Michael & Amanda and chicklets to call our own: Ivan is a month!

Let's just start by saying I have one cute baby. He is smiling a lot now, sometimes when I smile at him and sometimes because he has to spit up. He's rolled over a few more times since he was 2 weeks, I think bringing the count to 10 or something. Yesterday he weighed 9 pounds 9 ounces, meaning he's gaining an ounce a day. What a fatty! We had fun on Halloween passing out candy, he held the bag for me. Ivan is getting a little better at sleeping at night. He's only up 2 or 3 times. In other news, I went back to work last Wednesday and it has been crazy! October is our spay and neuter month where we give everyone that lives in the county $20 off any spay or neuter. This can really add up when you have 4 or 5 cats. For city residents, the animal shelter received a grant from the state or something that allows them to give $50 gift certificates for any spay or neuter. On a typical day at the clinic we can have anywhere between 0 and 4 surgeries to include spays and neuters. During October, they've had between 8 and 10 and it's intense. I especially feel bad because I was on maternity leave from the first til the 26. And that's mainly why I went back to work so quickly. My first day back we had 10 surgeries and we didn't get done til late. Then they decided it would be just great to have me come in and work Thursday too, even though my schedule is Monday Wednesday Friday and every other Saturday. So I worked Thursday, and Friday, and was supposed to have Saturday off but due to a miscommunication, I ended up working it. Well, that's fine with me, that just means I have the Saturday off that Michael's family will be in town. I have to say though, going back to work is easier in some ways, like now I can reach all the way across the work table without a huge belly in the way, but much much harder in others. I didn't know I'd still be in some pain this long after delivery. I also didn't know I'd get this tired that much faster. And I have to leave my sweet baby with a baby sitter on Wednesdays. The rest of the time, Michael watches him, but I work all day Wednesdays and just half days the other times. Michael works evenings those days and we have a 3 hour overlap. The girl that watches him is super nice, we're actually pretty good friends. I trust her, and I know she does a good job, especially because Ivan has a thing for brunettes. He smiles at any woman with dark hair. I don't know if it's the contrast or if he just likes that it's different that what he sees all the time. So watch out ladies. I took a bunch of pictures of him today, and I'm pretty impressed. I know it's not hard to take beautiful pictures when the subject you're photographing is beautiful, but I did add props :]