Do you remember my telling you that Craig would be taking a 19-day trip this summer? Well, he did it. On May 23 he went to Japan, where he received a scientific award, spoke at a conference, and went on a lecture tour. Then he came home on June 10. We all survived! (He has another big trip coming up soon, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.)
But as soon as Craig came back from Japan he had to return to work at his own lab, plus now he also has to contribute to the staffing of 16-hour days at another lab. (Twice a year his team is able to work at this other site, which runs seven days a week, 24 hours a day, so there are always long hours and night shifts.)
And did I mention that Laurel has been sleeping poorly for the past month? First she is having trouble falling asleep at night, so she hasn't been getting to bed until 10:00 p.m. or later. But she is also having trouble sleeping through the night, which is not typical for her. She has woken up half of the nights of the last month; on nine nights she was awake for more than 30 minutes at a stretch. Obviously I handled all of this when Craig was gone, but now that he has returned home he has resumed his usual duty of late-night baby-rocking.
So to commemorate Father's Day, I wanted to thank Craig for the hard work he does at all his demanding jobs. Today he is exhausted, and he deserved the day off, but he didn't get it. He was at the lab at 4:00 a.m., got Laurel to sleep at 10:00 p.m., and instead of going to bed, he is reviewing his research even now.
It's hard work being an international scientist and a baby-soother. Thanks, honey. You're the best!
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Here's a picture from Father's Day last year.
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