Transitions

We just returned from a ten day vacation to Lake Tahoe, California. Being reunited with the Buckleys made the trip extraordinary. Back in the beginning of July, Mike and Jen came into NYC to see Pearl Jam. Jen predicted that Jacob would start moving in Tahoe. She was right. Perhaps it was the wide open living room, but it probably was the fact that Jacob was mesmerized by the other kids there: Morgan, Harrison Liepis, and baby Kendall. He started to want to stand much more than usual and a few times he pulled himself up on chairs. But then he began this sort of crab crawling and that’s what made him mobile. In the beginning of the month he started rolling from back to belly and pushing himself up into his favored seated position. I asked Bart to move the crib mattress down immediately for fear of him pulling himself up and out. Doing that physical movement made Jacob more mobile than he had been, but now he’s really on the move. It’s mostly exciting now because we just returned home. But I guess I have no idea what I’m in for now that playtime will change. The other new behavior is that Jacob tends to cry when I leave the room. That’s a bit troubling but I think it’s a normal stage. He crawled to find me when we came home tonight. I put him in his room and went to the bathroom. I called his name and next thing I knew he was at the bathroom door. And that’s how things have suddenly changed around here.
On Jacob’s eight month old birthday I began the weaning process. I decided to add another meal in his schedule and cut the four nursings down to two. Now Jacob only nurses in the morning and at night. This is just another transition as Jacob moves away from breastfeeding towards bottles and at one year he’ll switch to cow’s milk.
The biggest transition comes at the end of August when I return to work. What I deemed as the most daunting task was finished by July 1st. That was my goal: hire a nanny by my birthday so I can vacation and enjoy the last days of summer without fretting over the difficult task of hiring a nanny. I also hired her to start two weeks early. So I can get ready. Ready for work…ready to leave Jacob for the day. I find it hard to imagine a long period of time for a full week without Jacob. Sure I can leave him for four hours, but for nine hours or so, five days a week? I’ve already shed tears thinking about that. I’ll just miss him too much. But I am excited to return to work. I’ve already started some planning for the school year and I can’t wait to interact with 150 people a day. Getting to know my new students will be wonderful. I know it. The transition will mean a major change for me and I just keep mentally preparing myself for it. I’ll be okay I know. Jacob will be fine without me too. I’ll just miss him like crazy in the beginning and then, of course, I’ll adjust to the change and it will be just fine.

Music: "Comin' Down" Robert Bradley's Blackwater Surprise- Blackwater Surprise