Maternity(?) Leave

Chilling at the DMV

Around the time that Elska was born, Charlie and I had some long discussions about his taking time off from work. He could get up to six weeks of leave from work, but it would all be unpaid time off since he was part time and didn't have any vacation time. With the house in Green Bay still unsold, it just wasn't going to be possible for him to take anything more than the few days when she was born and in the hospital. Less than a week after she was born, he was back at work with the hope being that after the house in Green Bay finally sold, he would be able to take some time off before starting school as sort of a delayed leave to spend some quality family time, work on projects around the house, and maybe even go on a family vacation. Last Friday, it all finally came together, and Charlie had his last day at Best Buy.

Daddy snuggles are the best!

This last week has been some fantastic family time for us. (Errands are much easier to accomplish with two adults to tag team the "anti-meltdown" responsibilities too.) Elska loves the change of scenery for her snuggles (and the fact that there's even more of them), and Charlie is getting to spend more time learning her emerging personality. This is one fantastic upside to the delay in his time off....instead of just eating, pooping, and sleeping, she is now smiling, "talking" and even laughing at her own poop and fart jokes. Ok, so she gets a giant grin on her face every time she makes a stinky mess in her diaper. Next up: learning "pull my finger." I'm sure that all of her uncles and gruncles are very proud of her.

This week, Elska went on a "Daddy and me" adventure to Menard's - their first adventure of just the two of them taking on the world. They had fun checking out all the cool stuff that Daddy would love to have at our house. (I'm sure that it was a coincidence that she got her first nightmare that night.) I was left out of this adventure. Poor me. I had to read a book in a bubble bath and then take a nap in a quiet house. It's a tough life, but I might somehow learn to adjust to this sort of thing. I'm going to get spoiled.

Maybe if it ever stops raining long enough to dry things out, we can have some family outdoor adventures.....