So being at work is hard. Today is the
first day I haven’t gone home at lunch time and it looks like
this may have to be the norm going forward. One of the
activites required of me at my new job is to run a series of
webcasts, all of which have been scheduled from 12:00pm –
1:30pm EST… which definitely cuts into my long lunch breaks.
So now I’m torn. I want to do the job well, obviously, and
don’t want to be difficult on my first week here, but I also
want to make sure my baby gets the best care possible. So I’m
basically giving myself a self-induced guilt trip. :/ On top of
that, I really don’t like pumping at work. Well, I don’t like
pumping in general, but I like it even less at work. And I
really miss my boys! Just pile on the guilt. I keep reminding
myself that tons of people go back to work and leave their
babies with caregivers, and I’m leaving mine with daddy, so
there is no need for guilt. Unfortunately I’m not very good at
reassuring myself. I’m going to have to talk to Alan soon so he
can reassure me. He’s good at that :) For now I’ll just try to
concentate on work and try not to miss him too much. The end of
the day is nearing…

So the price of gas, for the first time in
all my years here (2), is higher than the national average!! NA
is $2.53/gal, but up here it’s closer to $2.56. What’s with
that?? Must be all that extra gas spent getting up here.
:/

Anyway, had a fabulous weekend. I
love family get togethers. I think the boy is looking forward
to a relaxing week though :) Probably eager to nap in his crib
and not get woken up by a momma who’s eager to socialize. Hope
he relaxes well though, ’cause the next few weekends will be
busy too!

Fairly bored at work. Can’t
wait until next week when I get my own computer (no longer have
to share with the guy I’m taking over for) and can sort of
start to settle in. Last week and this week are sort of
“shadow” weeks as I try to learn all the stuff he does. Next
week I’m on my own.

So the whole (yes, whole) family is in
town. Grandpa’s 80th birthday is next month, so (logically) we
threw him surprise party today. My uncle’s from CA and FL are
both here and my cousins whom we haven’t seen in ages. It was
great. My aunt had it catered (A Moveable
Feast Catering, very tasty) and Grandma got everyone
matching shirts (photos to come soon) and we had a blast. My
mom even wrote up a family history trivial pursuit game… with
the answers being decided on by general concensus. Great
questions such as “Why did Greg loose his trucking job?” (he
rolled a truck!) and which town in NH has the worst campgrounds
(Keene apparently, but rumor has it they have the best drinks
;) ). We all had a blast and my team won! Yay!

Tomorrow is another day of fun, so I’m off to
bed now. These long days wear Lex right out and he sleeps well
at night. Yay! :)

So I’m working a real job these days. It’s
interesting. I’m taking over the job of a kid going back to
college, plus doing a lot more. He pretty much taught me
everything he does in the first day, so now I’m trying to
figure the rest out. It’s a good job.

I
miss being home though. I miss the boy and the hubby. So far
I’ve been going home for lunch each day (Alan makes me lunch, I
make Lex lunch). Tomorrow evening all of my family will be in
town (shhh!!! it’s a surpise) so I’m taking Thursday and Friday
off. I think it’s good to start a new job with a short work
week :)

Now, back to work for
me.

Lex has definitely found his voice. He
loves to lay on the couch and coo at people. Last night we had
a whole conversation of cooing back and forth. I thought it was
cute and he seemed to enjoy it too :) He’s such a good
baby!

Today we are off to a final 4th
Trimester group before I have to go back to work. Alan’s
excited to be a stay at home dad (SAHD). I think he’s going to
turn Lex into a baby genius :)

… watching the sunrise. I wish our house
had a better easternly view. We seem to have nice sunrises, but
I can only see slivers of them through the windows and around
the buildings. Oh well.

I’ve just
accepted a job as Marketing Director for a local company so the
late night/early morning routine is going to have to change.
Perhaps I’ll teach Alan how to use the blog so he can give the
AM report :) The job seems really cool though, with good pay
and lots of opportunities. Too good to pass up.

Well, it seems the boy has finally fallen back
to sleep. I should try and do the same. He’ll be up and
grunting again in about an hour. He seems to be very grunty
first thing in the morning. He must be working out all the
overnight gas :)

They say that you should make eye contact
with baby when you’re trying to get him to sleep. Apparently
when you gaze into each other’s eyes it releases adrenaline in
baby (probably in parent as well) that is like an expresso hit.
What they don’t say is that when you’re tired in the middle of
the night and baby is gazing at you so adoringly, it’s damn
near impossible not to gaze back. He looks so loving and I
almost feel rude not returning the look.

I love the way he nuzzles into my neck. I
love the way his body gets heavier when he falls asleep, like
dead weight. I love the way he opens his mouth when he’s really
hungry – so big – and turns his head back and forth, like he’s
not sure where the boob is coming from but if he turns back and
forth hard and fast enough he’ll find it – and he always does.
I love the way he arches his back and sticks out his butt when
I pick him up. I love the way he falls asleep while nursing,
and smiles sweetly when I pull away. I love the way he flails
his little arms and legs when he’s crying. I love the way he
collapes into my arms when I pick him up for cuddles. I love
the way he gets so happy and full of smiles when I lay him on
the changing table. I love the way he gazes at me when he’s
nursing – such big, sweet eyes staring up at me. I love they
way his hands kneed into me when he’s tired. I love the way he
yawns so big. I love the way he makes me feel so loved when
he’s known me for such a short time. I love him.

Our 2 month checkup went well today. Lex
is (no surprise) a happy, healthy baby. He now weighs 13lbs
3oz, and is 22 3/4″ long. His head is 41 1/2cm. All well within
normal ranges. I think she said he’s in the 56th percential for
height and 81st percential for weight. All very good. He was on
his best behavior and smiling and charming the pediatrician. He
was watching her so closely the whole time she kept commenting
that he must be listening well to her. He also got three shots
today, which he handled like a champ. He screamed during them
(of course), but recovered well and is sleeping now. We got him
some baby Tylenol to take the edge off. Seems to be working. I
gotta do some work now that he’s asleep. More later.

At 9 weeks old Lex has given
his first hickey. He’s quite the ladies man :) Alan and I went
out and left him with our Good
Beginnings volunteer. We come home and she has a
hickey on her arm!! He’s been sucking on stuff a lot lately
(arms, hands, fingers, clothes, basically anything he can get
his mouth on!). She said that he was sucking on her arm and it
didn’t hurt so she let him do it. When she took him off she
noticed that he left a mark. Crazy boy.

We go for his 2 month check up first thing tomorrow
morning. Wish us luck. He’s going to get his first round of
shots and I’m a little nervous. I’ve heard very mixed reviews
on what to expect, but I’m sure there will be lots of crying.
I’ll let you all know how it goes.

I posted a whole bunch of new
pictures to photos.datdec.com. I think I’m all
caught up now. I’m also getting confused with the weeks and
days and whatnot, so I think I’m going to start posting them
some other way (instead of weeks). I’m not sure how exactly,
but I’ll think of something. I’m probably posting way more
photos than anyone actually cares to see either. However, it’s
easier for me to slap them all up there instead of going
through and selectively picking and choosing… so you’ll just
have to pick and choose the ones you want to see instead :)
Enjoy!