Dad's First Day Home Alone

Today was my first day back to work since October 26th. The last time I sat at my desk and logged onto my computer, I still had all kinds of freedoms and counted myself a member of the "dual income no kids" club.

Today was also the longest stretch I've been away from Ian since November 6th, the day he was placed in my arms and called my son. Last Sunday, I made my first venture away for any length of time and left him with Shawn for 4 whole hours to see a musical with my Mother In Law and Sister In Law. It was great to get away, even if only for a few hours. We've been home for 6 weeks and that was my first time in the car with an empty back seat. I kept looking back to see why he was so quiet (I'm still looking for one shoe that made a disappearing act back there the other day). It makes me wonder why I hadn't stole some time away for myself. Maybe it's because going on errands or to the mall is just as enjoyable with a stroller as without. Maybe I just didn't want to leave the little bugger. Who knows.

I didn't have time to miss him on Sunday, and I made it through today without much issue. Everyone wanted to talk about him, and I knew he was still asleep the first 3 hours of my day, so I wasn't concerned. I came home for lunch and he was already down for his nap, meaning we didn't get to see each other, which was kind of a bummer. In all, I have to say I'm glad I started back to work. I loved our time together and wish I had stayed home longer, but it was really nice to get back to a "grown up" routine again. I think it's good for me and will make me a better mom in the long run to have balance in my life. Disagree if you will, but that's just my opinion.

So, Shawn has the month of January with Ian. Just the two of them. Alone. Did I say just the two of them? Alone? Just the two of them? ALONE!!!

At Shawn's request, I made a big list of what to do and when. Where certain foods are located in the kitchen, etc. My biggest mistake was that I didn't include exactly when to do diaper changes. When I came home, he reported that he did change his morning diaper and again after breakfast, but there wasn't anything about diapers the rest of the day and, in his words, said the diaper at 3pm could have been popped like a balloon it was so wet. Great. I rewrote my list to include WHEN to check/change. Good grief. I've made some additions to the list, so hopefully there won't be an issue tomorrow. We'll see.

Below are a few pictures from the day. I sneaked in a couple at the beginning that show Ian's attempts to use a spoon. He likes to hold it and knows what to do, but there's a finesse to it that he just hasn't figured out yet. He sees his fingers as a much more logical feeding apparatus. I'm proud of him for his attempts, though. He always goes for the spoon with his left hand. I wonder if that means he might be left handed. I don't know enough about how that works, so for now I'll just assume so, since he's pretty analytical and a lot of geniuses are lefties (wink). For the record, Shawn and I are both rightys, but a bunch of smart people I know are lefties, so I'm pretty sure we have a Little Einstein on our hands.

Ian trying out a spoon yesterday. He's actually not that bad at it, but it will take a bit of work to get past the disgustingly messy phase. You've got to love this face. That's determination!

In the end, he decided that his fingers do a better job. Seems logical!

Shawn's "Home Alone" game with Ian today? Lobbing tennis balls at his walker with his hockey stick... It was a big success. Ian loved it and only one hit him. Don't worry, he didn't cry. He actually never saw it coming. (Just kidding! Settle down, folks!)

Shawn read an article...yes, I said Shawn read an article... that new toys should be rotated in every few days. This was today's new introduction. A whisk. Who needs a pricey LeapFrog system when you have a whisk?

Ian multi-tasking: Standing unassisted AND drinking juice from a straw...and saying AHHH!, which he does after almost every drink.

Walking with no help. There is a sea of floor in front and behind...and there's Ian in the middle! So exciting. I can't help but comment here that Shawn's choice of dress today was to simply put overalls over his PJ's. Why haven't I thought of that before?