Playing without Mommy

This video was taken about a month ago, but it captures a new dynamic in the household - the kids' ability to entertain themselves without Kevin or me. It's often short-lived, and only really works when they are out in the back yard, but I really enjoy being able to watch them play while I throw together their meal, check my email, or wash dishes.

Playing alone

Sharing

Eleanor shares her meal with Ian. Ian can't get enough.




Or maybe he can...




(So many of our images and videos take place at the kitchen table. I MUST start mixing it up a little!)

Pigtails!

The little lady's hair is long enough to do pigtails! If only she'd leave the barrettes alone...

Eleanor with pigtails, 16 months old

Blueberry

Ian says blueberry

Broccoli

Eleanor says broccoli

Happy New Year

The kids had a great holiday season, with lots of quality time with their extended family. (And a wonderful week with their dad while their mom was on travel for work!)

It's cold!

For Thanksgiving... we were in Pittsburgh, where the kids got to visit with most of the Gallagher clan (we missed you, Denver Gallaghers!). Eleanor and Ian played in snow for the first time. Since we were not at all prepared for that kind of weather, they wore grocery bags in their shoes to keep their feet dry. (Thank goodness they got some respectable snow boots for Christmas from MomMom and PopPop Perese!) We visited with some of the O'Connells and Gallaghers, including Great Grandma O'Connell. The babies were a big hit in her assisted living community! Despite Eleanor's struggle with her molars and GiGi's little health scare, it was a great holiday.

The boy with his stick and his mother

A close-up of the make-shift snow boot

PopPop enjoys his coffee as the kids play in the snow

Owen, who turned 11(!) at Thanksgiving

For Christmas... we co-hosted again this year, spending the days leading up to Christmas between home and Mary and Chris' place in Annapolis. Neither Bernie nor Mannie and their families could make it to Maryland this year, so Mary and I had our parents all to ourselves! Eleanor and Ian practiced saying "GiGi" and "PopPop" as well as star, tree, Santa, and snowman. In Philadelphia, they enjoyed time with Nannie and her battery-operated, singing, dancing, holiday entourage. They also had a blast with Cousin Shane, who played with them and made them giggle. At PopPop and MomMom's Christmas party, they were fascinated with their 3-month-old second cousin Cassandra. We heard lots and lots of "BAY-BEE" that day.

Playing the hanky game with GiGi and PopPop Gallagher

Gazing at the tree on Christmas Eve

Eleanor meets baby Cassandra

Snackin' with PopPop Perese

Playing at the park with Nannie

For New Years... the babies slept right through the wild party we were having right below them - if take-out sushi, beer, and Robert Downey Jr.'s Iron Man counts as a wild party. It was a special anniversary for Kevin and I - we started dating on New Years Eve 1997!

Since then... Eleanor and Ian have been expressing themselves in new and interesting ways. They seem like wild little toddlers now who have mini-tantrums and fight over toys. Where did our sweet, passive little babies go? Did we leave them in Philly?

Ian, with the infamous orange hat

Eleanor, with a roasted chicken package

Guest Blogger

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!