Hi ho, hi ho, it's back to work I go...

Sadly, my month off is up.  It's been great and I don't want it to end.  I have spent a whole lot of time with Quinn and that has been fantastic.  Sure, there were lots of times when I thought my head would explode with one more 'why', but he is a great little boy (not so little any more!) and I've had the opportunity to bond with him this last month more than any other time during his four-and-a-half years.  We've gone to three museums (five if you count the three museums at Civilization separately), gone to the park a lot, gone for a bike-ride/water taxi adventure, and we even had fun grocery shopping today.  We've played soccer, water play, lego, moon buggy, helicopter rescue, pillow fight, jetpack.  He has become quite attached to his green OLPC computer, and operates it quite proficiently ("I'm recalibrating the mouse" he says triumphantly as he resets the finger pad driver with a keystroke combination...substitute mouse ordered...).  We watched Daily Planet, helicopter rescue videos and some Olympics.  He calls me "Dave". I fall asleep with him every night and wake up / get up with him every morning.

Marilla is doing well.  One month old.  Wow the time flies.  Sleep is still sketchy - last night was bad for Bec.  She started smiling about a week ago, at least for daddy and Quinn.  Much to mommy's chagrin she doesn't get as much smiling, which has been hard for her given how much she does for her.  It's the novelty factor I'm sure - I remember going through that with Quinn too.  With respect to breastfeeding, Marilla is in the transition period from a one-boober to a two-boober.  Her stomach hasn't quite grown to two-boob stature yet and as a result the entire contents quite often erupt.  Poor little girl - she looks up so plaintively amid all the scurrying around it causes.  She continues to be largely readable and consolable.  She has had a couple of sustained crying episodes (that I know of) but even those weren't off the scale like I remember some of Quinn's.  The best part for me is that she seems to now recognize "The Marilla Song" that I sing her every day, and she smiles when she hears it.  It lights up my heart.

And now I head back to work.  It's going to be hard.  Hardest on Bec, especially with respect to sleep.  She has been making up an hour or two of sleep in the morning, which won't be possible with Quinn up.  Quinn has been fantastic with Rilla, but I'm worried that she will become more competition now.  My days will become hectic again, once again squeezed for time on all fronts and feeling inadequate in all roles in my life.  But as I keep stressing to Quinn, we are family and we stick together and help one another.  We'll get through it.

Late breaking news: it's 4:30am and Rilla (and mommy) slept 10 til 4!  Maybe this is a good omen...amen to that!