It's hard to believe, but this week it will be a year since I started my "new" job as a work-from-home medical writer. I can say with honesty and conviction that working from home is the only reason I was able to work full time this year. I am beyond lucky to be able to have this kind of job, so that I can feel fulfilled, contribute to our family's bottom line, and still give Lemon (and Lime) the care that they need. A short list of things that I have done while on a conference call (on mute, thankfully): breastfed a baby, changed a diaper, done a workout on an elliptical trainer, served a snack, administered a breathing treatment, delivered daily bolus tube feeds, emailed various healthcare providers about various things, and folded a seemingly infinite number of small pieces of blue clothing. Where would we be without multitasking? That, plus the time I save by not commuting (or showering in the morning, or getting dressed into "real" clothes), makes a huge difference in our lives.
Working from home does have its downsides. Like some (many) days, you don't leave your own property at all, and if that happens too many days in a row you can start to feel a little stir-crazy. My office is in the basement, so on some days I feel like I barely see the sun. You also miss out on all the social aspects of work. It's really strange to have worked with a group of people for a year, and not to know any of the most basic details of their lives outside work--where they live, what their spouses' names are, how many kids they have, what their favorite pass-time or sports team is. On the other hand, it does eliminate a lot of the politics of working in a group. There's no water cooler to schmooze at, no drinks to be gone out for (or not) after work, no way to dress to impress. If your work is high quality and is done on time, people like you and think you're doing a good job. Imagine that!
In other news, I started taking Lemon to school in the bike trailer, which he absolutely loves. He started a tumbling class on Sunday that he also enjoyed, so much so that he couldn't bear to sit still and listen to the teacher's instructions, he just had to jump up and down on the mats in the gym while she was talking. He was very proud of himself for being able to walk backwards down the "balance beam" (strip of foam on a mat) and jump off the end. No photos this week as it was all too exciting for me to have any free hands, but hopefully next week.Lemon's cough is still not quite gone. It's been 10 days or so, and we're able to call for antibiotics after 5, but we haven't felt the need to do it yet. In the past, he's been much sicker when we've called--some combination of coughing through the night and puking usually puts us over the top, and neither of those things is happening right now, thankfully. He actually hasn't been coughing at all in his sleep, which is weird for him. But he coughs several times a day, and still has a bit of a runny nose. Then again, the same goes for Lime who does not have CF to contend with. I feel like if Lime hasn't kicked it yet, it's not reasonable to expect that Lemon would have. In any case, we have a clinic visit coming up on Wednesday so we can discuss the plan with them then.
Lime continues to surge forward into toddler-hood. He now says "Dada!" with great emphasis when Papa Bear comes home from work. He picks up books in his chubby little hands and thrusts them at anyone in the vicinity who might be able to read, but often lacks the patience to sit through a whole book before he's off running again. He has mastered a bunch of physical skills much earlier than Lemon did, I think because he's watching and learning from his brother. He can climb onto a ride on toy and push it along, climb into the Cozy Coupe, and climb the slide on our swing set. His appetite knows no bounds, and he will now cling to the base of his highchair and wail if it seems like food is taking too long to get ready. He does a little foot-stomping happy dance when he sees food finally arriving. One last little piece of news for this week is that on Saturday, I ran another half-marathon, sneaking out of the house at 4:30 a.m. to get to the race (which, sad to say, did not even feel like getting up particularly early!). The conditions were perfect and I ran a much faster time than I did during the heat-fest in June. I'm starting to feel vaguely ready for the Madison marathon this November!
