Schneider Baby Story: Back to Work

Monday was the long dreaded “return to work” day for me, and thanks to many others it was a breeze! My mother-in-law got into town over the weekend and will be staying in Charlotte for the next four weeks to take care of Layne while I’m “at work” (a.k.a. at my desk in my bedroom). It has been a great peace of mind having someone we love and trust taking care of him while I get back into the swing of work, and given the fact that she’s raised 5 boys and taken care of three other grandkids, it’s nice having someone else here for advice!

Working from home has been so nice while having a baby. Layne is just in the next room and I can see him and give him a quick kiss whenever I want. I’ve been able to nurse him for his lunchtime feeding, so we still get that bonding time during the day. For his 10am & 4pm feeding, I easily pump at my desk while he’s given a bottle of pumped milk.

On the work front, I came back to a lot of e-mails but not too many issues or fire drills thanks to those who took over for me while I was out. They did a great job taking care of my customers and to-dos. It actually turned out to be an enjoyable week and I’ve had fun getting back to business – it made me realize that my work really energizes me and while I’d love to be a stay-at-home mom, it’s not so bad being a working mom too.

Layne is doing great and getting bigger and smarter every day. He has mastered grabbing and holding toys, and has figured out how to put them into his mouth. He has also showed a lot more interest in having his hands in his mouth (as you’ll see in some pictures below). He’s still very alert and it’s obvious that he recognizes and remembers us, and gives us big smiles often. He has even started to giggle (especially at Jared) which is the cutest thing! He is tolerating tummy time a lot better and building strong neck muscles, and he is getting SO CLOSE to rolling over on his own. He rolled over in front of Lauri & I the other day, but we think it might have been a little bit of a fluke because it was on a bed and since we were sitting on it it was slanted a little.

In other news, last Friday we hired a nanny to come over three days a week after Lauri leaves. Jared will be home to take care of Layne the other two days, since he works retail and has flexibility to work nights & weekends. The nanny’s name is Katie, is 25, and going back for her master’s in special education at night. She is super sweet, has experience caring for babies, and the great thing is that she is flexible on which days she works, so we can adjust her schedule week by week as need be.

Here are some recent photos: