Back to Work

Graham and I both started new adventures a few weeks ago when I returned to work and he started daycare. As anticipated, it was difficult. I cried. Multiple times. And still do sometimes. But every day gets better and Graham is doing really well at daycare which makes it manageable. 

And having a supportive team at work helps too. Here's what was waiting for me in the "Mother's Room" on the day I returned. A picture of Graham, cards with caring words, magazines, and of course ... chocolate.

I am fortunate to get to visit Graham over my lunch hour and feed him, so that breaks up the day and keeps the time between our visits shorter. 

Aaron and I have figured out a routine that works for us where he drops off in the morning and I pick up. (I got the good end of that deal). On the drive to him though, red lights have never felt so long!

And we get report cards now of how little man does during the day. Can't say I ever gave these to Aaron at the end of a day on maternity leave!

 

Reunited and it feels so good. Day 1 on June 3. 

Video of him telling me about his first day of daycare. Pretty awesome babbles in this one.

Sleeping in the pack n play like a champ. I was worried he would struggle to sleep if not being held. He proved me wrong on the first day!

Here are a few other daycare shots of what he gets to do on a typical day.

There's the girly swing... 

Once he realized it was pink and frilly he was begging to get out.

But the next day he hung out on the pink activity mat and didn't seem to mind. 

Not all of the toys are pink though. He likes the little bouncy chairs too.

All in all, as much as it's difficult to leave him and I miss our daytime time together, I can see him thriving and that makes it a positive experience. It's fun to see him look at other babies, interact with the teachers, play with new toys and be on a bit more of a schedule.

Looking Back

Aaron took a couple videos in the hospital that we both forgot about until recently. How incredibly fun to look back at what Graham looked like (and sounded like) in his first two days of life. I have watched these more than any other videos. To say "they change so much so fast" is an understatement...

This was mid-morning after he was born, so he's only a couple of hours old. We were videoing his first hiccups. 

This video was the next day. He performs with a yawn, some crying and open eyes.

Our little Graham cracker is growing up so fast. And every new milestone is so exciting. It's truly a miracle and I just can't believe this little baby grew inside me. It's still sinking in.

Maternity Leave Finale

All good things must come to an end. Unfortunately.

To wrap up my 12 weeks of maternity leave, I just tried to snuggle little man as much as possible and take a million pictures. 

 

 

 We enjoyed a few walks. 

My sweet, chubby, beautiful, chubby baby. 

We love baths too.

 

 Morning stretches

Oh, and Mindy and Leif came to visit.

 

  Sometimes we are crabby.

  But always cute

Snuggling in our owl blanket from Aunt Jeanette and Uncle Hoota. 

Wearing bibs a lot more often now if you hadn't already noticed. Graham spits up a good amount, so the bibs keep the outfit changes at least a little more manageable.

Enjoying his swing. 

 

I will miss these moments the most... 

Just about every color is represented here. 

I spy a puppy. Am going to miss her snuggles too. 

She's always in on the action. 

More fun on his activity mat. 

Sigh... 

Waking up from a little doze...still so confused. 

To ease the pain of going back to work, I made this little collage of pictures to hang at my desk. It's no where close to as good as being with him, but it's the best I could do.

Meeting More Family

Uncle Derek and Aunt Tina drove to Fargo from Phoenix the last week of May to meet their nephew. And while they were here, Doug, Ann and Jill came up from the cities to meet the little guy too.

Here's Great Uncle Doug with Graham.

Cousin Jill

Aunt Tina

 Aunt Chelsey

Hanging out with mom

Great Grandpa Bob

All the socializing was taxing on the little guy...and the big guy. Dad and Graham caught a nap together to recharge.

Later in the week we enjoyed pizza on the roof deck at Rhombus Guys. 

Graham had a great time with all the family and of course the week went too fast. Graham will be 7 months old when he sees Derek and Tina again at their wedding in October.

Dad's Back

When Aaron returned from Portland, he took on daddy duty in a hurry.

Who says you can't play bean bags with a baby?

Graham was definitely glad to have his daddy back!And so was I. I have new respect for single mothers as well as ones with traveling husbands.

Baby Live

I'm behind on posts....by a lot! I'm going back to mid May when Graham was 9 weeks old to start the catch-up process.

The week Aaron was gone to Portland for a Brewing Company trip (May 11 through 17), I really picked up my game in the video department. I did my best to capture everyday moments of our little man and send them to Aaron. Hopefully that explains all the references to daddy in these videos. 

Typical good morning smiles. 

Hanging out on the lounger in the bathroom. (my favorite video to date. I was just going to video him looking around, kicking and grunting. But he surprised me with a smile show!)

Enjoying his new activity mat. It's been so fun to watch him interact with this toy. 

Falling asleep and snoring after a feeding.

Another waking up video.

There are more but each of these took about an entire evening to upload, so we'll move on. Going forward perhaps just one video per post will keep things more efficient!