everyday life

play date!

Posted on by mommyinthemidwest

Theo has a couple of friends.  What I mean by “friends” is that I am friends with their mommies and we get together so that we can watch them “play.”  I am using quotation marks simply because, as you know if you have or have had a toddler, they don’t really play together.  They play near each other and sometimes acknowledge each other, but they don’t play cooperatively yet.  Regardless, it’s cute and a great excuse to get together with my fellow mommy friends. 

When Dexter was just a week or two old, R took Theo for a wagon ride around the neighborhood for a little one on one time and to get him out of the house for awhile.  While they were exploring, a woman stopped them to ask where we got our cute wagon.  Upon talking, the lady explained that she had a son just three months older than Theo and expressed an interest in getting her little boy, L, together with Theo to play.

Throughout my maternity leave, R mentioned repeatedly that we should call L’s mom.  He finally called her Sunday and set up a play date at the playground for Thursday. 

Too. 

Cute.

Theo was quick to find a stick to carry around the park.
They had fun climbing on and playing inside of the jungle gym.

L gave Theo a lesson in swinging on the big kid swings.

He did pretty well!
It was fun meeting and L and we hope to see him again soon. 



Dexter went with us to the park but I was busy snapping pictures of the big boys and forgot to take any of him. He was content watching Theo and L run around the park and playground.  After we got home, Dex was happy to relax on my lap and cool off under the fan. 

cheers to new friends.
~C~


hi-ho hi-ho.

Posted on by mommyinthemidwest

I did it.  After 12 not-always-glorious (okay, rarely glorious) weeks off, I went back to work.  I moaned a bit about having to go back on a Wednesday, which is my Friday, but it worked out just fine.  It was kind of a good transition shift.  I think I’d be more depressed if I’d gone back with a full 40 hour work week in front of me.  Okay, 37.5 hour work week (I work for the state). 

I felt like a rusty old machine when I got to work but before I left for the day, I was getting back into the swing of it.  Regardless, it didn’t make it any easier to leave the house last night when it was time to make the drive downtown to work.

I dropped the boys off after lunch yesterday so I could squeeze in an afternoon nap and lingered….and lingered….and lingered a bit.  What?  As it turns out, Dexter was hungry.  What’s the point of wasting a bottle and having to go home and pump when I could just hold him and snuggle up to him and smell his little head and kiss his face and … oh yeah, feed him, for just a few minutes. 

I thought it would be easier the second time around since I know and love our babysitter.  Not so.  Apparently the sadness I felt with Theo was only partially due to the fact that I was leaving him with a complete stranger.  Now that complete stranger is the person I trust totally and completely with my boys.  But it didn’t matter.  I still cried on the way home, thinking about the fact that I’ve spent 12 weeks with Dexter and I’ll never get them back.  I’ll never be able to spend that much time with him again.  I guess it’s about quality and not quantity sometimes.

But, I can do this.  I’ve done it before and we’ll all be okay.  Everyone says “Dexter’s fine! He’ll do great!”  Duh.  It’s not him I’m worried about.  sadfacesadfacesadface.

smiling through the tears (but not really),
~C~

ssssick.

Posted on by mommyinthemidwest

Last week, Theo woke up with a high fever that rose and fell for four long days.  He was pitiful.  It got up to 103.6 Wednesday night, which prompted a call to the after hours nurse.  Luckily it never got higher than that and we didn’t have to go to the ER, but it was scary just the same.

Thank goodness Dexter didn’t get it.  And thank goodness that I was still on maternity leave and that R could work from home in order to be available to help me out when things got crazy.  Having two babies that desperately need you is a challenge.  As much as I hate it when Theo is sick, I cherish my role as his mommy and soak in all of the cuddles and hugs he is willing to share.  They’re not easy to come by these days, after all.

In other sick news, it’s sick that my itty bitty baby is almost 12 weeks old and is already rolling over, laughing, bearing weight on his legs, and is thoroughly enjoying sitting in the bumbo seat.

It’s sick how cute Theo is, even when he’s miserable.

It’s sick how the kid I babysat when she was 7 just turned 15 because that makes me feel old.  She just became a big sister, which is all kinds of awesome.  We met Baby Beau Saturday and he is precious.  Sick how much smaller he was than Dexter and there are only 6 weeks between them.  Kids grow way too fast.

It’s sick how much Theo looks like his dad.

It’s sick that my maternity leave ends today and that Dexter will be going to the babysitter on a regular basis now.  Makes me sick knowing I will never get to spend this much time with my boys again.  Ever in life.  I don’t know if I’m cut out to be a stay-at-home mom, but I’d sure give it a whirl if I had the chance.

Sickeningly cute how hard Dexter is trying to suck his thumb lately.

Success.
~C~