Megan is away for almost a week on a work trip to Seattle, so it's just me, the kiddos, and Jorge struggling on our own. Things are going fairly well so far, but damn these three little creatures sure know how to wear me out!
On Saturday we went to a birthday party (Ellie turned 2!). The kids had a ton of fun playing with the crayons and eating cupcakes (big, BIG mess -- I ended up cleaning each kid in the kitchen sink, and Ian basically had a chocolate cake beard by the time he was finished).
On Sunday, or big outing was an all to short of a trip to Target for more milk and diapers. The rest of the day, we went a little bonkers in the house.
Today was different. We went to an open gym at a local community center and played with a lot of balls with some other kids, and daddy got to show the kids how to shoot some basketballs (I think I impressed them with my skills). After that, we went upstairs to a "Parents Resource Center" and played in a crowded room with a ton of toys and other kids and stuck around for circle time. I was the only man in the room. This outing must have totally worn them out 'cause they are currently pushing into hour #3 of their afternoon nap!
Since Mamma has been away, the main thing that has changed has been our bedtime ritual. Before, we'd give them baths (most every other night) and then Meg would take one up to bed for stories and some breast milk while I'd take the other one downstairs for cleaning up and reading stories until Momma would come down stairs and give him/her some breast milk before bed. Then I would take that one up and tuck him/her into bed.
This routine has been going rather smoothly for us for some months now.
This big trip, for Meg, however, may be the weening of the little ones (although I think Meg still thinks there's a chance it will last longer when she returns).
For the past few nights our routine has been to play for a little after dinner and have some milk while we clean up the toys. Then we go upstairs for a bath. This has been the hardest part. I think every night there has been one (if not both) of them who has been naked and peed somewhere along the short distance from their bedroom to the bath tub. After the bath, I get them into their pajamas, read a few books with them, and then we brush teeth with new toothbrushes and some training toothpaste.
All goes pretty well until the moment I turn off the lights in the room and then they both scream like mad. But this screaming rarely lasts more than a minute or two.
In addition to the bedtime routine change, to let them know they're living the "bachelor" lifestyle, we have cold pizza for breakfast, but other than that, most everything else is normal.
Occasionally, one of them (most often Ian), will blurt out "Mamma!" I explain to him that she's in Seattle, and that she'll be home on Thursday, but I don't think he understands (although they're always surprising me by how much they comprehend).
We'll Mamma, we are surviving, but we do miss you and look forward to seeing you on Thursday night!
