Hope for Hella Miles

We just said bye to Mom & Dad Wongstar after a solid 7 weeks, and they were so helpful with feeding us, walking Aero and babysitting Ainsley. We actually got have date nights and even extra sleep. Refreshing!

They are back in Cali now and we are back to navigating business as usual without Po Po and Gung Gung’s helpful help.

Sunday was cold and rainy, and after spending December adding 1 mile a week to my weekend long run (starting at a measly 5), I had built up to 8 and was ready to tackle 9. (Note: once I hit 6 miles, that was my longest postpartum run, so every weekend has become my NEW longest postpartum run!)

I put Ainsley down for her nap, Kevin also had a snooze, and I got running on the spanking new treadmill. I had been watching Cruella on Disney+ in tiny 3-mile (30ish-minute) increments, and finally got to finish it! I rarely get to watch movies for fun anymore so while some hate the “dreadmill”, I find that treadmill running to Netflix or Disney+ is a real treat.

Ainsley stirred a couple times but Dad would pat her back to sleep.

I got my 9 miles done, and rehydrated… had a snack… took a shower and WASHED MY HAIR… had lunch with Kevin… and still she napped!

She finally woke up, all happy and giggly, nearly 3 hours later. Which made all of us happy and giggly.

For the rest of the day, I felt this amazing feeling of accomplishment—for my longest run in maybe 1.5 years (I did several 10-milers during first trimester) and longest treadmill run in probably 5 years.

Hella collab between my Cali roots and JFK 50 goals 

But more so, I felt HOPE. Hope for hella miles. Like we could figure out this training thing while she naps like a champ on the weekend. Hope that it’s not a fluke. That we could do this again!

(She later slept like crap at night, waking up multiple times, which has been her MO recently and NOT helped with trying to get a 5am training run in for the past 2 weeks, so we’ll see how next weekend goes. Ha!)

In daycare news, Ainsley’s first month in the toddler room has been super inconsistent between different teachers, a stomach bug, holidays and extra time with Po Po and Gung Gung, then a classroom quarantine post-Christmas after a confirmed COVID case. She recently started crying every time I dropped her off, which I’m so glad she never did during her first 9 months there as it would’ve broken my heart! But we’ve made 3 days without crying so far—one time she was distracted by books (she loves books!), yesterday I dropped her off during breakfast and she tried to steal her friend’s snippy cup full of milk (HAHA), and this morning the usual toddler room craziness was distracting enough. 

We also finally got smiles from the daycare app photos! Yes, I too am impressed that they use apps at daycare. Pretty nifty updating us on diaper changes, what’s for breakfast, lunch and snacks, and nap lengths. They have a weekly theme and a daily agenda on what they’re learning. All the fun stuff she does and learns about, as well as the socialization, has really helped me not have Mom Guilt when I am busy at work. I know some Mamas do well as stay-at-home moms, but I enjoy what I do at work and was not one of those who wished I had a 1- or 2-year maternity leave!

Art projects!