After 11 and a half weeks at home with the little guy, today is my last day at home. I am excited about retunring to work; I'm looking forward to interacting with other people and feeling a sense of accomplishment at completing work-related tasks.
The first two months at home were really hard! I'm used to being quite active and on the go. Instead, I found myself struggling as I sat on the couch feeding or holding the little guy and watching Living with Ed, Renovation Nation, A Baby Story/Bringing Home Baby, and Say Yes to the Dress. During that time, I rotated between about three outfits consisting of t-shirts and running shorts. Before having the little guy, I didn't really think it was possible to have a day where I didn't even have time to take a shower or brush my teeth, but it's true and it happened!
The last few weeks have been better though. The little guy isn't crying as much and he's become more interactive. We can spend a good 30-45 minutes playing in the morning when he wakes up before he even wants to eat. In the past week or so, he's also (finally!) developed something of a nap pattern, taking one nap during our walk in the morning and another mid-afternoon.
Despite comments from the parents and in-laws, I do not feel guilty about taking him to child care. I really do think it will be good for him in the long run. I do, however, feel challenged about having a 45 hour/week job and knowing that he'll be spending more of his waking hours at child care than he will at home. But for me and my personality, I know that I will cherish my time with him even more when I do see him and spend time with him in the evenings and on weekends. I am anxious about the first day/week in terms of dropping him off, picking him up, and learning the whole process as well as developing our routine.
