Mommy is upstairs sleeping and Daddy is downstairs watching Baby.

Since I went back to work I’ve been sleeping in the second bedroom so I can get enough sleep to function at work. At first glance people think it’s not fair that I make Stacie take care of the baby all night, but we’ve talked about it and decided it was really the only sensible option. While most of her nights are fairly tiresome, because I’m getting a healthy amount of sleep I can actually do my job, and when I get home I’m not a sleep deprived lunatic. That means I can run to the market, clean up the house a little, and make dinner. Then tonight at 8 o’clock she went to bed early, and I’m staying up for another 3 hours to watch the baby before I head off to bed.

I have to say again how nice it was to have so much help over the first few weeks. Whether it was gifts of clothing and diapers or homemade meals, it really made it a lot easier to bring Luke home and get used to this new arrangement.

I’m posting from the laptop, so you’ll have to wait until the next post to get some new pictures. Hopefully this weekend I can get to some video I’ve taken and you can see this little guy in action!

As I start this post it’s just about 5 pm, but already to this point I’ve been able to visit the chiropractor in Long Beach (1 hour total), come home and chat with the wife and baby, go through the mail, change my clothes, spend a few minutes online, and it’s only 5 pm! Most people don’t even start to get home until 5 pm or later. Granted I might go in maybe an hour before some of those people, but I chalk this up to another great perk of being a teacher.

One of my students got me thinking today when she said “teachers don’t get paid enough!” When I asked her why she said because her mom is a teacher. I don’t know what her mom is smoking, but I wouldn’t do this job if I didn’t think I was adequately compensated. I made a choice my senior year in college that I didn’t want a career where I’d have to work until 8 pm every night in the cutthroat ad business. For a while I thought that it might be leading worship, but that wasn’t it. When I started substitute teaching though it all became very clear! Here’s a job where I can be my own boss, work literally half the year, have the same schedule as my wife, get 2.5 months off every year to spend with my kids, and get some guaranteed raises and stellar retirement to boot.

And with all that, I can say fairly confidently that I don’t LOVE teaching. I enjoy it, and I come home from work in a good mood and I don’t mind going in the morning, but I would much rather be AT HOME. I’d much rather be playing with the baby, hanging out with my wife, making feeble attempts at writing a novel, watching baseball, or editing home movies. Yes my career is rewarding, but it’s not what I live for. Instead it gives me the freedom to have the time to do all the other things I’d rather be doing.

So to the two or three people that read my blog and have not settled on a career, here’s some food for thought. As you decide what to do with your life, think about the things that make you happy, and then consider how that is impacted by potential career choices. If you can find a career that you love and you wake up excited for work everyday, then that’s totally awesome. But think about who you are as a person (type A/B, people pleaser, independent, etc) and find a career that meshes with your personality. If I was working at some big ad agency right now I have no doubt I’d still be happy, but I couldn’t be happier that I decided to change careers early on when it was still easy to do. So find something you love to do, and if you can’t do that, find a career that gives you the freedom to do the things you love.

This is Baby Uk.

I survived my first week back at work, and Stacie survived staying home with Luke. The first few days were hard, but the last few have been really good. He’s starting to sleep for bigger chunks of time at night, and he’s falling asleep faster. That means less fussing and more peacefulness!

We gave him his first bath the other day. At first he HATED it. The screams coming out of that little mouth were enough to wake the dead, and it’s all on tape. The worst part is that I’m laughing hysterically the whole time. Here’s a much quieter version of what he was doing.

In case I haven’t said it yet, this is one cute boy.

I’d also like to throw in my first Dodger related shout out. We’re off to a 3-1 start, and while the offense has been a little quiet (save for the 7-1 win tonight), the pitching has been pretty darn good. Kuroda looks like he’ll be a huge upgrade to the staff. Dewitt is looking sharp, but Kemp is looking terrible. He keeps swinging at terrible pitches like his first call up, not his last.

I’m back to work. Yay. Stacie is staying home and being a great mother to our fussy little boy. I get the feeling that’s just how things are with infants. They eat, sleep, pee, and poop, and trying to get one on a schedule at 2.5 weeks old is near impossible. The last three nights we’ve given him formula before bed to try and achieve some longer sleep times, but the last two days I think it’s just given him terrible gas, which only leads to mucho crying. Regardless, I’m sleeping in the second bedroom for now so I can actually function at work, not to mention come home and be able to help out. I feel bad leaving Stacie to get less than great sleep, but there isn’t much sense in both of us being so tired we can’t even spell the other one for a few hours.

And without further ado, pictures! This is a very proud grandmother.

Something I really love about the new flash is that the dog no longer looks like the devil! Straight on flashes always turned her eyes into weird demonic pupils, but the bounch flash leaves them looking super natural. This is the proud big sis.