In need of a vacation

We've been so, so busy, we all need a break. Thankfully, that break is coming, in just three days: we can't wait to spend a long weekend at the cottage in Canada!!

But before we get there, we had to get through this past week.

Daddy daycare went wonderfully, and Brian was very thankful for his opportunity to spend one-on-one time with his boy. They went shopping, where my prediction was proven right, and the pair was stopped about a half-dozen times by baby ooglers. That was Brian's first solo experience with our little attention magnet, and he didn't believe until he lived it that complete strangers would stop and talk to the pair of them. In shrill little baby voices that sound completely idiotic coming from strangers.

And they went to the park, on walks and to visit one of Brian's clients. And I'm sure despite Mama's arguments for the contrary, there was probably a little bit of Wonderpets in there, too.

And when I got home on Thursday, I got the sweetest, most wonderful recognition of all I do in a day's time watching Shorty. My beloved husband gained a new understanding of just how hard it is to get things done while watching a baby.

Let alone a baby who now moves on his own. In just a week he's mastered crawling and can now even go over and around obstacles. And naturally -- since his entire room and parts of our living room are covered with vibrantly colored animals and pieces of plastic crap made for babies -- naturally, the most appealing "toy" to my boy is any plug he can find stuck into the wall and the cord that trails from it. We actually found him sitting on the floor of his room, "flossing" with the cord from his monitor last week. So one of Daddy's shopping trips was to Home Depot for plug inserts, and most of them have been installed.

Oh, and he started pulling up on the crib, so we dropped it a level.

I gotta admit, watching a baby with increased mobility is tiring (although quite entertaining), and it brings me back to the early days where he needed me so much I couldn't complete a single load of laundry. I can't leave him alone for more than two minutes anymore, since that's the totality of his attention span, before he loses interest in his toy or book or food and starts crawling towards the nearest outlet.

And because Daddy had a long weekend of deck building, Mama was the solo baby watcher (and vacation planner/packer) for almost the entire three days off work.

But so, so much progress was made. Here was the back of our house three weeks ago, and below is what two solid days of work accomplished. Thanks to Jeff and both Dads, we have most of a deck again!




We also finished up our swim lessons and fed/cleaned up after guests and deck-builders all weekend long. And now we're all tired and ready for the lake. There will an eight hour drive at night to get there and a solid day or two of work to accomplish to open the cottage, but the downside will be overshadowed by first boat rides, first fishes and lots of fun exploring a place we hope he'll get to visit fairly often over his childhood.