Back to Work

Well, I'm sad to say my maternity leave has come to an end.  It was a wonderful 12 weeks, but it had to end sometime.  Monday was my first day back to work, and Charlie's first day at my work's day care.  I managed to drop him off without tears, which surprised me (...and the director....and Jack's old teacher Ms Jill....and basically anyone who knows me).  To be fair, I was distracted by Jack's meltdown.  We took Charlie to his classroom first and when we got there Jack froze and then was hysterical and clinging to me.  I think he thought I was leaving him in the infant classroom.  He wouldn't calm down or listen to me, so I ended up leaving Charlie there and taking Jack to his classroom.  By the time I got back to Charlie's room, he was unpacked, they had read my instructions and Ms Mary was holding him.  SO, that made it easy for me to give him a quick kiss and dart out the door before the waterworks had a chance to start.  Success!

I went to visit him at lunch - I promised the teachers I wouldn't continue that everyday, but I had to this first day!!  When I got there he was happily lying on an activity mat looking at the toys dangling overhead.  I held him for five minutes and then went about my day.  I could get used to that!

He did really great all day and his teachers (and every teacher I passed on the way to get him) told me how cute and happy he was.  Jack freaked out again when we went to pick him up, refusing to set foot in Charlie's classroom.  Funny.  I guess from now on we'll be dropping Jack first in the morning and picking Charlie up first in the evening to avoid any confusion.

The only negative from Charlie's first day was that he didn't seem to get a lot of sleep.  His paper said he slept for 1 hour two different times and then a third nap for 45 minutes.  He's still not really on a schedule, but he generally takes at least one 2-3 hour solid nap during the day.  I'm sure the extra noise will take some getting used to.  It was clear he was pooped Monday night - he slept most of the night.

Luckily Charlie's teacher remembered to take some pictures of his first day because Mommy forgot!!  Thanks Ms Mary!

Tuesday was his first full day at Grandma & Grandpa Lang's, and Grandma has already dubbed him "Angel Baby II."  He slept most of the morning, woke up for a bottle around 11:45, was awake for an hour, then slept the REST of the day - perhaps making up for Monday.

As for me, I'm doing fine.  If I had a choice I'd be home with my babies every day, but there's no sense in dwelling on that.  This happens to be a decent week for me to return to work because my boss and the whole team that I support are in Chicago for a meeting, which is giving me time to ease back in and reacquaint myself with all my projects.  And in 2.5 short weeks, it'll be Christmas break, so surely I can make it that long! 

The highlight of my first day back (other than holding Charlie at lunch) was when I got a phone call from the security guard of my building saying I had received flowers.  Attached was the following note: "We love you Mom!  Mommy, Thank you for being so wonderful and taking such good care of us.  We appreciate everything you do for us.  Hope you have a great day.  Love, Jack & Charlie"  Isn't my husband the best??