Mom & Dad's Night Out (aka, Ian's First Sleepover)

Friday night was a milestone for our family. Ian's Grandma Trish has been asking for months...and months...and months... to take Ian overnight. It was a flat no from me until I was confident that he had adequately bonded with us, could communicate his needs, and was ready to close his eyes at night with neither of us there.

Shawn and I have only been out to dinner alone once since coming home from China last November, and we were home 2 hours later. We really wanted to have a nice dinner out, and had received gift certificates for Mother's & Father's Day gifts (from a strategic Grandma) and needed to use them.

Here we are almost a year after bringing Ian home and I'm finally ready to let him go for the night. I thought I would be a basket case, but I really wasn't. I know he loves his Grandma and is used to being alone with her since she watches him on Fridays. He asks for Grandpa Tom all the time, so I knew he would do fine. I thought that if it unravelled at any point, it would be the saying goodnight and closing the door part. I've worked hard to replicate his at home sleep environments as closely as possible when we sleep somewhere different...Same blankets, music player, etc. It works pretty well and he always sleeps fine, even in a room to himself.

I realized it wasn't going to be a big, fancy, romantic night out when, while getting ready, Shawn asked from the closet, "Do I have any clean jeans?". This was after I drug out the curling iron and put on liquid foundation...and was wearing pantyhose. Foundation AND pantyhose! It was obvious that we had very different expectations of the evening.

Despite the evening's beginnings, it was a really nice dinner, and the restaurant has a wonderful view of the space needle, ferry line, and Seattle skyline. We had cosmos, appetizers, fancy salads, seafood, wine, dessert, coffee... the whole nine yards. It was definitely worth the night out. We decided that we were too full to go to a movie, so we headed home. We were in our separate TV rooms watching our own shows by 8:30pm and asleep by 10. Some habits are hard to break, kid or no kid.

I did dream that Tom & Trish lost Ian... and the rest of the night dreamed of work. Where the Ian-free night paid off was the sleeping in part. I slept until an unheard of 8:00am. Even before Ian came along, that was a ridiculous thought.

Never the less, I was dressed and out the door by 10 to run errands until it was time to meet Trish halfway to trade Ian. That time included a trip to the bookstore and some time to research our gift for Ian on "Family Day". I'm deciding on a collector's item of some kind that we can add to every year. I'm finding that trains are REALLY complicated and will take lots of research and questions before even entertaining the idea of starting a collection. Books are easier, but then there are editions and mints to consider. Even Hardy Boys (my first thought) have so many reprints throughout the decades. I have to give it more thought and then jump in and make a decision since we're only a couple of weeks away from our day. I really wish I would have thought about this ahead of time... I've had all year!

So, how did Ian do at Grandma & Grandpa's house? He did great! They went to the park, played with the neighbor's kids, visited Grandma's office, read stories with Grandpa, took a bath...and went to bed....That's it! All my worrying for nothing!

Even if it's just for a day of uninterrupted cleaning...or another chance to sleep in, I might have to contract Grandma for a Friday night every couple of months. I know... I'm really living on the edge now!

Mom & Dad's big night out

That's right, Grandma....When all else fails, MAKE him give you a kiss.

He's such a ladies man!

Ian, just put your hand in here like this, and then turn this handle counter clockwise... What?!

Playing with Grandpa's gee-tar

Hanging out with Spirit

Being interrogated the witch

MMM! Chicken!

Reading his favorite book "Chugga Chugga Choo Choo!"

He NEVER gets bored of stacking cups

Don't worry, Ian. One day you'll have that much chest hair, too.

Playing in Grandma's bathroom... Although I don't know that I would have trusted a toddler with a hairbrush so close to a glass perfume bottle collection! Yikes!