Today was a small historical marker for our family for two reasons. First, Sanne is officially 5 months old. It is wild to think about how she has only been out in the world that long! Second, it was Barbara's first full day of work today. Because of these small milestones, I decided to take some photos to document the day and think not only about how hard Barbara worked to find the perfect job to meet our little family's needs, but also how gracefully Barbara has served as daytime caregiver all this time: all the fun, the routines, the tricks, the details - Lord knows she's good with the details! And now she's gracefully passing that privilege on to me as she takes up her new challenges as a church secretary and the director of a teen parenting program. Wow. What a lady! All I have to do is look at her any time of the day, with Sanne or alone, and it is amazing to think about all the light she has brought to me and to others. And the smile on our little girl's face reflects the love of beautiful and wonderful mom.

The morning started out with some food for Sanne (compliments of Barbara - note the bulge of her belly) and then a little Today Show and "thigh time." Sanne loves her thigh time with her mom; it happens every morning and it got me going many times before I would leave f0r work for the day.


Sanne is ready (with friend Baxter) to bring her mom to her first full day of work.



When we got to Ravenswood Cov, Sanne had fallen asleep but she got some goodbye kisses anyway.



Making sure Sanne has her requesite amount of milk is key: Barbara takes the time to plan and pump at home and at work to make sure that our Boogie is well-fed. Here she is warming up her bottle for lunch.



We just can't get enough of looking at our sleeping baby; this is Sanne's bread and butter: eating and sleeping. Unfortunately, I didn't get any photos of her "emitting," but you can imagine for yourself.

After she woke up, Sanne and I met Barbara at Church where Sanne nursed and then went to nearby Winnemac Park for a picnic - it was nice and warm today, but comfortable in the shade. Any surprise that Sanne was happy to see her mom?

Heading into Target for some errands. She looks less than thrilled here, but she had a great time in the store - she kept squacking at me to get my attention and then she would giggle and kick her feet.

We picked Barbara up at 4:00 from work and then came home and Sanne enjoyed some more Mommy Time.

Sanne kept busy in the evening with some gym time. She rolled over and over, leaving little piles of spit-up on her gym mat floor. Here she is studying her animal cards.

Chillin' in her Exersaucer...

It's good to be Mister Mom - amazing in fact, tough and fun and full of activity. At the end of the day I feel like I did everything and nothing and whatever it was, it was tiring in a good way. I will share stories with Barbara about what we did and things that happend and she will nod knowingly: I don't need to explain, she has been there. I certainly have a huge appreciation for what Barbara has given to our daughter and to me - what a lady! It is great to see her off to continued success in the work world and get a chance to be at home with Sanne at the same time.