I (Heart) Saturdays

On Saturdays, we get to 'sleep in' till 7-ish, which also means Django and I get to wake up together. (The work days in the week, I'm up at 5:00a at the latest; he has to be up by 6:45a or so.) We lounge around -- stretching and singing, rolling and giggling -- till I need to have a cup of coffee and get in the shower, in order to get ready for sign language class at 9:30a. At sign class, we love seeing all the babies and parents, but especially Max & Tedra -- because they're the ones we're job-sharing with next school year. We usually run errands after class. Today that meant buying a bunch of 'new' clothes and a fun musical octopus at Thrift Town, and avoiding the line at the bank. (Okay, we were supposed to go in, but it was daunting.) On Saturdays, we have time to nap together, play together, vacuum together & cook together. I also get to give him his midday snack in the new food net he loves so much. Today it was green grapes + mango. He's been talking up a storm lately. It was only today -- a Saturday, of course -- that I realized that what he's been doing is working on making 'raspberries' with his tongue. Cute, cute, cute.

Our Pit Crew

In her book Operating Instructions, Anne Lamott talks a lot about her pit crew. Just to be sure readers understand what it means to be 'pit crew' for a fellow human being, she tenderly illustrates the idea by analogy to the Special Olympics event she attends every year. She explains that each competitor is assigned a helper, someone who picks them up, points them back in the right direction, and makes sure they cross the finish line -- no matter how many times they might wander off, sit down in the dirt, start to take their clothes off, or fall into tears during the course of the race. Over the last few weeks, I've been especially grateful for my helpers. As much as working full-time has been wearing me down, my pit crew has been propping me up. Special thanks this month to Cori & Milo, who meet us at Wine & Whiners Wednesdays and don't mind if 'we' chew on their calves every now and again. Also to Elizabeth for getting us out there on our first Bay to Breakers run, hopefully to become an annual family tradition. To MDN for always sharing his new toys. To Greenberg for taking me out for my first night without the baby, and to Brad & Joey for babysitting to make that possible. And last, but absolutely not least, to Aunt Jenny for coming to visit and doubling the love for 24 hours. I can't wait for summer vacation. Ten more work days.

Now

While I spent much of the workweek either in the copy room with a bunch of worksheets or in the supply closet with my breast pump, Django spent his days with two loving and wonderful niÑeras – Graciela & Marixa – and his new little lady friend, Sylvie. Guess who had the better time.

Reports have it that Django & Sylvie got carried and strolled around the sunny streets of San Francisco, held hands, shared naps and swapped drool via their toys. The only thing they didn’t do too very much is sleep. You would think this would have the benefit of making a baby MORE tired at night, but in fact it has the opposite effect. So not only did I miss all the fun while I was at work, I also got an extra dose of evening frustration. Not fair. Not fair at all.

I was thinking to make up for lost time this weekend. But that’s the thing about lost time, you never get it back. The more you try, the more you keep losing the time you’re in. It’s a vicious cycle. The only way to break it is to resolve to live firmly in the now – which is about as easy walking backwards all day. There’s something about it that’s sort of scary and uncomfortable unless you really get the hang of it. I’ve always been someone who’s had a hard time getting the hang of it. But today I really tried. Harder than ever. Because the ‘now’ is slipping by so fast.

Django and I greeted the day slowly, lazily, with lots of snorts and giggles. We rode the bus to our Baby Sign Language Playgroup at Kaiser. Wiggled some fingers, made some faces, sang some songs. Then we shared coffee and a sweet treat with Tedra & Max (7 mos.) – who we’re excited about spending LOTS of time with starting in the fall, when Tedra and I will be sharing a classroom as well as taking care of each other's babies. After that we ran a bunch of errands in Noe Valley, with a good, long, break at the park in between.

Pretty soon Django will be a ‘big’ kid, off running and sliding and bouncing on his own. But for today he was simply my beautiful baby in the baby swing.

The Last Supper (Before I Go Back To Work)