tomorrow [my plan is to implement this on work days, not weekends and holidays. at least not until closer to my boards!]
happy new year!
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