Blathering and whatnot
Ok, so it has been a while. Not that this entry will prove to have been worth waiting for, I don't really have a whole hell of a lot to say. Actually, that's not strictly accurate. I do have a lot to say, I just don't know how much time I'll have to say it. The little eating/pooping machine is having her after-early-breakfast nap at the moment but it generally doesn't last much beyond 8am.
Now that that's out there, here's the news in the Casa De Mayhem:
Alice chose to roll-over under her own steam this past Monday morning at 05:55am. She's been threatening to do it for the past few weeks but always stopped just shy of it, presumably to keep us in suspense. She's spent the week mastering it and now you can't put her down on her back without her immediately rolling over. This wouldn't be a problem but she tends to rest rather heavily on her stomach and we generally tend to set her down on her play-mat after she's had a nice long feed. I think you see where this is going. Second-hand formula and, now that she's moving up to some seriously smooshed solid foods, second-hand smooshed carrots and stuff. At least its colorful. She thinks its hysterical. Other than that, she's growing like a weed and making our investment in clothing for her look like a foolish expense. We've averaged that she gets about two wears out of each article of clothing before she outgrows it and this stuff ain't cheap. Still, I'm sure we must know someone else who is going to have a little girl in the near future (it seems a safe bet at our age, given that Jules is a lot more socially inclined than I am) so it won't go to waste.
In related news, Jules went out yesterday morning to shop for return to work clothes with her mom and little sister and left me with the Evil One from about 9am until damn close to 5pm (she was supposed to be back around noon, according to plan but somehow these plans never seem to stick). Doesn't matter, Alice and I had a great time. We played, laughed, had food, played, pooped and, as I mentioned, had a wonderful time. Jules came home to a tired but happy baby and husband. I wish I could do this every day but the mortgage ain't going to pay itself. At least it gave Jules some time to just be her rather than mummy and that helps. I know everyone says it but that's because its true; being home all day with a baby is very hard work. Yes, its pleasurablem but in much the same way working at a job you love would be. The difficult point is, it doesn't stop. There are no lunch breaks, smoke breaks or quitting times. You can't stop paying attention, even when she's having a nap, and you can't relax. There are people who say or think that it can't be that hard and I'm just making a melodramatic production of it. Let me tell you, you don't know shit. Folks who don't have kids talking about how its not so hard sound to me like virgins discussing the finer points of sexual intercourse. Books, movies and second or third hand knowledge only take you so far. This is something that must be lived and experienced to be fully understood. Yeah, like I said, I know that everyone who has had a kid says the same thing. Before I had one, I'd listen to this kind of talk and think, "Bullshit, it can't be that hard. I could do it easily and still have time for whatever else I wanted to do". Man, was I a stupid shit. At least I can say that I was no better or worse than anyone else in the same position.
As for other news, there really isn't much. Work is work, nothing too major or interesting there. I could do with better pay and a role that interested me at least a little but I'll take the monotony of brain-dead tedium for the moment. It served my purposes for now. Eventually, I will have to take my career seriously again but I'll wait until the midget is walking before I look into anything more taxing. Jules is set to go back to work in October which should resolve some of the cash flow issues we've had around here, not to mention give her the social interaction she's been missing by being at home. It will also provide a non-baby-related focus which will do her good in the long run. Its very easy to get over-focused on baby when you have nothing else to claim your attention and it can be quite unhealthy for all concerned. I know she's not particularly looking forward to it, especially the idea of putting Alice in day care, but we have it better than alot of folks because the day care is at Julie's office and she knows the ladies who work there very well. If she's concerned or just wants to see Alice, its a 5 minuted walk through the building, down the elevator and into the day care and she can bounce in and out of the place anytime she wants. Yes, I'd prefer to have enough money coming in so Jules could quit work altogether and be a house-mum but since that's not possible, this is the next best thing. In point of fact, it could be much, much worse.
And that's about it for updates. I know this post is mostly about Alice and things pertaining to Alice but to be perfectly honest, there isn't much else going on. I've purposely limited the amount of energy I need to expend on anything else to a bare minimum and the upshot of that is limited, possibly very boring LJ posts. Sorry about that.
The only other things I wished to say here are the following:
1. Congrats to Wewelsburg on his new job! May the cash be all that you hoped for and may the role be interesting and diverse.
2. Congrats to Meanwa on her completion of her new hire stuff and final acceptance as a permanent person at Uber-Corp! May the role sustain your interest and may there be no nail-clipping, throat-clearing, phone-avoinding, petty-minded fuckwits in your department.
And that's it for that part.
Now that that's out there, here's the news in the Casa De Mayhem:
Alice chose to roll-over under her own steam this past Monday morning at 05:55am. She's been threatening to do it for the past few weeks but always stopped just shy of it, presumably to keep us in suspense. She's spent the week mastering it and now you can't put her down on her back without her immediately rolling over. This wouldn't be a problem but she tends to rest rather heavily on her stomach and we generally tend to set her down on her play-mat after she's had a nice long feed. I think you see where this is going. Second-hand formula and, now that she's moving up to some seriously smooshed solid foods, second-hand smooshed carrots and stuff. At least its colorful. She thinks its hysterical. Other than that, she's growing like a weed and making our investment in clothing for her look like a foolish expense. We've averaged that she gets about two wears out of each article of clothing before she outgrows it and this stuff ain't cheap. Still, I'm sure we must know someone else who is going to have a little girl in the near future (it seems a safe bet at our age, given that Jules is a lot more socially inclined than I am) so it won't go to waste.
In related news, Jules went out yesterday morning to shop for return to work clothes with her mom and little sister and left me with the Evil One from about 9am until damn close to 5pm (she was supposed to be back around noon, according to plan but somehow these plans never seem to stick). Doesn't matter, Alice and I had a great time. We played, laughed, had food, played, pooped and, as I mentioned, had a wonderful time. Jules came home to a tired but happy baby and husband. I wish I could do this every day but the mortgage ain't going to pay itself. At least it gave Jules some time to just be her rather than mummy and that helps. I know everyone says it but that's because its true; being home all day with a baby is very hard work. Yes, its pleasurablem but in much the same way working at a job you love would be. The difficult point is, it doesn't stop. There are no lunch breaks, smoke breaks or quitting times. You can't stop paying attention, even when she's having a nap, and you can't relax. There are people who say or think that it can't be that hard and I'm just making a melodramatic production of it. Let me tell you, you don't know shit. Folks who don't have kids talking about how its not so hard sound to me like virgins discussing the finer points of sexual intercourse. Books, movies and second or third hand knowledge only take you so far. This is something that must be lived and experienced to be fully understood. Yeah, like I said, I know that everyone who has had a kid says the same thing. Before I had one, I'd listen to this kind of talk and think, "Bullshit, it can't be that hard. I could do it easily and still have time for whatever else I wanted to do". Man, was I a stupid shit. At least I can say that I was no better or worse than anyone else in the same position.
As for other news, there really isn't much. Work is work, nothing too major or interesting there. I could do with better pay and a role that interested me at least a little but I'll take the monotony of brain-dead tedium for the moment. It served my purposes for now. Eventually, I will have to take my career seriously again but I'll wait until the midget is walking before I look into anything more taxing. Jules is set to go back to work in October which should resolve some of the cash flow issues we've had around here, not to mention give her the social interaction she's been missing by being at home. It will also provide a non-baby-related focus which will do her good in the long run. Its very easy to get over-focused on baby when you have nothing else to claim your attention and it can be quite unhealthy for all concerned. I know she's not particularly looking forward to it, especially the idea of putting Alice in day care, but we have it better than alot of folks because the day care is at Julie's office and she knows the ladies who work there very well. If she's concerned or just wants to see Alice, its a 5 minuted walk through the building, down the elevator and into the day care and she can bounce in and out of the place anytime she wants. Yes, I'd prefer to have enough money coming in so Jules could quit work altogether and be a house-mum but since that's not possible, this is the next best thing. In point of fact, it could be much, much worse.
And that's about it for updates. I know this post is mostly about Alice and things pertaining to Alice but to be perfectly honest, there isn't much else going on. I've purposely limited the amount of energy I need to expend on anything else to a bare minimum and the upshot of that is limited, possibly very boring LJ posts. Sorry about that.
The only other things I wished to say here are the following:
1. Congrats to Wewelsburg on his new job! May the cash be all that you hoped for and may the role be interesting and diverse.
2. Congrats to Meanwa on her completion of her new hire stuff and final acceptance as a permanent person at Uber-Corp! May the role sustain your interest and may there be no nail-clipping, throat-clearing, phone-avoinding, petty-minded fuckwits in your department.
And that's it for that part.