Bittersweet

I go back to work in a few hours. It makes me sad. I've thought of nothing except Luke for the last 3 months and 6 days and now I'm going to have to push him out of the forefront of my mind for 8 hours a day to focus on work. If I don't it will drive me crazy. I'm incredibly bummed out to leave him, but I have to be thankful that 1) I have a job to go back to AND it's a job that I really do enjoy. 2) For at least 3 months, I have assembled a crack team of caregivers that includes both grandmas, Justin, and hopefully myself in a cobbled together schedule that should cover all 5 days of the week - fingers crossed. 3) I'm a short walk away from home, so I'll be able to come home and see my munchkin at lunch.

So, my bags are packed and I will be returning to the "real world" at 8am tomorrow armed with 5 framed photos of my favorite Tiny Tiger, a breast pump, snacks, and an actual purse (whatever will I do without that bulky diaper bag for all those hours!) And, we'll see how it goes! Prayers or positive thoughts welcome!

Frame of Reference

Somewhat uncomfortable conversations I've had recently in the grocery store check out line:

Situation #1:  At Bel Air on my way to my cousin's house in Yuba for big Curry family dinner. My parents and Luke are out in the car. I am buying a German chocolate cake.

Young Male Cashier:  Do you need a bag for this?
Me:  No, it's not going to make it very far.
YMC:  Um, okaaaay then. (He acts slightly uncomfortable and eyes me suspiciously like I'm about to rip off the plastic cover and shove my face into the cake right there.)
Me: (slightly embarrassed, but not as much as I would have been pre-baby - having a million people see my lady bits has lowered my inhibitions considerably - so I say cheekily) Well, I mean, I'll at least make sure I get it out to the car ha ha (smile, wink).

Situation #2:  At Podesto's around 7:30pm on a weekday. J and I just finished dinner and I needed a cookie fix. I buy six cookies of varying kinds (hey - I'm breastfeeding and I can people!).

Young Male Cashier (Again!) must ring up about 4 different tags because my myriad cookies were all different types and prices from the bakery section.
YMC:  You guys have a good night.
Me (Winningily): Thanks! You too!

I get out to the car and began to wonder what he meant by "you guys." I was in the store by myself. He didn't know my husband and baby were in the car. By "you guys" did he mean me and my cookies? Did he think I was going home to have a fun night by myself with my six cookies? Did he just assume I was buying cookies for 2? Am I reading too much into this? :)

Bottom line:  I love cookies...and cake...and I don't care who knows it!

Luke at 3 Months

Luke was three months old yesterday. I love watching him grow! Here are a few things he's been up to:

• Lots of smiles and showing off his cute dimples. (It's been hard to get good smiling pictures because he likes to focus intently on the camera and when one does eke out, Mommy isn't fast enough or it comes out blurry. Argh!)
• Chattering and squealing (The other day we hadn't seen Daddy for more than a day and when he came in, Luke put his hand on Justin"s face and started chattering on for a good couple of minutes like he was telling him about his day. Cutest thing ever! He did it to me yesterday after a long afternoon in the car driving back from the East Bay.)
• "Reading" books.  Favorites to stare at are the Very Hungry Caterpillar, Brown Bear, and an old ABC golden book.
• Talking to himself in the mirror. He just discovered his reflection and likes to touch and talk to the baby
• "Running" - He likes to stand and "run" across the floor (as far as mom's arms can reach. Video of this parlor trick coming soon.)
• Staring at one of his 2 fish mobiles
• Tummy time. He can hold his head up for crazy long amounts of time now and wants so badly to be able to crawl for the toys I entice him with. All in good time buddy, all in good time.
• Playing ball with Grandpa Curry
• Chewing on or staring at his hands

As far as sleep goes, he's consistently giving me about a 5 hour stretch at night. That should be fun when I go back to work next week! I love this little guy so much and it has been so fun watching him become more and more alert and excited about the world! Every day brings new joys and discoveries.

What's in Our Mailbox

Justin and I have really stepped up our game when it comes to our subscriptions to print products. Thanks to the downturn in the market, super cheap subscription rates, and a massive gift card to amazon.com, we have added several magazines to our repertoire. It's kind of ridiculous. There aren't many marketing tactics I give in to, but I'm a sucker for those "2 years for $12 and a free handbag" offers.

Here's what we're reading:

U.S. News and World Report 

Forbes

Outdoor

Wired

Inc.

Entrepreneur

Fast Company

Entertainment Weekly (I've been a subscriber to EW for years and years! I love it!)

Lucky

Parenting

Working Mother

Parents

Justin seems to think we also ordered National Geographic, but it has yet to arrive. And if I didn't put the kibosh on it, I wouldn't be surprised if we had added Cottage Living and Real Simple to that list. All in good time I'm sure.

**Side Note:  When I was in college my good friend Simon, now a dentist, MY dentist as a matter of fact, signed up for a credit card with the prefix "Dr." on it. That resulted in a deluge of magazine samples, presumably to get him to subscribe for his waiting room. He received dozens and dozens of magazines until he had a couple of stacks 3 or 4 feet high in his apartment. All with fascinating titles like American Horseman or Cowboy Life. It was awesome. Not sure if those samples inspired his current waiting room selection...

Oh and shoutout to my college roomie Diana who I just discovered is a reader of my blog. :) 

And then sometimes...

...I think my baby looks like this:

Liev Schreiber

Clearly I spend an awful lot of time staring at this kid.

Nujitsu

When we were in the hospital right after Luke was born, Justin started watching Nujitsu (I think that's what it's called) on youtube. Basically they show you how to take down an opponent if he has a gun or a knife. It's ridiculous. For the next few weeks he would practice these moves whenever he had a partner to try them out with. I was not a willing participant so he had to wait until he was around his brothers. On Christmas Eve they had to test out the moves with actual props. Here they are holding my baby and guns. I was not pleased. Every time I question his obsession with Nujitsu he reminds me that we do live in Stockton and won't I be glad that he can protect us from an attacker wielding a weapon. Sure Justin.

Swimcoachfinder.com

Justin has been quite busy during his 12 weeks of paternity leave (and not because he's been taking his turns with the 2am feedings either...ahem). He decided last summer to launch a social networking site that would pair up swimmers/triathletes and coaches for training opportunities. The number of people doing triathlons has skyrocketed in recent years and many athletes consider the swimming portion of the race to be the most challenging. Thus, the idea for Swim Coach Finder was born. The idea is that athletes and coaches can find each other and make arrangements for coaching services. The site went live in January and I'm really proud of all the work Justin's put into it. I keep teasing him that he needs to get in shape for his cover shot in Fast Company or Wired magazine. :)

So, if you're a swimmer or triathlete looking to enhance your skills or meet your goals in the water, check out swimcoachfinder.com!

Luke's Doppelganger

Sometimes I think my baby looks like the dad from Juno. Maybe not, but I see it every now and then.

Luke On the Go

Luke has been a busy little boy these past 2 1/2 months. He had his first 2-night stay away from home in the bay area when he was 5 days old because our heater AND gas fireplace went out at the same time! (Not the greatest day for a brand new mommy.) At a month he stayed in his first hotel for our cousin's wedding in Aptos (near Santa Cruz). And at two months and some change he went on his first mini-vacay with mom and dad in Monterey where he got to fall asleep to the real live ocean as opposed to the wave sounds coming out of his white noise stuffed animal. Not to mention the two times he's been to the movies, the two UOP basketball games, and the countless upon countless times he's been on walks or out to eat. I estimate he has eaten out at least 50 times in his short life. (We may sacrifice some of life's luxuries, but food is definitely not one of them!) I don't know what we're going to do when he stops sleeping in his carrier and becomes less portable! Oh well, these days of being on the go are about to slow down as Justin heads back to work next week (thank you Bank of America and your 12 weeks of FULLY PAID paternity leave!) and I follow on March 1st.


Luke at the El Torito in Monterey at almost 1 month


Luke in Monterey at 2 months 1 week



Getting ready to go to a Pacific basketball game. Go Tigers!