The Long Weekend

When we found out a couple of weeks ago that Dylan would be flying for the Labor Day weekend, I was pretty bummed. I had Monday off work, which gives me a 5-day weekend (woohoo!), and since most people spend long weekends traveling and doing things with their families, that would leave G and me to do who knows what. It was bound to be hot outside, and Gavin's a pretty active guy, so I knew I'd have my hands full being cooped up indoors with him.

I toyed with the idea of meeting my parents at their cabin. But they were returning home on Sunday, and G and I wouldn't be able to make it there till Saturday afternoon. So I scrapped that idea. Then, since we were going to a birthday party on Saturday morning in North Phoenix, I figured we'd just continue north on I-17 and go on a walk around the lake or have a picnic in Prescott. But since it was going to be 109 degrees here, then it was going to be 90 degrees in Prescott. Not exactly cool and refreshing. Scrapped that one, too.

We stayed right here, and as it turns out, we were fairly busy and had a pretty good time. Saturday morning was Baby Alex's first birthday party, so we headed out early to join in the PJ's and pancakes fun. And boy, it was fun! Gavin and Alex are only five days apart, so they are destined to be good pals. We even made it home with some of Anne's famous homemade chocolate chip cookies. We hit the gym on the way back, where Gavin was well-behaved, and then spent the afternoon at home splashing in the water table and just hanging out and relaxing.

On Sunday we had another early start to make it to the 9am church service. Again, Gavin behaved like a gem in the nursery, and we went for a ride on the swings afterward. Things didn't go so swimmingly after I forced a nap, which only came after a half hour of protesting from Gavin. He woke up cranky, so we headed back out to visit my parents, and then we made another stop at the gym. For the first time ever, Gavin got kicked out of the gym nursery. He freaked out when I dropped him off and freaked out for 20 more minutes before they came to get me. Oh well, you win some, you lose some. I learned my lesson about forcing naps...they do not necessarily result in a happy baby upon awaking. Or it could have been a tummy ache or the beginning of a cold or maybe he was still hungry after his snack. If only I were a mind reader... We did head directly to Safeway afterward, where I gave Gavin a baby granola bar, and he remained relatively peaceful for the duration of our shopping trip. When will I have him figured out?

So today we are taking a break from dropping Gavin off at any nurseries. We hung out with Gavin's cousins for a little while this morning and made another exchange of baby stuff. (Really, you should get a friend or neighbor with whom you cart baby junk back and forth whenever someone gets pregnant. It's the best!) Dylan and Kevin made a stop in Scottsdale for a couple of hours, so G and I met them and Kevin's family for lunch at Sol before they had to get back to the airplane, and we did a little bit of shopping on the side while we were there. This afternoon will involve important things like ice cream and baby pools. And that is all.

Naughty.

I need to ASS you a question.

So much fun in the park by church. In 100-degree weather!

Such a mealtime disaster. I turned around to find him rubbing food in his hair. Salmon, no less. Gross!

Feed this Bear. It's.All.I.Ever.Do.

When you drop your toy for the third time, you don't get it back.

The ghetto sled hauling away the baby stuff.

Watermelon lover.

I've always known that the energy one puts off greatly affects the behavior of the children. I'm always so rushed to get a million things done while also keeping an eye on Gavin and making sure he's well-cared for, which causes our days to be pretty frenzied. It may make me a little stressed, but I always feel like there's so much to do. This weekend, I've made a conscious effort to let some things go and just kick back with G with no particular agenda. I even watched an entire movie after his bedtime ('Very Good Girls' with Dakota Fanning and Elizabeth Olsen...so good), and I nodded off for 15 minutes during his nap yesterday. We are so much happier for it.

We may not have a fridge stocked with healthy prepared meals ready to heat up, our social calendar wasn't exactly packed, I may have made zero progress on the playroom I'm putting together for G, and I haven't even started the 6-12 month picture book I wanted to do. But we've taken some lazy early morning walks, visited with the cousins, and learned an important lesson in being at home, relaxing, and not filling every minute with something that 'needs' to get done. I don't think I've ever quite enjoyed my time with Gavin so much...gym nursery freak-outs, messy mealtimes, disgusting diaper situations, runny noses, and all. Let's hope I can keep up the good work!