Way to go, Rose!
In other news, here are some updates from our world.
Work: I'm finally starting to settle in to my new role! I'm having fun learning new things, meeting new people. being exposed to the business side of the company, and thinking about things in new ways. There were even a couple days last week that it was hard to tear myself away from work because I was enjoying my projects so much! Good thing Mike and Rose are so wonderful to come home to. :) Now I just need to make sure I pace myself and don't get burnt out (and sick again!) from eustress rather than distress!
Sleep: I'd been getting frustrated with the chaos of Rose's daytime sleep schedule. She usually takes two naps a day (although sometimes only one), but these naps can range from 20 minutes each to 2.5 hours each. And there seems to be no rhyme or reason as to whether her first nap is at 8:30am or 11:30am. Ugh. We have had so much success with nighttime sleep ever since we implemented our strict evening routine - I crave that consistency in our daytime routine on the weekends! After a disastrous attempt at regulating naptime yesterday (don't ask), we decided to stick with our "crutches" of the stroller and the magic sleep machine (i.e., the car). There is so much chaos in the infant room at her school that it's been impossible for them to implement a standard nap time for Rose, and since she's there 5 out of 7 days each week, we just don't see her enough to overcome that chaos. So we're choosing "radical acceptance" of our crutches... at least until she's in the toddler room this fall, where everyone naps at the same time!
Nursing: Back when I was pregnant, I had no idea how long a year is in nursing months. It's like dog years or something - one month of regular time feels like seven years in nursing time! After I went back to work last July, I started pumping in the mornings as well as twice work, then breastfed Rose as soon as I picked her up in the afternoon and also before bed. I don't remember exactly when I made the changes, but I remember pushing myself to tears before weaning off the afternoon pumping at work (October?), off work pumping altogether (Thanksgiving), and off the afternoon feed at home (January?). Which left me with my morning pumping and bedtime feeding. For several weeks now I've been struggling with low mood and no energy - part of this can't be helped due to the cold weather and the minimal sunlight we've had, but part of this is because I haven't found a way to consistently get in any exercise this winter. Back when Rose took a catnap on the way home from school it was easy to walk the long way home for exercise. But now she gets SUPER grumpy if she's allowed to fall asleep after 4pm, so I need to race home as quickly as I can before she falls asleep in her stroller. So earlier this week I decided to soon start skipping the morning pumping session in order to exercise in the morning, and I proudly came to this decision without reaching my breaking-down-crying-sobbing point. And now that I've announced it publicly I'm going to have to stick with this routine and not hit the snooze bar in the morning! I did not feel the slightest hint of sadness when I put Bertha away Friday morning, and I only felt a hint of guilt when Rose had her last morning nursing session today. Ah, it's pretty nice to make decisions that are in my own best interest, as hard as that sometimes can be to do.
Finally, here are Rose's portraits from this week:
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| "Here I come!" |
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| "This is so much fun!" |
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| "And away I go, in my wide-legged, lock-kneed stance!" |
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| "This is the best day ever!" |
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