We have made it through. We “defeated” COVID, or maybe it “defeated” us, but we are out the other side with all of us testing negative and feeling like a million dollars, or at least feeling pretty invincible these days. I’m back to being able to drop or pick up Reese, go into stores or restaurants, or you know, just feel like a wanted human being in this crazy world we are living. In addition to pushing past the illnesses in the household, we have accomplished a few other things this week:
- Found Reese a replacement preschool as hers is closing in the summer. We actually were able to choose where she was going to go with multiple options which was a blessing but also rather easy to narrow it down to our preferred school. Even after luckily getting a lottery spot and the very unique and interesting outdoor preschool run through UW, we toured that option and decided against it. Just didn’t feel it was the right spot for Reese nor did it really feel warm and inviting to us. Plus her new school will have one friend she knows attending and starting with her!
- We chatted with our potential nanny share family and are already off to a much less stressful start this go around; already knowing and having used and loved the nanny we plan to use and knowing (albeit barely) and feeling comfortable with the other share family. I can’t tell you how good this feels this go around and I’m hoping for a similar experience to ours with Sarah and Lottie, but that would be tough to beat. I mean COVID has certainly brought us even closer and we don’t want to go through that again.
- We were able to finalize our vacation schedule to visit both of our families and nothing should stand in the way of those visits now. Plus I can actually start to visualize and dream of our Maui vacation and I AM SO EXCITED!
- Brooke has successfully drank from the bottle with Bryan. After Daddy Daycare Day #1 was not so successful and thus not so stress-free for poor Bryan, Brooke started drinking from the bottle on Day #2, finding her right position and that feels like a major success. I know it provides Bryan a sense of relief in the ability to feed Brooke and now be able to go out and do things with her while he takes his paternity leave but it also provides me an equal sense of relief knowing that my ticking clock is not always on when I leave the house. Plus, now it might actually be possible to get a sitter for a night when we are ready for it…I think Reese will have the most difficulty with that concept at the moment.
- We have even gotten out of the house and dined at a restaurant (mystery shopping too!) for the first time in eons and that felt as relaxing as it could when dining with two children, which was surprisingly pretty relaxing. Helps that the location is also a brewpub so the brews definitely helped with winding us down.
- We got Brooke into the doctor’s office for her well baby checkup (a month late) and her vaccines and it’s good to know that the delay in our visit won’t hinder our vaccination schedule moving forward. I felt like I was back at Reese’s 2 month well baby check up; we have a very alert baby with excellent strength, good eye contact, nice muscle tone, happy demeaner and she falls in the 7th percentile for weight, 32nd percentile for height, and 5th percentile for BMI. I think Bryan and I are starting to get the picture that Brooke and Reese are more similar than different so we will just see if it continues that way. But the doctor says that Brooke looks healthy and happy so my only complaint right now is disrupted sleep patterns ever since she had COVID.
So as you can see things are looking up. I feel bad that I’ve portrayed the last few months as doom and gloom. There have been so many good times and a lot of extra time I’ve gotten with both of my girls, but there were a lot of hurdles and stressful days and moments in there, and I really felt like I had to live by the hour and really live in the present moment to survive. It feels good now that we have some breathing room, some social life, and some normalcy back in place. So good! I’m back at work and that has it’s pros and cons but overall it’s been good and we have our first trip coming up on Saturday and we are ready for AZ and to see Grandma and Papa Miller.
Chelsea
Evolving in the Emerald City 