Troy and Melanie (dot com)

Troy’s been having all the blogging fun…  ;-)  I need to try to pop in here more often.  Anyway, this week was the beginning of a new chapter — going back to work was no doubt good and healthy for me, but it was tough.  Tears were shed.  I’m told it gets easier each day, so we’ll see how next week feels.  Anyway, some highlights from the week were 1) Cole and I doing a “duet” to Lean on Me during Glee, 2) Cole visiting me at the office, 3) the nice brunch my team greeted me with my first day back in the office, and 4) watching “Up” with my boys…very enjoyable.

This morning was a good one.  Cole is a pretty happy little man in the morning.  Even as I’m doing that one-eyed, sleepy thing where I have to tell myself I have to get up despite the choppy sleep overnight, I can’t help but be happy to do so as I listen to him coo and squeal happily and watch him give me his variety of smiles.  They are the best sights in the world!  :-D  So, we had some happy back time in bed this morning and we also had some happy time reading (except for the part where I cried a little…”Love You Forever” gets me every time!  But “Barnyard Dance” is more upbeat, so we ended with that) and some happy time looking at all the fun stuff in the nursery.  I think Cole loves Eeyore as much as his mommy does.  Yay!

So, anyway, that’s all I’ve got right now…no pics but I know daddy will be putting some up later.  Life is good…gonna enjoy the rest of my day and weekend with my favorite guys!

The weather today, as predicted, wasn’t very nice so that meant that Cole didn’t get to have any outside time. This also apparently meant that he wasn’t going to be quite himself today. He was a very stubborn napper, nursed more frequently than normal, wouldn’t calm down when I was holding him, and pooped 5 times today (yeah, I should have titled this entry as “Day 5 poops”… somehow I ended up with each of them). Before the day went downhill for Cole we did manage to read, listen to music, and have some tummy time (he’s beginning to get the hang of lifting his head up and pushing up with his arms… still not very happy about it, though).

Even though today had it’s trials it still turned out to be a pretty good day. I managed to get to the doctor and got my H1N1 vaccine (aka swine flu vaccine), delivered a wedding album to a client, and did the shopping for our turkey day meal.

And in between all of that managed to capture a few happy photos

(yeah, I’ll admit it… the shirt is true)

I survived!!! Okay, I’m being a little melodramatic… today was a perfectly normal day… and a busy one. We got a later start to the day than we originally planned (yeah, it’s hard to get out of bed in the morning), but we managed to get in:

1. some reading time
2. tummy time (he enjoyed it for a few minutes, then got frustrated)
3. music appreciation (listening to iTunes while staring at the visualizer)
4. a nap (in the car seat)
5. a ride to the doctors (minor dermatitis on Cole’s back)
6. a trip to Subway (Daddy needed some lunch)
7. another nap (in the swing this time)
8. a few minutes of outdoor time in the Bumbo (today he stared down his right foot)
9. a ride to see Mommy at work
10. and a walk to get the mail (which he mostly slept through)

Overall a pretty good day. Tomorrow’s weather is going to be bleh and Mommy is working from home so we’ll likely be spending the day indoors. Should be fun, regardless.

Today’s photos:

It’s amazing how fast time flies. I swear it feels like just yesterday that Melanie told me she was pregnant… and here we are… Cole’s nearly 12 weeks old and Melanie made her official return to the workforce today *sniffle*. My first day as parent-on-duty went pretty well. Mel worked from home today (trying to catch up on email) so I entertained the little man between feedings. On today’s agenda was:

• Back time
• Tummy time
• Bumbo time (he was staring down his left foot… hilarious… see photos below)
• Story time (we read 3 books!)
• Nap time (he actually slept in his crib for 25 minutes)
• A mini photo session
• A walk

All in all it was a good day. He seems to have somewhat of a schedule already in place… eat, be happy, be cranky, mid-morning nap, wake, eat, be happy, be cranky, afternoon nap, wake, eat, be happy…

I’m looking forward to tomorrow… my first day completely by myself… wish me luck

Today’s photos:

Day 2 of Daddy Days is nearly in the books (well, technically we have another 5 hours to go and we haven’t had dinner yet so it could be a long 5 hours) and it was another good day. Today is officially Melanie’s last day of maternity leave (sob) so I had a productive day mixed with entertaining Cole and doing things (cleaning my desk and getting the car serviced). We did some tummy time (not his favorite activity), swing time (aka nap time), and we went for a walk. Maybe tonight we’ll try a small amount of reading time (I’ll probably have more success with that during the day since he gets particularly cranky in the evenings).

Tomorrow will be interesting… Mel is working from home, but she’ll be employee first, mommy second during the day so I’ll be primarily taking care of Cole.

It feels a bit odd calling this day 1 because Melanie is still on maternity leave (she goes back to work on Wednesday), but it is the first day of my paternity leave so it truly is day 1 for me. Not a whole lot happened today… got up, cleaned, ran to the bank, HEB, Hollywood (UP!), took a few photos, called a Blueye client… I’m planning on tackling my desk (since it’s a complete mess) and possibly cleaning the bathrooms. Basically today was a “do whatever you can to check things off of a list” day while Melanie is home (tomorrow will likely be the same).

Today’s photo(s)

When Cole is in a good mood he is so much fun to interact with

Today was another beautiful day in Austin and we decked Cole out in his “cool dude” outfit to relax in this afternoon. This weekend has been pretty exciting for him. Yesterday we took him to Waterloo Ice House for an early dinner and we sat out on the patio and enjoyed the awesome day (he loves being outside). Tonight we met up with a few friends at Rudy’s BBQ. Both times he did great… he sat in his carrier for the majority of the time and only got fussy after 30+ minutes, but the main thing is that we were able to finish eating both times. Yay!

And what’s a post without photos? Enjoy!

I love these times… I have to embrace these times to help get me through the not-so-pleasant times

Today is my last working day of 2009… seriously. Beginning Monday I am taking 7 weeks off to stay home with Cole and teach him about all of the manly things in the world… uh, I mean to bond with him . While this will be a vacation from my day job, I’m definitely not approaching this as a vacation overall. This is probably going to be the most important 7 weeks that I get to spend with my son and I’m going into it with eyes wide open and a list of things that I want to do with him:

• Photo-a-day posted to the blog
• Daily walks
• Visiting Mommy at work every day she’s not working from home
• Reading to him at least 4 times a week
• Working on tummy time
• Taking him out on miscellaneous shopping trips
• Try to establish a rhythm to his napping

I think this time is going to be magical and it’s going to go by in the blink of an eye so I need to soak in as much of him as I can. Look for the daily photos to begin on Monday.

Is this really the last day I’ll be working in 2009? Woo hoo!!!