The one-month challenge

I seriously have not one, not two, but three drafted posts in my editing box right now. What that says to me is that 1.) having a nearly-three-month-old at home and attempting to keep said home vaguely clean is more than vaguely difficult 2.) I have trouble formulating a complete thought, let alone a complete sentence and 3.) I've lost my blogging way. I am making a concerted effort in this, my last month of maternity leave, to be a better blogger by posting something every day left of my leave. Wish me luck.

That being said, do feel like I've got a little groove on here, and I know that as soon as I'm all, "Oh, yeah, I've got this mothering an infant all day thing dowwwwn," BAM! Back to work I go, and we start figuring out our lives anew.

Something I'm very proud of us for doing this past week was going on vacation - twice! - with the boys, once on our annual February trip to Martha's Vineyard, and once to NYC. Both visits were wonderful and surprisingly--not that bad. The worst part was packing. And, in typical second-child-syndrome style, we hardly took any pictures of Max's first trip to the Vineyard or NYC--whereas we snapped it up when we visited these places for the first time with Theo. Ah well.

Here's a few of photos I managed to capture of my big boy and my little boy from vacation.

Breakfast happy face

Hi!

Walking to the beach

Asleep on the beach

Match.box truck on the beach

Totally crazy sculpture/statue/modern art wackiness at the house where we stayed on MV

Putting the size into perspective - it was huge!

Baby Minutes

Well, since I'm not quite throwing in the towel on this blog yet, I figure I may as well write on it. I'll try to think of some relevant-to-baby type thing to say, so here goes. Today's topic: maternity leave.

S. had a hard time with her maternity leave. She loved being home with Theo, but missed her job and talking to adults every day. Luckily, I got to be home with S. and Theo for a month and a half or so before I went back to work, since he was born in the summertime, so we had a lot of adjustment time together. For me, there have been so many snow days this year that it almost feels like I'm spending this maternity leave with S. and Theo, which has been amazing. And at the same time, I love the time I get to spend alone with Max. In general, I like being alone, so being home, just him and me, has been amazing. And just when I start getting bored, S. and Theo come home and we're a cozy little family again.

I do not want to return to work. But I have to. My sub wants my job. I wish I could give it to her. I haven't muttered these words aloud--my women's college education makes me feel too guilty--but I like staying home. As a mom. Keeping the household. Being a "homemaker" (I totally get that word but understand why it's no longer p.c.). This is not something I expected.

So I am trying to make the most of the rest of my time. I go back in March, and Max will be happy and safe with Theo's wonderful babysitter. I think Theo really is a better boy because of her (he's definitely a better napper because of her). I'm not looking too far ahead of me and trying to suck in every baby minute while I am here every minute for them.

And, since this blog is half a photo album, here's our big boy on skis (!) for the very first time. He finally figured out he likes playing in the snow. Good thing, since it isn't going away anytime soon!

There are several drafts of posts floating around my editing box here that try to make a graceful exit from this blog, but --- I just can't seem to make myself finish and/or post them. While the future of this bog does remain in question, I feel like I am abandoning the family pet in the middle of a snowstorm. So for now, it stays, while I infrequently update once in a while with photos of the boys. That's not exactly what I wanted this blog to become -- simply a photo album (that's what facebook is for, really, isn't it?) -- but for now it's what can be managed.

So, I give you a two-month-old baby named Max. I don't know where this two-month-old came from. He seemed to appear out of thin air.