Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's Off to Work I Went

That's right, my seventeen-week maternity leave is officially over and it was back to the grind for me on Monday. I definitely had mixed feelings about returning to work. In some ways I was looking forward to getting out of the house, actually putting on nice clothes and fixing my hair, and interacting with other adults. But of course leaving my little baby who I hadn't been away from for more than 2 or 3 hours since he was born filled me with sadness. But it did seem like a natural time to go back...the holidays are over, it's a new year and just kind of a natural time of transition and starting fresh.

But I'm happy to report that this first week back has gone as smoothly as we could have hoped for. Krystal (our nanny) has been absolutely wonderful. She has exceeded our expectations. She is a very warm and caring person and she takes her job very seriously. I can tell that she wants to do the best job that she possibly can and I think that comes from a lot of self-motivation. She keeps a detailed log of all of Colin's daily activities (nap times, meals, diaper changes, supplies that we need, as well as details of all of their activities throughout the day right down to the titles of the books they read). She keeps these logs in a binder which she decorated with scrapbook pages that she made herself with supplies she bought with her own money. She also made him a binder for his art projects and takes lots of pictures of him throughout the day. She does little chores around the house that we don't ask her to do which help make our lives easier. But of course the most important thing is that she is so good with Colin and they really seem to be bonding. I see him smiling at her every day which makes me feel really good! I'm lucky enough to be able to come home at lunch to nurse Colin which has really helped the transition too. I take an early lunch and leave work at 11, putting me home about 11:15.

And we thought his sleeping patterns might change but so far it's been pretty par for the course. He's been waking up once a night to feed sometime between 2 and 5 AM although I would say that he has been getting up for the day a little earlier than usual. He even seems to be napping well for her - I think she keeps him so busy jumping from activity to activity that he gets pretty worn out!

Pumping at work has been going fine so far too. There is a nice little room right near my desk with a comfy chair and a sink in it. It is locked and with a code to open it so it is very private. Colin only misses one feeding a day from me (at least on days I can come home at lunch) so I only have to pump about 6 oz right now which Krystal gives to him around 3 PM. So far I haven't had any problem getting that much from just one pumping session.

Here are a few shots that Krystal took of their first week together.

Making footprints in paint

Working on rolling over

Making his first drawing

Playing on his activity gym