Carla Schoepfle

Every child has that special toy that they remember when they grow up as one of their very best toys.  I had a toy doll (named zipper baby) that had a button and snap for her overalls, laces on the shoes, and (the best part of all) a zipper pocket where I could keep my gum and candy.  When looking for a fastener toy for Ian (yea – I know it’ll still be a while before he even thinks of working on these things) I was really disappointed with the selections at the stores.  They had “quiet books” – but some of the parts were detachable and could be lost.  They had dolls similar to what I had (minus the zipper pocket) – which were missing the critical pocket (and I wasn’t sure Ian wanted a doll like I had). 

So I set to work designing a toy car that had all of the fasteners on it.  I used up lots of tracing paper.  I also purchased about double the supplies I really needed (but no – I’m not making another one).  But it’s finally finished in time for Christmas.   It’s a toy car that has snap wheels, button wheels (all wheels on short string “axis”), a clip hood, a lace-up trunk, a Velcro door, and (the best part of all) a zipper door (which is a pocket).  Hopefully, Ian will get to enjoy the toy – even if he only enjoys it as a soft car toy. 

Well this was the first week back from maternity leave (although NG doesn’t call it maternity leave - it’s some sort of family medical leave disability thing - which is administratively treated the same way as if I’d had some horrible disease).  Work was pretty light for me this week since my project had a release scheduled for Friday and was trying to minimize code changes.  So next week should become a bit busier.  Not totally sure what I’ll be doing - but I do know I am expecting to be busier.

Day care has worked out pretty well this week.  Poor Pete has the “bad guy” job of dropping the little man off to day care, and I get the “good guy” job of picking him up.  Tuesday was the toughest since I visited the little man at lunch.  It was really hard to leave him and go back to work at the end of my lunch break.  I’m thinking I’ll generally choose to pick him up a bit earlier instead of visiting at lunch, but we’ll see (I’m allowed to change my mind on this).

Figuring out how to pack to get back to work was a bit of a challenge though.  Luckily one of Pete’s co-workers came up with the good idea of an emergency diaper (a zip lock bag with a “box of rags” rag, a diaper, and three diaper wipes) for the unlikely event he needs a new diaper in the short commute from daycare pickup to home (1 stop on the train and a half mile walk).  That allowed me to avoid taking the big diaper bag to work every day.  So I could minimize my packing with the breast pump and the infant carrier, plus two emergency diapers.  At least I can fit this amount of stuff into a backpack instead of requiring a full on suitcase.

The little man has taken the commute home very well.  When I pick him up, I put him in my infant carrier, put my backpack on, and take the metro home (one stop).  He’s generally fallen asleep in the carrier before I get on the train.  Still trying to work out where I might be able to park a bike with an infant trailer so we could ride the bike on nicer days!

Whew - the last couple of weeks have been really crazy.  Just before Ian was born - the contract I was working on was lost.  So I started work on a new contract 2 weeks before Ian was born. But before that I was running around like crazy with doctor appointments, training my replacement, and interviewing (feel slightly bad about the start work with a new group and then immediately go on maternity leave - but it was pretty obvious I was pregnant at the interviews).

So after a long labor - Ian was finally born on September 17 at 5:30 am.  It’s kinda cool that he shares the day of his birthday with Pete (March 17), and the month (September 25) with me.  So even his birthday kinda feels like it matches both of ours. 

The folks at Arlington Hospital Center were really great.  And it was really nice that Pete got to stay at the hospital with me.  So we could both learn about feeding, diapering, umbilical cords, etc at the same time.  Having Pete around made the whole experience much less overwhelming.  I generally forgot something when trying a new activity, or placed something out of reach, and Pete was always right there to help me out. 

Needless to say that upon leaving the hospital - I was not ready to drive.  So, Ian’s first car ride had Dad at the wheel.  Because of the size of the Infant seat - the front passenger, and central rear seat are pretty much useless.  Luckily, I fit behind Pete when he’s in the drivers seat (I’m really glad I’m not super tall) and the baby seat could be situated behind the front passenger seat. 

We were a bit nervous about how the cats would react to the new family member - but life seems to be settling in very well.  Spunkie is still a bit scared of everything/everyone that moves.  So he’s pretty much steered clear of Ian so far.  Otto doesn’t particularly care how many people are around - as long as he still gets fed on time.  So luckily, there have not been any major cat reactions to date. 

So today was our first trip to the pediatrician.  This required us to pack and take the diaper bag … just in case.  We did not expect to use any of the supplies since Ian had just eaten and been changed before heading out to the doctors office.  Luckily we packed as much as we did!!!  We used all emergency supplies.  Upon getting to the doctor’s office - Ian decided he needed to be changed.  So we took care of that (and were glad we packed diapers, diaper wipes, a changing pad, and a large trash bag).  Then Ian decided he was still hungry.  So we ended up using one of the emergency formula bottles we’d packed.  He ate every last drop!.  Then with the addition of new food - Ian needed another change.  So we ended up using the remainder of the diaper wipes we’d packed and were down to one last diaper!.  Luckily, he didn’t need any more food or diapers till after we got home.  The diaper bag is now stocked with many more diapers, and diaper wipes!