With how quickly things changed with Covid (especially in the beginning) it seems like everyone's quarantine started a little differently. But for us it's been 100 days. 100 days since we ate at a restaurant of any kind. 100 days since Cooper has been inside a store with us. 100 days since we've been to church or preschool or even work. 100 days of no playgrounds or play places for Cooper. 100 days of not mindlessly wandering the aisles of a store to see what we might need and kill some time in our day. 100 days of no playdates (other than a few Sonic dates or back of the car picnics with friends in separate cars).
Yesterday Cooper asked to go play in the rain and it reminded me of him playing in the rain the very first week we were homebound in March. I was telling David that I think back to the beginning of this and how hard it was to imagine having Cooper at home for a week or two weeks or the remainder of March without anywhere to go. I never in my wildest dreams could have imagined it lasting 100 days with no end in sight for us. As the people around us--and even a lot of our friends--get out more and more, we are hunkering down with our newborn, wary of the case numbers continuing to rise around us. And I won't spend too much time getting into the frustration of the people who live in our City and County downright refusing to wear masks. I'll just say- it seems like it'll be a while before we go anywhere.
But I'm also trying to remember and be thankful in these 100 days. I had a Telehealth appointment with my GI doctor last week. At this point I only see him once a year for a medicine check. And he found out we'd just had a baby and made a comment about all the things I'll have to tell Miles about this time. So here are some things I want to remember about our life in a pandemic:
*So much time with Cooper. In the beginning we both drove each other CRAZY, but we soon settled in to a routine and it has been so much fun seeing him expand on his play in ways he never did before because we were always on the go.
*Cooper learned to ride his balance bike! Since we've been home he went from not wanting anything to do with it, to riding it slowly, to now outpacing even David jogging alongside him.
*All of our meals as a family. Since David is working from home we are able to eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner together at home.
*The craziness of doctors appointments. In the last 100 days I have been to my OBGYN 9 times. We've been to the pediatrician 3 times and the dentist for Miles 3 times. We had to go to a hospital lab for follow up with Miles. And we had a 4 day hospital stay for a c-section and newborn. The craziness of temperature checks and masks on everyone. Not being able to take my less than one week old nursing newborn to my appointments and trying to navigate that. Having to find someone to watch Cooper during all of Miles' appointments because he can't come to any of them. And add in me not being able to drive for 2 of those weeks. It felt a little crazy. But I'm also thankful for the precautions these offices are taking so that I can feel safe going to the doctor that many times while at a high risk of getting Covid.
*So much time with Miles. I'm not going to lie, it has been really hard to navigate introducing Miles to people. We really want to see all of our family and friends, but right now we just can't. So it's a whole different world than when Cooper was born and we had a ton of visitors. But at the same time we've been able to enjoy a lot of time with Miles, really focus on nursing and bonding with our little family in these early days.
*Zoom and online platforms. Sure they're a little crazy and I miss face to face interaction, but I'm thankful that we can still watch our church service and meet with our Sunday school class and small group during the week. The way that businesses, churches, schools, etc. adapted to virtual world was amazing.
*Exploring outside. It feels like that's about our only option for entertainment outside of our house, so we've visited lots of new parks and spent a lot of time walking and riding the trails in our neighborhood.
And there is so much more I'm sure. I'm currently rereading Jen Wilkin's In His Image with some friends and last week the chapter was about God's goodness. In it she says: "We experience God's goodness in a thousand everyday graces... No, all is not currently good, but much is, if we take time to note it." So I'm trying to note all the good that I want to remember from this season.
Here's to 100 more days (yikes).
