Week 8 - Anticipation and Anxiety

Week 8 Picture

Kimbre and I have been on a bit of an edge this last week. In roughly two weeks, our lives are going to get a good deal more complicated. To start, Kimbre will soon be returning to work, which means our current arrangement of alternating sleep schedules will no be feasible. Because my commitments in the lab, on my dissertation, and at work will not stop during this time, this transition can only mean a good deal of more work and less sleep for both Kimbre and me. On top this, we also started meeting with realtors the other day to start the process of selling our house in Oklahoma. This means that we are going to have to deal with all the stressors of selling a house and preparing to move in addition to an increase in workload and decrease in sleep. Fortunately, the realtor we met with yesterday mentioned that there is a housing shortage in our area and that houses in our price range seem to sell pretty well. The downside of this is that trying to time when we put the house on the market may be tricky, since selling too early would leave us without a home for as long as two months whereas selling too late would prevent us from being able to put a down payment on a new house in Oregon. The good news is that we have supportive family willing to help out during all of these transitions. I'm sure we'll adapt just fine - all you can do is take things one day at a time. It's just a lot to think about...

In other news, Jay turns 2 months old this coming Wednesday, which means that it is finally time for his two month check-up. There is really no reason that I should be worried about this. He's gained a lot of weight recently and seems to be on the cusp of another growth spurt. His personality is developing wonderfully and he has been hitting all of his developmental milestones. He woke up for his 2am feeding last night in a great mood - something extraordinarily rare for a 2am feeding. It was hard to give him the bottle because all he wanted to do was smile at me and coo. The 2 month checkup also  means he will finally be old enough to get his vaccinations, which will make me feel a lot better about times we choose to take him out in public. Still, I get nervous every time a doctor takes a look at him. I'm always worried they are going to tell me something is wrong. I love this boy so much, I'm not sure I could handle losing him.

Since I don't have much more to say and this has been kind of a downer post, I'll leave you with a list of nicknames Kimbre and I have developed for Jay over the course of his last 2 months on this earth. Making up new and crazy nicknames to fit his various personalities is one my favorite parts of being a new parent. We enjoy it so much that Kimbre and I have had to make a concerted effort in recent days to call him by his real name more often so he can eventually learn it. I'm sure I'll enjoy looking back on this list someday and smiling at some of the things we call him. Enjoy:

- Mister man

- Fusserbot

- Monkeybutt

- Chuberella

- Grump

- Sweet pea

- Baby boy

- Little man

- Sqeech

- "Sir"

- Stinkybutt

- Sweetheart

- Fussertron3000

- Baby in the mirror

- The milk drunk (See below)