Day Two

Yesterday wasn’t easy.  As expected, Ruthie flipped her lid whenever I dared give her the bottle.  Some sessions were better than others, but on the whole it was a long, drawn out battle to get her to take a little over two ounces of milk throughout the day.  Loren did relatively well, only piling on to the scream-fest in the afternoon after having lost his patience with being totally ignored all morning.  Otherwise he was alternatively lost in concentration playing quietly with his toys or actively trying to calm Ruthie down (“iss ok Roosie, iss ok”).

By the time Natalie came through the door I had Ruthie napping in her crib, the lights low, “Follow That Bird” on TV, and was sitting on the couch with Loren and a beer – at which point I promptly fell asleep.

I’ve resurrected a new edition of the “Loren Log,” this time titled the Ruthie Recap, to help me keep track of the daily routine and to once again share the happenings with Natalie as they unfold.

While yesterday’s recap was persistently exhausted in tone, today’s is more erratic.  It started wonderfully, with Ruthie up at seven, Natalie nursing her before heading off to work, then Ruthie going down for her morning nap from 8:00am to 10:15.  Loren woke up around 8:30, and we got to have a nice quiet morning, just the two of us, like old times.  By eleven we were all upstairs playing with Aunt Q and Harrison, and then I decided I’d get us a little outside time before lunch just for good measure.

We made it twenty (grown-up) steps from the playground when Loren took a fall off a knee-high retaining wall and bounced his head off the concrete.  I had Ruthie in the bjorn, and was attempting to get her the bottle again (feeding her while walking around was the most successful method yesterday, so I thought I’d give it another try), and had taken my eye off him for just a second when his balance decided to take a break.  He’s ok, just a little shaken up and red on his cheek and temple.

So much for our trip outside.  And so much for a smooth sailing kind of morning.

[Natalie calls]

Nat: So, how’s it going?

Jimmy: [lonnnnng sigh]…

Nat: I’m looking forward to when you don’t answer that question with a long sigh.

Me too.