Take Two

M. is out of town on his second business trip since Lucy arrived. As the days and hours approaching his departure slipped by, I found myself growing more and more anxious, remembering with no fondness the late nights holding a screaming, inconsolable baby that I experienced during his first trip. My fears of a repeat are so far proving unfounded, however, and 21 hours into his trip I must say that things are going pretty well. What a difference it makes to have a baby NOT suffering from reflux symptoms, I guess.

Granted, it is early days yet - M. does not return until Thursday evening. But his parents arrive for a visit tomorrow afternoon, so help is on the way should I need it. Only about 30 more hours on my own to go.

A brief rundown for posterity's sake (I am constantly trying to remember how I did things with Finn when he was a baby, and wish I had kept this blog then - like, when exactly did we switch him to a two-nap-a-day schedule? I'm so over this 4-nap-a-day thing that we're currently dealing with) about how I handled bedtime last night:

6:00 pm - Finn and I ate dinner while I held a fussy, overtired Lucy.

6:15 pm - After much begging, I allowed Finn a few minutes of outside playtime (Lucy in her sling) until the gnats chased us inside.

6:30 pm - I parked Finn in front of the Cars movie, and took Lucy upstairs to change her for bedtime. I brought her back downstairs and fed her on the couch while Finn continued to watch TV and play.

7:05 pm - I swaddled a sleepy Lucy, held her for a couple more minutes, and stuck her in her swing. I helped Finn pick up his toys, then corralled him upstairs to get ready for bed.

7:15 pm - Finn brushed his teeth, used the potty, and got into his PJ's. I read him two books and sang him his bedtime song. He resisted bedtime, told me he didn't like his big boy bed, etc, and I thought I was going to be in for a long night of listening to him call for me over the monitor.

7:55 pm - I left Finn's room. Lucy was stirring down in the swing. I started doing some quick chores in the kitchen, but when her noises became a bit more insistent I picked her up and walked around with her a bit. I eventually sat on the couch with her in my arms and read my book (The Constant Princess by Philippa Gregory) for a bit. I heard one or two peeps out of Finn, but surprisingly, no adamant demands that I attend his whims.

8:30 pm - Carried Lucy up to her room and put her in her crib. Finished up my chores down in the kitchen.

8:45 pm - Both kids in bed and asleep, I watched a little TV down in the basement with a glass of wine (Perhaps the wine was pushing it, but it all worked out OK as Lucy didn't get up to eat until almost 4 am). I chatted with Stacey and M., and headed up to bed myself at around 9:45.

The morning went pretty smoothly, too. I didn't get Finn in to daycare until after 8 am, but that's not a bad thing - it's because none of us got up very early (I was the first one up at around 6:35 am). Now I am sitting here, drinking some coffee while Irma cleans the house, listening to a previously sleeping Lucy poop in her swing. Good times.

Tomorrow, in addition to the arrival of M.'s parents, Lucy has her two month check-up. You know what that means - shots. And lots of them. Hopefully it also means a very sleepy baby afterwards. I'm prepared with my infant Tylenol, and I'm hoping she has no bad reactions. I'll update with her stats - it will be interesting to see just how big she's gotten!