Well, we survived the first night! We’re on the 10-2-6 schedule right now, which Dave and I have deemed the most painful. (It changes slightly because she eats every 3 or 4 hours – not fixed in stone.) I can’t ever fall back asleep at the point of the morning. Still, Tess was all smiles and had no issues falling back into bed.

After staying up too late last night trying to find inspiration for my paper, I gave up and turned in. Of course, I woke up with a solution to my dilemma and should have just put it away sooner. Why does this not surprise me?! Dave is an expert at chewing on a problem until he turns blue; it’s always my job to get him away from the keyboard for an hour so he can come back to an “aha!” moment. You think I could do the same for myself. Still, it’s Monday and I have a better direction for my work than I did last night. Tess’s happy as a clam and asleep, and all will be well. 🙂

It’s Natalie’s first day as a nanny – up to now she’s been babysitting at night. I am contemplating some solid hours of work and a haircut. I could work straight through, but I can’t get a haircut when she’s asleep later, so that decided me. It’s been 6 months – eep! Natalie won’t be taking up her regular schedule yet, but we thought we’d better ease into things with Mondays. As it were, Dave may have engineered this beautifully, knowing that switching back to full-time will be hard enough! Sneaky sweet husband.

It may be for the best that Natalie’s starting while Dave’s gone. She’s the only help I’ll have until he’s back, so it’s making me skip the nanny jealousy and dive into the ‘I get a few hours to get stuff done that I can’t do with Tess’. The last time she babysat, Tess was clinging to her shirt and asleep in her arms by the time I left. I was equal parts thrilled and sad to see her so happy with someone else. I know it’s for the best, and we don’t have the option – but the green eyes of jealousy squinted out just a tad! I’d better get used to it fast – September is almost here.

All went swimmingly. Natalie is a great it for us and is fabulous with Tess. We like her more every day. I feel way more human after cutting off pounds of poufy hair, and was productive today! I also snuck in a pedi, where the aesthetician had a preemie born before the third trimester like Tess! Her son is now 3 and is doing great – as was she. She had Aden at 16 and at 19 is supporting her family, getting him early intervention and choosing his preschool with care. She’s also raisin him bilingual in Laotian and English. We had quite a good time comparing notes! Who knew we’d have so much in common?!

A win all around. Tess is snuggled into her moby on my chest, and has slept through me unpacking the last of our bathroom (we can almost move in!) and a few hours of work. She wakes up, snuggles in harder and passes out again. I get my mommy fix and free hands, so I totally get the attraction. I haven’t had a chance to touch my paper or finish reviewing the final adoption report, but I’ll get to it tomorrow. Gotta keep the office happy! A lovely quiet night at home. Dave, we got this. 🙂

A footnote: we apparently got the cutest little sleeper in the world that fastens with magnets. I was so entertained by Tess’ Hulk impression that I frantically tool photos while feeding her so you could see what I mean. Love it!