Since I’ve successfully made the transition back to work and Walker seems to keep growing (funny how he does that), Larry and I decided it was time for Walker to make the transition to his room and begin sleeping in his crib. Knowing the poor kid has been going through a lot of change which has been impacting his sleep, I had resigned myself to staying near him throughout the night. That means moving into his room which does not have a bed for mommy. I’m bivouacked on the floor with a twin mattress and clock from our guest room and a sleeping bag. The room isn’t that big so during the day the mattress is up against his shelves and when I’m ready to hit the hay, I put the mattress on the floor, bring the sleeping bag in from the living room (we use it as a soft surface for Walker to play on) and settle down for a few hours before Walker gets up to eat. It’s actually quite comfy. When Walker wakes up before 6am and wants to play, I’ll bring him into bed with me and we snuggle up. One recent morning, I awoke to Walker snoring next to me and the two cats at the foot of the TWIN bed. He’ll stay there until I come back to get him after I get ready for work. What a good boy!

Walker has ceased the endless raspberries. I’m rather sad about it because it was so darn cute. More than once he would be on a blanket with spit all around his head and all over his face due to the quantity and quality of the raspberries. Last week at Day Care, Lisa said he “pooped with noise” and then looked at her and said “pfffbt.” Then, just to prove it wasn’t a fluke, he did it again. Ah, those were the days. Now, we’ll hear the rare raspberry but it’s no longer the bulk of his dialog.

An update on the sleeping patterns… Our little Radish is able to string a few 3 hour blocks together and then wakes up every 1.5 to 2 hours. I only have to get up 3 times before I’m up for the day. This is progress in the right direction but still not back up to the glory days of 5-7 hour stretches.

Work is going really well. It’s very busy and I’m starting to get deep into projects so I’m finding it stimulating. (My boss has made sure to tell me how thrilled he is that I’ve returned!) There are still challenges with wanting to get everything done, having to take care of “making Walker’s lunch”, and needing to get home to spend some time with Walker before bed. I haven’t yet gotten home after Walker falls asleep although last week I did return only a few short minutes before going to bed. I try not to think too much about the amount of time I spend with my son each weekday because we do have incredible time together. He’s all smiles and laughter even when it’s just to get dressed in the morning or to take a bath at night. But I do have to say, Friday afternoon I was SO EXCITED when I realized I was going to be spending all weekend with the Little Man. We’re not doing anything special. Just errands. But he makes them much more fun than they used to be.

My posts are getting less frequent but I plan on sticking to them. Gigi has moved back down to Florida and she just set up her computer. My sister, Hilary, reads the blog all the way in Milan. And I know there are many others who check in across the country. It’s good to know folks are staying current with Walker through his mother’s musings. I’ll attempt to keep them entertaining.

I’ve had a few small epiphanies about how I’m officially turning into a MOM. Let me share:

• I’m a Baby Wrangler. This means that I travel with twice as many bags as I used to. And people called me “bag lady” before. I take 5 bags with me in the morning when I leave the house. Oh, and the baby in the car seat!
• I’m thrilled when I go to the mailbox and get one of my “mommy mags.”
• I started washing my face with special soap and using moisturizer.
• More than once I’ve put a pacifier in my mouth to get the lint off it.
• I made two dinners (in the same week even) from recipes I got from PARENTS magazine.
• I’m more proud of getting Walker to bed than most of the other stuff I might do at work or home. And speaking of which, I hear some fussing… Gotta run.