Today

Mom and Dad left for the airport in the wee hours of the morning today (somewhere around Nathaniel’s fourth nighttime meal), beginning what will be a long, long, long day’s journey back to Iowa.  I am really going to miss them, and not just for their help!  Katherine seems to be doing pretty well with just us, but probably only because of the new “toy” in the house.  I also let her play with her new shoes, so she was somewhat helpfully distracted for a bit.

Our first day as a family of four is going well.  Nathaniel is doing fantastic sleeping during Katherine’s nap, leaving us free to eat a leisurely lunch.  This morning the boys stayed home while I backpacked Katherine to the natural foods store, loaded up on staples, and then tried getting her to walk back home with me.  She can definitely do the distance, and she is also a pretty fast walker (particularly since she bursts into running here and there).  But she won’t hold my hand, and she often has different ideas about the direction we should take.  So we began our walking journey in the middle of the mall, where she could throw a tantrum (or ten) and not be flailing right on the outdoor sidewalk, and where her sounds would be drowned out by everyone else.  Eventually, with a bit of carrying, some having her ride on my shoulders, some holding by the hood, and some really nice walking beside me, we made it home.  We’ve got a ways to go, but we know that we need to have her a bit more obedient so that we won’t be out with stroller, walking toddler, and backpacked baby.  We don’t have enough adults for all that, and Katherine is more and more keen on doing her own motoring–as are we.

So far the everyday things are going well, though this time around we’re hoping to take turns sleeping so that sleep deprivation doesn’t catch up on us and keep us captive for the next couple of years.  We learned from Katherine that just because a baby sleeps well at the beginning, it doesn’t mean he or she will do so a few months down the road!  We also have to add back into our lives that stuff called work, but for now we’re taking it a day at a time.

Erin