Life with Jack...

Newborns/infants are amazingly snuggly, entertaining and fun, but can be challenging…especially for Type A people.  Being that we are both engineers, we like to know how things work and why they work that way. We are both very capable of reading instructions and assembling/building things, taking measurements to create a diagram of our family room furniture layout to make sure the new coffee table will fit just right, specifics/details – we like them. We create a menu for the week for our dinners and write it on a dry erase board on the side of our fridge so we don’t have to think on the fly what we want to cook/eat for dinner. We like to be prepared.

We’re starting to find ourselves getting in to more of a routine with Jack now, I would not say we’re IN a routine or that Jack’s day is predictable, but compared to the first 2 to 2.5 months, we are starting to head in the direction of a routine… Babies aren’t on schedules, AT ALL. Sometimes they want to eat every 2 hours, sometimes it’s 4. Sometimes they like to nap 4 times a day, sometimes 1 time a day. Lately, Jack has decided to test out his endurance by screaming for 30-40 minutes, though sometimes it’s only 15 minutes. He’ll have eaten, filled his diaper and received a new one, let out a good burp and yet the crying seems to be indicating that none of his needs have been met. Neither Brian nor I are very patient people so these meltdowns can really send both of us off the deep end pretty quickly, luckily these moments aren't regular occurrences.

Then there are the times when he gives you one of those full-out toothless grins, showing that irresistible dimple on his left cheek. Or he falls asleep with his head nuzzled in to your neck and gives that sweet baby sigh signaling total relaxation. In the middle of a meltdown the other night, he stopped crying and started grabbing Brian’s nose, mouth, etc. He started staring at his hand on his Dad’s nose and it was as if he was really connecting the fact that his extremity was touching and grabbing something. Thank goodness for these small gestures which show that he is trying to figure things out just as much as we are. Sometimes the meltdowns are frustrating; sometimes they make you feel sad because you have no idea what’s wrong and how to fix it and sometimes they just give you a headache. When it comes down to it though, I think I can speak for both Brian & I and say that we are completely enamored by this little guy and can’t believe how that little face can fill our hearts with so much pride & joy, even more so when there is an ear to ear grin on it J
I’m transitioning back to work right now, working from home these next couple of weeks and then back in the office the first week of August. I have had mixed emotions about going back to work. At times I miss having the mental stimulation and independence that is associated with being a “career woman”. But I can’t picture someone else, a stranger no less, rocking my sweet boy to sleep or trying to soothe him when he’s uncomfortable. Will they sing him the ABCs 15 times in a row because it makes him giggle? Will they kiss his cheeks all over and let him nuzzle in to their necks? I’m not sure, but you can bet I’ll be doing some extra snuggling every chance I get. 

I’ll be wrapping up my maternity leave with our family vacation in Cape May at the end of the month – Jack’s first vacation! I’m not sure how much “relaxing” we’ll actually do now that we have a baby of our own but I am positive that our entire family will make the best of the craziness that is sure to take place with 8 adults and 4 children under the age of 3 in this beach house on Stockton Ave J