We might go a little longer today. The monster I’m battling in 4theWords requires 800 words, though I have some items equipped that make that number fall faster. I just don’t quite understand the rate, so who knows how many words I’ll have to write here to defeat it? I know I’ll at least have to hit my writing streak, and that’s the goal. 

I had my class last night, the one I had to lead. It went well, actually, even though I wasn’t fully prepared. Everyone participated, so I didn’t have to talk too much. I realized that I have benefited from networking. Most of my work experience has been through family or family friends, which is a network. Family is your first network. They are your first support system. I know that’s not really the case for everyone, and to me that’s heartbreaking, but I do have the built in support system of a loving family and their friends. It’s comforting to know that no matter what, they will always have my back. Keston’s family is there for us as well. We’ll be okay. Our baby will have what he needs, no matter what. 

I dropped Nova, our sweet dog, off at the vet first thing this morning, for her biannual exam and a few vaccinations. She’s a strange little thing. The way she howls, you can’t quite tell if she’s excited or anxious, except for her tail that never stops wagging. She’s not the most well-trained pup, and she’s a force to be reckoned with when she has the zoomies, but she’s a sweetheart. She drives me crazy, but it would break my heart to let go of her. 

This song just came on my Spotify playlist that I’ve been obsessed with lately: Achilles Come Down by Gang of Youths. I’m not totally sure why, but the deep, dark feelings of the song speak to my soul right now. I’ve had it on repeat. 

Poor baby Fletch has had an upset tummy this week. I’m not sure what to do to help him at this point. He’s still the happiest little baby, even when he doesn’t feel good, so it’s hard to tell just how sick he is. I have to get most of my information from stinky diaper changes. I’ve started giving him rice cereal again. He hasn’t gotten it in a while because it made him super constipated, but now he needs that effect. Maybe that’s a little TMI, but… This is my journal that I’m sharing with you. You don’t have to read it. 

He’s almost a year old. I can’t believe it. How do I almost have a one-year-old baby? How have I been caring for a tiny human for a year? 

I’ve been thinking about pregnancy lately, those last miserable weeks when you’re just ready for the baby to come out. It was miserable, that’s true, but… there are things that I miss. Strange sensations that were kind of funny, the sweet movements of his little kicks. I miss being pregnant. I miss having a baby who just wanted to snuggle, eat, and sleep. Now he wants to be everywhere and see everything, and he can only really sleep when left alone in his sleep. 

I miss baby snuggles. 

There it is. About 550 words to defeat an 800 word silly monster. Now we know.