Lightning and Progress

Today was Jeannie's first day back to work after three months of maternity leave, thus her first day at the office since early April.  That meant that today was my first day as stay-at-home dad with Seva.  I've had three preparatory experiences, though: once when Jeannie was feeling very overwhelmed and she went to stay at a hotel in Center City, another time when Jeannie stayed at a hotel overnight with her friend Marcella who was visiting us from out-of-town, and a third time when Jeannie went down to Washington, D.C. to spend the night with her birth mother who was in D.C. for a work-related conference.  So, today wasn't something totally difficult or new or overwhelming for me.  In fact, I enjoyed a pretty good day with Seva.

We danced while listening to music a couple times.  And as I've stated before, when Seva isn't sleeping, it's very often that she likes to be held, so I held her a lot today, often with her head either on my shoulder or, when she falls asleep, her face sort of planted into my neck between my shoulder and cheek/chin.  Seva definitely seems to like dancing; I'm not sure yet if it's the sound of the music or the motion that comes with dancing or a combination of both, but if she's not getting too sleepy she often lights up when we're dancing.

I tell ya, when Seva is awake and alert, without any pressing needs like food or a diaper change, she's a beautiful little girl.  There are moments when she just seems happy to receive attention and those moments are great.  I'm really happy to be a father.

Anyway, the other part of my title above is a reference to the pretty nasty lightning storm that we had tonight.  I was at the YMCA, doing some lifting when the storm began.  I had to run home in the rain.  As I got home, the storm seemed to intensify, with more and more lightning in the sky.  Our DirecTv signal was totally out, until it came on for about 20 minutes, just in time for 6abc to interrupt regular programming (The Bachelorette) with updates on the progress of the storm and warnings for what to do in the event of a tornado.  In the meantime, I cooked pork chops (seasoned with sea salt and Cajun seasoning), while Jeannie made rice (with light coconut milk and water).  Finally, the storm abated and we were able to watch the Bachelorette while eating dinner and while Seva sleep for a bit in her bouncy chair.  Overall, I'd say it was a good day and good night.