We were doing an excellent job and seeing real progress until:
- I got slammed by multiple migraines right before--
- We went to Florida for a week
- I came back ludicrously exhausted and then--
- I came down with some sort of mild illness/infection that has rendered me only somewhat functional for the last 6 days
In accordance with my star sign, I have a charming tendency to jump head-first into new endeavors only to become bored and abandon them before you can say "impulsive." However, we've seen the light at the end of the clutter-strewn tunnel. We almost had the apartment at a level of cleanliness that we both agreed was sufficient; and we did the bulk of the work over two weekends. At least we know we can do it again and this time we won't have to leave town before it's done.
We had a lovely visit in Florida with my father-in-law. He clearly thought Tobin was an adorable, exhausting riot. The little man charmed the socks off his Great Aunt Cynthia, too. Big, huge, ginormous thanks to my mom for watching the cats and diligently administering Zelda's countless meds according to schedule. And thanks to Mary for puppy sitting. You both saved us an ungodly amount of money and we love you dearly for it!
My most important takeaway lesson from this trip--and I shall share it for the benefit of moms who have not yet traveled with their toddler(s)--is this: NEVER, EVER BOOK A NON-DIRECT FLIGHT UNLESS IT IS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY!!!!!!!! By "necessary," I mean *really* necessary--like, you're on the lam and have to flee ASAP to a country with no extradition agreement w/ the US. Family weddings, funerals, bar mitzvahs...can all be missed using the patented "sick baby/toddler" excuse.
Here's why: No matter how well your little snookums does on the first leg of the trip when he or she is all rested and excited about the BIG AIRPLANE! VROOM!!, it gets old by the second leg when they realize they have to sit still for another hour or two or (G-d forbid!) more. Nothing infuriates a toddler like being told he can't run up and down the aisles saying "Hi-yee!!" and "Bye-yee!!" to his fellow passengers. Toys will be thrown over the seat back in front of him. Trays will be pounded. Sippy cups lobbed at your face. If you're lucky, the lovely young girl across the aisle will take pity on you and allow your flirtatious, lady-killer son to shake her hand, blow her kisses and hand her stickers for the entire duration of the flight. If you're not lucky, you will grit your teeth and bear it and just keep telling yourself that the plane will eventually land and this will all be over--until the return trip.
It wasn't the most horrible thing I've ever experienced, but good grief was it close. The only reason we took connecting flights was because Ethan won free tickets at his holiday party and there were no direct flights that weren't miserably early or late. We will never make this mistake again. The tickets saved us approximately $700, but at what cost?
Thankfully, we're home now. Tobin is making huge strides in his language and comprehension and it's fantastic to watch. He's picking up 1 or 2 new words a day, starting to put two-word sentences together, pointing to everything in sight wanting to know what things are called, following two-step commands (pick X up and take it to Daddy in the kitchen)...I had set aside a t-shirt, shorts and shoes for him to wear to the playground last night. I said "Let's get you dressed to go to the playground with Daddy" and he immediately walked over to the little pile and brought me his shorts and shirt.
He is IN LOVE with doing chores now. He loves taking dirty dishes out to the kitchen so Mom or Dad can put them in the sink and he has appointed himself Official Dog Biscuit Distributor. He does not understand that Lulu and Fred need to finish their first biscuit before he attempts to jam the second biscuit down their throats, but we're working on that. Yet another light at the end of another tunnel--I'm sure I'll have him putting his toys away in no time. Just so long as he cleans up some of the shrapnel he sprays all over the living room and nursery floor in a day. Mama's back can only take so much bending. I'm thinking of getting one of those grabber-on-a-stick thingies that the old folks on scooters and Hoverounds® use to get stuff off the shelves at Wal-Mart.
Not much else to report. Taking it easy for August. Limiting travel, spending quiet weekends with the boys, nothing earth-shattering. Maybe we'll finally get around to hiring that babysitter we're always talking about. Maybe we'll drive down the shore for a day at the beach. Maybe we'll just sit around in our jammies and watch DVRed episodes of Degrassi and Criminal Minds. Smart money is on that last one.
4 comments:
this is elizabeth. i definitely could have told you about the connection thing. we have (thankfully) only done it once...there and back...and it was, as reported by you, a nightmare. especially when they don't sleep well on planes and the trip (because of the connection) takes like 6 hours.
i'm so glad to hear the everything is going so well!!
so well written. love you and your little snookems.and his daddy..
The developmental stuff, and even the palne stuff, could be excerpted to 2 Moms.
Never travelled by plane until the kids were older, but one of them had ear problems and just that was awful.
Travelling by plane in your first trimester=suck, too. At least if you vomitted like I did.
I was in the lav during descent and landing and when I replied to the attendants' third or fourth try to get me into my seat with, "ROOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWLLLLLFFFF" they finally left me alone until we disembarked, lol. (Pre-9/11, of course.)
Loved this blog entry. Good lucky with the cleaning and keeping straight. If you learn that there is a secret involved, please share. We are still very much able to baby sit so by all means drop him here. There is a pretty good quiche place you can go to that is byob if you want a quickie get away.
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