Regaining My Mama Confidence

On my 12 weeks of maternity leave, plus 5 weeks before I started work here in Nashville, I learned how to be an "on my own" mama. I had my finger on the pulse of Caleb's ever evolving routine. But since I went back to work full time, Brian and I have created our own two parent routine. It depends on both of us pulling our weight with the house and Caleb's needs.This is the first time that Brian has traveled for work overnight since his trip to Nashville to interview and I was more than a little nervous to solo parent all weekend. I'm great at getting us out the door, making dinner and the bedtime routine. But Brian is Caleb's playmate. He can take him when I need to finish a meal or getting ready.

It turns out, this weekend was just what I needed to regain my mama confidence. Caleb and I have had a great weekend.

On Friday he happily ate dinner in the kitchen with Mama, while I made mashed carrots for him and dinner for myself. 

On Saturday we had a lazy morning, with Caleb up by 6am and ready to go back to sleep by 8am! It's not unusual for Caleb to catch up on his sleep on Saturdays, so he took a two and a half hour nap and I still had to go in and wake him up! We needed to head out for our big plans - our first trip to the Nashville Zoo! I was told that the Zoo had a great playground for little kids, so I figured this was the perfect trip to get us out of the house. 

Outside the playground. Can you see that he's sitting on an alligator head??

Outside the Kangaroo exhibit, a special place where the Kangaroos are allowed to roam without fences, so they jump right across your path!

The special tot area, all padded. Caleb loved crawling around and watching the other kids.

All worn out from our time at the Zoo. Ready for a car nap!

We had such a great time at the Zoo. Caleb wasn't very excited about the animals but he loved to look at all the people, especially the bigger kids. We sat and had lunch- butternut squash and crackers for the baby, apple slices and peanut noodles for me. As we sat happily eating, I was so glad I took the risk of a big trip out solo. Caleb took another massive nap, starting in the car and finishing up at home.

We had dinner and a little playtime before bath and books. This morning we made it to church, where Caleb had a great time in the nursery, as usual. Now we're ready for Daddy to come home tonight!