I'm taking a minute to blog, because Kent is asleep and I'm actually NOT tired yet. Who would have thought this possible? We got a great nap this afternoon, and I slept extra well because the nap followed a bath and a nice massage from Jack, so I feel pretty rested and don't feel the need to crash into bed right after our nighttime routine for putting our son to bed. This is a drastic change from this past week, when we were stumbling through every day bleary-eyed and disoriented and couldn't wait to close our eyes in the evening.

Part of the reason I feel rested is that my mom has been here since Wednesday, helping us out with chores and bonding with her grandson to give us a few minutes hands-free from time to time. She's leaving tomorrow, though, so I'll get to find out what it's like to be at home with Kent all day, every day. We're planning to meet Jack for lunch once a week or so, and I'll resume tutoring in a few weeks, though I'm not sure whether Kent will be accompanying me or staying with his dad at work (it would be about an hour and a half at a time, so Jack thinks it won't be a problem if he keeps his door closed). And then there's the ol' dissertation, which I should be able to work on a little at a time, at least doing some reading and careful listening from time to time. One member of my doctoral committee, who doesn't have children, seems to think that staying at home with my baby will afford me the opportunity to work 6 hours a day on my dissertation. Like I said, she doesn't have children.

I have no illusions that I'll be able to get a ton of stuff done during the day or anything like that, since his night sleeping is sometimes interrupted by terrible bouts of gassiness or other fretting and I have to catch up sometime. He's also a bit needy, being a newborn and not being able to feed, bathe, dress, entertain, or change himself. Still, I'm excited to be staying home. We've had the most amazing time getting to know him these past 12 days, and we both feel like we've come so far already in terms of what we know and also what we're able to handle. Jack went back to work this past Wednesday, which was hard for both of us but necessary for our collective wallet, and I have to say that I like having him home much better than not having him home. Such is life, though. We're great as a threesome, but one of us can splinter off from time to time and we'll still do okay.

I had a realization about family the other day, that the main function of family is to foster a network of people who take care of each other. Jack has done an amazing job taking care of me during my pregnancy and after my labor (because I didn't bounce back right away like I halfway expected to). I've done what I can to take care of him, though I've definitely been more the taker recently. We've both been taking care of Kent in every way, of course, but he's also been taking care of us, making us feel needed and also bringing us closer together, especially in the moments where we look at each other and marvel that we were able to create such a perfect little boy. I feel so much closer to Jack even than I did before Kent was born, which I didn't know was possible. The cool thing about love is that it's not finite; there can always be more of it. Anyway, we're this tight little web of caretaking, and then we have family and friends on all sides of us, weaving in their strands to our web as well. It's pretty amazing.

Labels: family, husband things, Kent

• posted by erica 7/15/2007 11:17:00 PM
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