for only a moment

So. Uh.The first week back at work went well. Clara didn’t take the bottle well the first day or two, but after that, she got the hang of it, and got hungry enough to eat. She takes 3 bottles, 4 oz. each, every day. I pump about 7 oz. while I’m gone from her. So she’s only taking a little over 1 bottle of formula. That’s good. I’m sure when she nurses she gets more than what I can pump. The babysitter has been putting Hannah down quite a bit earlier than I had been for nap… so she has only been sleeping an hour or an hour and a half.

Work is… it’s alright. The actual work is less important to me now than ever. It’s the end of the school year. And my mind is on my girls. I enjoy my students, and my job is easy for me. At least it has been this week. There are only 28 days of school left. The kids seem glad to have me back, for the most part. A few had good relationships with my sub, and were honestly sorry to see her go.

The days seem so short… they go so fast. I miss nap time. But I can’t complain much. Clara has been sleeping 9 hours at night. Count ‘em. NINE HOURS people. Hannah has been waking up a lot at night. Bad dreams? Growing pains? I don’t know. Clint usually goes in with her. If I go, she sees me and says, "I want Dad." So I let her have him. They’ve developed quite a closeness lately. They adore each other.

Well, I don’t want to stay up too late, even though it’s Friday. There’s no telling if Clara will think it’s time to go back to sleep or time to stay up a while after her 5 or 6 am feeding. Just in case, I better get some rest while I can.

Sleep tight. Sweet dreams.

Back to work this week. Going ok. Busy. Makes me cherish the time at home though. Nothing else to report…

I’ve been enjoying my last few days home with the girls. I go back to work next week. It’s been so long that I’m not having any strong emotions about it. I hope Clara does well at the babysitters’. She’s been refusing the bottle lately, especially with formula. I picked up the one my sister in law suggested, the First Years Breastflow. At first she wouldn’t take it either. Then I did a little trick I used to do with Hannah. I added a bit of Karo syrup to the bottle. She took to it right away.  Guess I had to sweeten the deal for her. She’s taking it well now, which is good, because Clint was getting so frustrated with her. She wouldn’t eat for him even if I was gone. Just cry and cry until I got home.

Clara weighs 12 lbs 3 oz and is 24 in long. So she’s in the 75th percentile for height and the 60th for weight.

"Wow," Clint said, "She must be a preemie."

Several strangers have commented to me lately that she looks so small. "Is she a preemie?" they ask, "How old is she?"

***

We won’t be back to the doctor’s until early June. Oh, who am I kidding? Someone will get sick in the next 2 months. Anyway, Clara’s breathing sounds good to the doctor. No wheezing. Still some congestion. Hannah’s ear infection is all but cleared up, but her nose started running today so the doctor said she’s at risk for developing a new infection. 

Clara had her first round of shots today. She’s been sleeping more than usual, but at press time, I haven’t noticed other ill effects.