All Systems Go

5:38 am: Dad awake? Check.
Formula pre-measured into bottle? Check.
No, really—Dad awake? ...
New diaper ready at changing table? Check.
Bag waiting to receive old diaper? Check.
Cats fed and watered? Check.
Ahem—Dad awake? Check. (Really.)
Dad minimally breakfasted? Check.
Coffee brewing? Check.
6:12 am: All systems go for Operation: "Child of the Morning Calm"
Standing by for signal from the Little Commander.

It doesn't always go this smoothly. I don't always have 30 minutes between when I wake up and when Elaina does. When I do, though, I like to be prepared. I also like a little bit of time to read before the action starts. That's resulted in my being up way earlier than I would be normally.

I think my taking the morning shift started with my still being up when the morning shift started. As Elaina and my sleep schedules shifted towards something more normal, I found myself still waking up a couple hours before she did. Rather than go back to bed, I've found I like to get up and have a little time to myself before The Show.

Of course, I don't always have the morning shift. Sometimes Heidi takes it, but I kind of got used to seeing Elaina in the morning. (And honestly, the early and late shift are easier than the in-between ones.)

It's 6:22 am, and Elaina's still asleep. The coffee has finished brewing, and it looks like I just might get to have some before Elaina wakes up. By the way, she went to bed at 9-ish, so I'm expecting that she might sleep as long as 7 or 7:30, but it never hurts to prepare for the worst. (I love that "the worst" would be 8 or 9 hours instead of 10 or 11!)