SAHD

Today and yesterday are a bit of role reversal for Evelin and me. Yesterday, I was home with Celeste for the morning and rushed to work a half-day that afternoon, and today I'm home all day with Celeste.

Yesterday, the reason was an ultrasound. Because Celeste was early and because Evelin'd been feeling a little cramping a few weeks ago, the midwifes wanted another ultrasound just to check things out and to get a baseline on what all was happening. Because we didn't think we could get to the doctor's and back without causing problems with Celeste's nap routine, Evelin went by herself while Celeste and I stayed at home.

(Because I know most people are more concerned about the ultrasound than Celeste's morning, here are the results: the baby is measuring 3 pounds, 3 ounces (1446 grams), which would put gestational age around 30 weeks. Given the due date in mid April that's about 1 week bigger/older/ahead of what was expected. Everything else looks fine.)

Okay, so Celeste and I had a fairly typical time: some reading, some playing, and a trip to the park. It was very windy and on the cool side (low 40°Fs), but she wanted nothing more than to spend over half an hour on the swings. Even when a wind gust pushed her sideways (and sent her unoccupied stroller tumbling across the playground), she didn't want out of the swing. She would occasionally sign COLD, but if I stopped the swing, she'd just protest.

Today, Evelin had to go in for the three-hour glucose-tolerance test; she failed the one-hour version of the test by four points or so. Since today is my short work day anyway, I took a personal day to hang with Celeste. Of course, she had a rough night last night, which meant we started off on an unsteady foot this morning, but hopefully her nap will help her get back into the groove.

Since it's Thursday, being home with Celeste in the morning means playgroup. She loves her playgroup: lots of toys and other kids, who she doesn't interact with much, but she does like to watch them run around. We were the first ones there this morning (which Evelin said is par for the course), which gave her lots of time to test out a bunch of toys and a few books without having to worry about other kids wanting in on the action. After an hour or so, there were six or seven other little ones there, and she was watching things and occasionally looking closely at what someone else was doing. But then she went over to the door and signed CAR/DRIVE. I asked her if she wanted to go home, and she signed BLANKIE (usually, when Evelin notices she's acting tired at playgroup, she asks if Celeste wants to go see Blankie and Bear, and if she's ready to go, she says "yeah" or signs PLEASE).

I asked her again if she wanted to go, just to make sure, and she nodded and then signed LOBSTER — she really likes watching the lobster tank at the grocery store. That'll be later this afternoon, I think. Right now, she's down for her nap, and I have some risotto ready for when she wakes ...

One interesting thing about the playgroup this morning: The daddies (3) outnumbered the mothers (1) and nannies (1). There is one stay-at-home dad (SAHD) who is a regular at the group, who was joined by me and another father (whose daughter just joined the group a week ago, so I don't know if he's a regular or not).

Technoarti tags: SAHD father childcare ultrasound