A historic day

Pictures from our trip to Illinois to come.

Today is Sarah's first day back at work since late October, before Claire's birth. It's also Claire's first day under my care, God rest her soul. I'm going to attempt to keep an account of the day for all y'all's reading pleasure.

5 a.m. Claire wakes, still on Illinois time and much to our disappointment. Loopy from only 8 hours of sleep in two days, I change her diaper. While Claire nurses, Sarah orders me back to bed.

6 a.m. I get up and rock Claire to sleep. Victory #1 for the day. Sarah showers and dresses while I make us cappucinos, read the paper and eat breakfast.

7 a.m. Claire awakes. Sarah watches her while I shower. Later, I hold her while Sarah makes herself lunch. "Are you excited?" Sarah asks me. I could not answer. I hadn't thought that far ahead.

7:30 a.m. I discover Claire has spit up on my shirtsleeve.



8:15 a.m. Sarah leaves. Claire flashes her smiles as her mom walks down the sidewalk.

8:16 a.m. The car doesn't start. I scramble to locate jumper cables.

8:30 a.m. Car jumped, Sarah drives away, this time for good.

8:38 a.m. Shortly after closing the front door, I discover that Claire has blown out her diaper. I change her clothes. Late in the process, she emits a red-faced scream and begins crying. I don't know why. It takes me nearly 15 minutes to change and dress her.

9:10 a.m. Claire falls asleep on my shoulder.

9:15 a.m. I get her down in her crib on the third try after she wakes up twice.

10 a.m. Claire wakes. I try to give her a bottle, but she doesn't want it.

11 a.m. We go for a stroll. Claire wows the receptionist at Bank of America, then falls asleep on the way to Rite Aid.

Noon. Claire wakes. She does time in her exercise gym while I eat lunch. She drinks a total of 3 ounces of milk over the next hour. Not much by her standards.

2 p.m. We get to mom's office. Claire entertains co-workers, then nurses.

3 p.m. We visit cousin Matt and Ella. Matt and I compare NCAA brackets while Claire watches Ella play with her toys.

3:10 p.m. Major goof of the day: Removing Claire from the car seat, I bump her head on the handle. She wails. Matt and Ella watch, silently appalled.

4 p.m. Claire falls asleep again on the ride home.

5 p.m. The most trying time of the day. Claire still won't take much more than an ounce of milk at a time. She seems to think the bottle as much a toy to gnaw on as a vessel of mom's milk. She also seems distracted. She begins to fuss. I start brown rice cooking for dinner. We change another dirty diaper. She cries more. This time, while giving her the bottle, I walk around. The ploy works .... for about five minutes.

5:30 p.m. An editor from the paper calls. He summons me to work tomorrow. Claire's cries cut short our conversation. That's my girl!

5:45 p.m. Sarah walks in. The evening is saved.