Weirdling Files: Week 10- Home Alone (with pictures and video)

By Dad
Week ten was Mom and Cannonball's first real week alone together. All of the other weeks had been full of vacations, traveling, or visiting relatives. From what I could tell every day when I came home it went great. Roland is a great little boy and he was having good days. He'd sleep, eat, sleep some more, then be up for a while.
What that meant for me is when I finally got home from work he'd sometimes be a grumpy, tired baby in need of a nap. Naps were once again EVIL and must be stopped. I must admit, it wasn't fun the first time I came home from work and a swim to pick him up and have him start crying right away. I blame the chlorine smell.
Roland got to watch his first Super Bowl. I know it's silly, but it was neat to hang out with the boy during the biggest football game of the year. Yes, it would have been cool if he had been born [FEMALE NAME REDACTED] instead too. It's not a gender thing, it's a We're probably going to do this every year and sometimes it'll be on your mom's birthday and we'll have to do something nice for her too that day tradition thing.
Roland has been getting so much bigger. I think not seeing him all day is making that feeling more intense. He's stronger too, when we do tummy time he hold his head up like a champ. And he likes to stand. We support him upright and he plants his feet. I'm quite sure, said the proud if delusional father, that if he had the proper balance he'd be standing and walking already.
The other funny thing that's happening is to his head. He's going bald. They told us to expect him to start rubbing the hair off with all the time he spends on his back but I didn't really believe it. Nope, hair is definitely disappearing. But only around the high sides. Soon he's going to be Jean Luc Picard.
Roland is tracking things better every day with his eyes and I think he's going to start reaching soon. He's not yet, but the thought process of what are these things attached to my arms is happening. It's so much fun to stand him up and watch him meercat around (Angela's term, he does it in the Ergo too). I want to know what he sees and what he's thinking.
He's adorable, he's being the best baby, and we couldn't be happier.

By Mom
This was my first full week on my own as a Mama. The week started with my birthday, and it ended up being a good thing that for my first full on meal from scratch was something that could wait. Roland must have spent too much time awake during the day because right around the time my cooking was finishing up he started in on the I-will-never-sleep-again road. Daddy tried to keep him calm as long as he could, but once my roast was out of the oven to rest I took over to nurse him. Usually when he gets all worked up he can't eat because he can't cry, breathe, and eat all at the same time. I knew he was tired so I took him to bed to nurse. He calmed down for me eventually, then made eye contact while cooing at me. Poor Doug kept coming in to ask what he should do every time the timer went off. Once Roland had eaten enough he fell asleep and I left him in bed to go finish my dinner. We got about an hour to eat with only a couple of interruptions to offer his pacifier so he could go back to sleep. So far an hour is about all we get if we put Roland down to sleep.

During the work week Doug had to get up on his own, kissing both of us goodbye and making sure to lock the deadbolt before he left. I would sleep with Roland until he woke up to eat around 8:30. After that it was out of bed for some playtime. I found that to ensure at least one good nap during the day I would have to hold him during the nap. Putting him down or in his swing would mean a 10-15 minute nap, and then awake for a long stretch. Not really a problem for me, but it tends to make him fussy in the evening, which is frustrating for Doug. He wanted a chance to hang out with Roland, but Roland was too tired to want to hang out with Daddy. Our days were pretty tame. Neither of us had to be anywhere, so we stayed home.

I did start doing some light exercise with him. I signed up to participate in a study being done at the University of Hawaii. They sent me a Google TV device and a username and password to use an exercise program online. The workouts are meant to be done with baby, either holding him or with him nearby so I can still interact with him. What I've done so far have been chunked into 10-minute sessions. It works out well, since so far that is all Roland can handle before we need to do something else. Which means I am also learning to do other things in 10-minute chunks or less. Sometimes I can rotate laundry and load the dishwasher before he wakes from a cat nap or wants to play again. Most days longer things, like showering, end up waiting until Doug gets home. Staying home with Roland is a lot different than teaching Kindergarten, but I can't imagine going back yet. I like the change.