Steve over on A Dad's Journey brought up the idea of "bulking" up a bit in order to carry around a toddler who will probably be around 20 pounds at the time they come home. This got me to remembering back when D came home. D weighed 15.5 pounds when she came home at Eleven-months-old. But it only took me a week or so to realize that was WAY more than I was accustomed to carrying for prolonged periods of time. After a week or so I began to have terrible pains in my wrist area. It got so I couldn't pick her up the usual way, using the area between my thumb and forefinger with my thumbs as leverage. It took me a while to realize what had caused the pain. When new moms (and dads) come home with a new baby the usual way, that baby starts out around 6-9 pounds and you are able to work your muscles up as the child grows. But starting out with a baby/child over a year old, well, that child is just going to be bigger. So, although I don't know what to reccommend for priming your "picking up" muscles, I did want to share that so you can be prepared if it happens to you.

In order to try and forego this problem when V comes home, I've just been continuing to pick D up whenever she asks. She weighs 38 pounds now, so I ought to be pretty strong, right!? People laugh at me for carrying D still, but I'm of the mindset that one day she is going to quit asking and I will have picked her up or carried her for the last time. As long as I'm physically able, I'm going to do it.

Till later . . .