Starting School

The last two weeks have been an absolute whirlwind in the Black household!

January 2nd marked the date that had long been looming, the day that I returned to work and Briggs started school at Clemson First Baptist Child Enrichment Center (CEC).  In preparation I had some anxiety about a few things:  1. Getting us out the door, 2. Briggs adjusting to the school schedule, 3. Ensuring that the teachers knew everything they needed to know about Briggs and that I brought all the right accessories, and 4. Pumping at work.

Getting out the door has certainly gotten better with several days of practice!  Lately Briggs wakes up around 3am to eat, so with the new schedule I have been waking him around 6:30am to eat again.  Then I hand him off to David for burps, diaper change, and school clothes (some mornings this has been up to 3 outfits) while I continue getting ready.  The goal is to get out the door between 7:15 and 7:25.  The first week I never left the house before 7:45am!  Luckily my work is understanding, so no biggie!  This past Friday (the 13th), Briggs threw a little curveball into the schedule and slept 9.5hrs, waking up at 5:30am!  It was a great treat and I'd love for that to be our new schedule!!

First week at school had some cold mornings!

Briggs adjusting to the school schedule has also improved with days of practice.  Throughout the day, the awesome ladies who keep the nursery keep a running report card on each of the 7 babies.  This allows me to go home knowing when and how much he ate, slept, and even an exit (diaper) report!  At first, Briggs didn't eat much and didn't sleep much.  The ladies were very impressed that for his age he will nap in his crib, but they have perfected that when he wakes, he'll sleep more if he is moved to a swing.  As of Friday, he was finishing all his bottles and taking some good naps!

We post the reports at home, keep us all on the same page!

I didn't have much anxiety about the separation or missing Briggs, I was downright (and shamefully) excited about going back to work.  I certainly learned over our 14 weeks at home, that I am not cut out for the stay at home mommy thing.  Even though the ladies in the nursery obviously have WAY more baby experience than I do, I was nervous about them knowing what all his grunts mean and just how he likes things.  David came along with me the first day of school and we were like dorky freshman at a new high school.  At first we couldn't find our classroom so we had to walk a few halls and then finally ask for help!  Once we found his room, we hung around for about 20 minutes learning the drop off and pick up procedures and telling Ms Amanda a little about Briggs.  I struggled to back out the door and leave, I kept feeling like there were things I should tell her.  I guess it was good David came along or I might have stayed an hour!

Ms Amanda & Briggs - Week 2

Pumping at work is just as bad as I thought it would be.  The first day went ok, but by the second day I was getting busy and already working right through pumping times.  So, I needed a routine.  Now I have an alarm set on my phone twice a day and these 10 uninterrupted minutes are now the time when I get to play with my new iPhone!  Sure facebook is fun, but I am totally addicted to Words with Friends now!!   It definitely is an inconvenience when I'm in the middle of something, but I know it's totally worth it for Briggs man!

Forget turning his back to the TV!

Now something I didn't have too much anxiety about was keeping up with the house and THAT has turned into the bigger issue!!  The first week I had planned well and had dinner ideas and supplies set and ready to roll, it was the first weekend when things went awry! 

Last Friday David called me at work to say he wasn't feeling good and was headed home.  By the time Briggs and I got home, David was in the bed with a fever.  I immediately Lysol'ed the entire house and busted out some Clorox wipes to tackle every surface.  I quarantined David and moved Briggs and I to the back bedroom.  By the time I put Briggs down, I wasn't feeling so great either.  To put it nicely, David and I were certain that we'd gotten food poisoning from the Mexican restaurant where we'd eaten his birthday dinner on Thursday night.  We struggled through the weekend mostly laying around and hydrating.  By Monday, I was back to 90% so I headed back to work.  When I dropped Briggs off, I started telling Ms Amanda about our weekend.  Turns out, we weren't the only ones who thought we'd been poisoned ... a stomach bug had obviously attacked!!  THANKFULLY, the only symptoms I ever saw in Briggs were some extra dirty diapers.  He stayed his normal, happy self through it all and was even nice enough to let mommy sleep!!

Briggs in the Johnny Jump Up

Now this weekend I luckily have an extra day off for MLK.  I'm going to need it!!  I'm headed out today to restock our groceries and meal plan for the week and then to tackle cleaning this house!!

Now some videos that make me smile!

 

David and Briggs are WAY to cute when they spend time "talking" with each other!

I love Briggs' face at the start of this video, then he gets a little shy!  He LOVES putting weight on his legs, so it was no surprise how much he liked his bouncy even if we had to do all the work!!