Baby's first cough!

Oooh, poor Lucas.  He has a nasty chest cold.  I'm keeping an eye on it so he doesn't get too sick.  Dr. Putney said that a chest cold could hit him harder than some kids because of his low muscle tone in his upper body.  I think it's funny that he got a cold even before he started childcare.

I ran a hot bath tonight and then left the water running in the bathroom afterword to steam up the room.  We Vick's Vapor Rub-ed it too.  I hope that loosens it up a little.  There's not much you can do for a little body with a cough.  No baby Nyquil for Lucas.

If he spikes a fever I guess I won't be going back to work after all tomorrow.  I think he feels okay, just sounds awful.

On a happier note, Elisha and I happily watched Lucas try to figure out how to get a toy in his mouth today.  It looked so frustrating!!  He's getting there though!  He's not grabbing at toys yet, but he's hitting them.  It's really fun to watch all the little steps he's making.

Baby Class Reunion

Yesterday I went to the "reunion" of our childbirth class.  We got to see all the babies, six of them total.  A few of the little ones were born at the beginning of October, one born late October, and then the last three (including Lucas) were born within a week of each other.  Lucas was #4.  The picture here shows the babies in order of birth . . .

This is Quinn, Faye, Kenton, Lucas, Lila, and Emlyn. 
Here are some more pictures . . .

Kenton, Lucas, Lila, and Emlyn - I think Lucas needs to make Lila his girlfriend.  She's super cute.

Lucas looks SO serious in these pictures.  Well, I guess all the babies do!  Lucas was pretty big too, in comparison to the two girls born right after him.  It was pretty fun to see everyone.  I really like a few of the girls too (the moms), maybe we'll keep in touch (good ol' Facebook helps with that).

Lucas projectile vomited all over me today!  Woo!  But he quickly redeemed himself by grinning at me.  It must have made him feel better.

Jacqui and Megan came over this weekend.  Jacqui changed Lucas' diaper for him, and right before she set him on the mat to change him, he gave her this look like, "Do you really know what you're doing here Jacqui?"  We immortalized the look in a photo . . .

This is just proof to Jacqui that we knew her before she was famous.  Now she HAS to let us into her movie premieres.  We were there before IHOP (she'll know what I was talking about).  (:

One more day before work.  I'm going to miss my little man so much.  I know I'm so fortunate to get to have him close to me all day in a room with a bunch of girls that I trust so much.  The infant room is really great.  But I am the only mom from my childbirth class that is going back to work so early, and who is going back to work full time.  I don't have a choice because I need to save some sick days for Children's Hospital and when Lucas inevitably gets the flu and I have to take off of work.  I also cannot afford to take any unpaid time off since I am the only income in our house.  But, it doesn't stop me from feeling guilty about bringing him in earlier that we usually start most families downtown.  I keep trying to tell myself this is normal "working mom guilt".  Geeze.  I know and HIRED the girls who are caring for Lucas.  I know the intricate inner-workings of the center.  I RUN the center and I am still nervous about leaving him all day.  Can you imagine the poor moms who come and visit us only a handful of times before leaving their precious babies??  If anything, Lucas will make me better at my job.  I could always try to relate, but now I really can understand.

I am so thankful for my job though, in that I can afford to put Lucas in a quality childcare.  If Brian and I had to pay full price for our slot we would be out $867 per month (that's $433.50 EACH).  With my discount and a scholarship that I received from the Y, we split the cost at $333.50.  That is an amazing price and since I don't qualify for any State services, it saves my butt in finances.  Phew.

Bedtime.

Physical Therapy and more . . .

Yesterday the physical therapist, Stefanie, came to do some work with Lucas.  She's super cool and Lucas loved her, which helped.  The things she told me to do are so small I probably wouldn't have even known how to do them, or that they were helping in any way.  One of the things was having him sit up, like on my lap, and holding him back just a small fraction.  This way he has to lift up his head just a tiny bit more than he does when sitting straight up.

It's hard because I can see just how much effort it takes for him to hold his head up.  He often leans it back and rests it looking up because it takes less strength to do that.  When he actually holds it up straight it's the equivalent of us lifting up a big weight in the air with one of our arms.  Poor kiddo.

I have multiple meetings scheduled at work next week to sort out stuff that hasn't been going as peachy as I would like it to.  This will be hard because I'm not quite sure when Lucas will be eating.  Now I know how all those moms at work feel, trying to schedule their lunch hour around their child's eating schedule.  It's a mentality shift for me, work does not come first, Lucas does.  That's new and part of the balance.  At least he takes a bottle well, so if I have to I can let the girls in the infant room feed him and I can pump later, it just takes more time in the long run.

And I'm not sure HOW I'm going to do campaign in March.  He has been going to bed at 7:30 pm and campaign usually lasts until 7, and then we clean up after.  I think I'll ask to do more work on set up and then I can just take off right at 7.  Hopefully that will work.

So, a new video.  I think sometimes these videos are boring for my Facebook friends.  But I know if people are reading this blog they just can't get enough of Lucas, so here you go!  Video.  I'll have another one soon.

    

First Entry!

Well, one more week until I go back to work.  I feel mixed emotions about this.  Yay, I get back on a schedule and have regular contact with big people!  But, nay, I spend less time with Lucas and I worry I won't be able to balance everything very well.  But, lots of women do it, so I shouldn't be anything less than successful.  I'm excited to see everyone again, but I'm apprehensive of the demands that my job gives me.  When I was "without a child" it wasn't as much of an issue.  I just can't do as much for my employees that I would have been able to do before, whether they're okay with that or not.

Lucas was especially cute today.  I laid him down on the wedge tonight, and he didn't even wake up!  He completely submerged himself under water in the bath tonight though.  He does this thing where he pushes himself back and will not stop!  He pushed himself a little too far and his head dunked.  I think he scared himself!

Emily posted this picture on facebook, and I think it's really cute.