Last day of my time off

It occurred to me that we didn't have any shots of the family together. Unfortunately, we couldn't get Charlie into the picture. But we were able to stuff in a bit of A's propoganda, so there ya go. :)

I go back to work tomorrow. Aria is just over two weeks old now, but I feel as though it has been two years. So much momentous change crammed into such a small period of time. Any other two weeks would have been a blip on the map. It's crazy.

I stayed up very late last night with Aria. I had a lot of energy for some reason, and I thought it would be nice to give Hosanna some more restful sleep. The Godfather was on TV. So there I was, giving my daughter a bottle at 1:30 in the morning, watching mob bosses kill each other. Aria fell asleep in the burping position on my shoulder and stayed there for at least an hour. She was so calm curled up there, with her little tiny butt resting in my hand.



The Godfather ended at 3 a.m., but she was still asleep and I couldn't bear to disturb her. So I snoozed for a while on the couch. I loved it. I never wanted it to end. But at 3:30 she was hungry again, and I had used up all the breast milk Hosanna had pumped.

As far as giving Hosanna the restful night of sleep, the results were mixed. Sure, she got to sleep through until 3:30. But after that, I was utterly useless, and slept hard until 11 a.m. today. So I wasn't much help with changing diapers or making breakfast. Hosie told me I'm not allowed to do that anymore. :)

We've met a few more of our neighbors as a result of bringing Aria out. There aren't really that many kids in our neighborhood - it's still populated mainly with retirees who bought here in the 70s - but we've met a couple of them. That's been fun.

Aria has her first Halloween costume now. Our friend Holly brought her a duck outfit. It's pretty cute. She'll probably be swimming in it though, it's kinda big. But we'll give it a try anyway.



I discovered, quite accidentally, that when Aria is really hungry she will suck on anything that you put too close to her mouth. In this case, my nose. Weird... but cute... but weird.

I am very sad to have to go back to work after this amazing experience. I'm afraid of missing so many exciting moments with Aria. What if I'm not here when she rolls over for the first time, or starts crawling, or says her first word? And, somewhat more selfishly, it's been very nice to have the time to work around the house, enjoy late breakfast with Hosanna while Aria takes her morning nap(s), even play some video games and watch a couple movies. These two weeks have been so crazy, but they have also been very relaxing too. I will really miss that. I fear for my stress level when I drop back into the hectic atmosphere of my work life, then come home to an ever-growing, ever-more-demanding child. And I'm afraid for Hosanna, too - of being lonely at home, of her feeling trapped by the need to be at Aria's side at all times. We will have to work hard to make sure she has the support she needs.