With my vacation balance almost maxed out, and months of non-stop pressure creating a painful need to relax, a week off doing daddy-daycare would be a welcome change.   Or so I thought.   An opportunity to spend time with my new daughter, around the house, and not drive.

Some questions:

• if you like your job, are you funemployed?
• if you are funemployed, can you take a staycation?
• can you take a staycation if you work from home?

I worked really hard to not check email too much. I could not help myself, but by Wednesday had pretty much forgotten about work.   The fact is I spend a ton of time on the internet anyway.   My days don’t feel much   different from work, except I don’t much have anything specific to accomplish, read a lot of football news, downloaded lots of music, post a bunch, and sit for hours on end with Pod in my lap.   This does lead to avoiding most chores or much of anything else if you let it.   Beckie commented during her maternity leave that she could see herself becoming an alcoholic if she was a stay-at-home mom.   Yeah I totally get that – you just keep sitting with the baby not doing much of anything but sitting with the baby and drinking half a case of light beer and sitting with the baby and then the day is done and you’ve done almost nothing.     I got to know Alana a lot better sititng with her at the keyboard.   I’d go crazy doing this everyday, but for a week its not so bad when you can go baby-pace.   I like her very much, when i have nowhere better to be.

this view went on and on and on

and finally she is becoming interesting, responding to stimuli and the like.   She cries sometimes when you put her down, cries sometimes when she gets scared being alone.   It is not much, but finally something to believe that there are wheels turning in that giant flopping brick on top of her shoulders. She hears better than she sees. Not like G, who knows and sees all. It takes Alana a long time to see me, but she hears me and reacts quickly.   “Quickly” is, however, a relative term.   The process of reacting begins, which means she works herself slowly up to a peak, builds to a full-on cry, over about 5-10 minutes.   It gives me time to get away, to plan, to respond, to get some coffee cause I’m about to be stuck feeding her for 20 minutes, to save my work cause I’m about to go dive into a swelling pants-crisis. Sometimes she is crying and i stick a bottle in her mouth, and it takes a few seconds til she realizes its there then suddenly stops crying.

She is finally aware enough for Baby Einstein to do its magic

the wheezing noise is Alana – she is the snortingest baby I’ve ever known.   We were kinda worried by the doctor said its nothing.   Some days she breathes more quietly than others.

there’s a lot of crap in there

but I’m still calling her Trucker Jr.. She is. We are. Why not?
Bill Hicks – The Sanctity of Life

I am challenging myself to have new adventures with her. Today we walked G in the stroller and Alana in the bjorn and Kila leashed 1.7 miles to G’s school. We were all kinda glad when I dropped G off in time for lunch; it is a heavy, complicated load.   And walking is very very slow.   We made it in 40 minutes, then up the road a mile to Indigo Joe’s. All the remaining riders got their drink on.

and then pod slept.   on and off.   in that way she has of just continuously eating, keeping me bound to the computer and typing 1-handed. *thunk*.   A growth spurt is coming – 4 bottles a day for 2 days.