I'm Back!

I am finally back in the land of the internet. I have spent the last 11 weeks on maternity leave and in the land of evil dial-up connection. Dial-up is so medival! It already took forever to use dial-up, but now with all the fancy "flash" websites, it's damn near impossible to get anything done! Alas, salvation is nigh! I am at work and on a cable connection. Whoohoo!

So, what has happened in the last 3 months you say? Well, first of all, I had a baby. She's a good little baby and we're pretty happy with her. She likes to eat and sleep (as I am told is the norm for babies). She also likes to go for walks in her stroller and in her baby pack ("infant carrier" is the official term).

Baby and me have been doing chores together for a few weeks now. The baby is much more happy with the whole "chores" idea now that she can see better. Before, she would cry because she didn't like being ignored while I milked the goats and she couldn't see well enough to be entertained one bit. But now, I can point her stroller towards the chickens and she is happily occupied by staring at their pretty colors and irratic movements. She also likes it when the goats peer over the top of the gate at her. She's a very alert baby and really likes looking around at everything that is going on.

I started work this week. It's back to the mouse production facility for me. In a way it is like I have been gone forever, and in a way it is like I never left. The baby is going to daycare. She seems to like it so far, except she won't take a nap there. She stays awake from the moment I drop her off until the moment I pick her up. I think there is so much to see and get used to that she just can't let herself go to sleep for fear she might miss something. Luckily she can be totally exhausted and not be very grumpy.

I like having a baby (I hesitate to say that I am a "parent" or "mom" because I still haven't gotten used to those titles). I was worried when I was pregnant that I was too selfish with my "me" time and that I would have a hard time with the baby because I wouldn't have any more "me" time. It's funny, I don't have that problem at all. That isn't to say that I have any "me" time, because I surely don't, but the thing is that I don't care. I now see everything I do as something that the baby might want to do with me. I have a hard time doing something by myself because I think that she would like to be with me and would enjoy all my activities. It's a funny thing.

Well, back to the grind. I should be reporting more often, so stay tuned!