A week without Daddy

David just returned home after spending a week in Portland. We're so thankful he was able to put off going until Will was nearly two months old and that this trip was only a week. We'll have a little time at home with him before he'll need to go back again.

Spending a week with the two kids sans Daddy was definitely different than when he traveled before Will was born. There was certainly no time to think about missing him (though we did, especially because he didn't have a working cell phone with him in Oregon). With a pair of little ones, time moves so fast that the week went by in a blur.

The weekend before David left town

Avonlea Jane watching Alma blow out the candles at her second birthday party

Alma's birthday party was held at Mall Tots, which is perhaps the best business venture ever invented. It's a 10,000 square foot space inside the mall carpeted with fake turf and filled with balls, ride-on toys, playground equipment, crawl tunnels, and bouncy houses. It is a small child's paradise.

Enjoying the bouncy house with Gemma

The R men are pooped on Presidents' Day. David is wearing a sweatshirt he gave me following a New York City trip in college. After napping with Will, he came downstairs to dinner, and Avonlea Jane pointed to his chest: "N-Y-P-D, Daddy." She's been practicing a lot with singing "The Alphabet Song" and playing with her alphabet puzzles, but this was the first time she actually read letters. We nearly exploded with pride when she did it.

A few days later she stunned once again. She loves Arthur books and particularly likes his little sister, D.W. After breakfast, Avonlea Jane was playing with her magnetic letters on the side of the fridge, grabbed two, and put them on the front. "Mommy, look. It says, 'D.W.'" I was floored that not only can she correctly identify her letters, but she comprehends they combine to form words, and she essentially "spelled" her first word.

Since this morning, she's been reading all of the letters she sees, and she's turned a few heads. We went to IKEA on the Friday while David was gone, and people kept asking how old she was when she was loudly proclaiming, "I-K-E-A, S-A-L-E," and the letters of random Swedish words around the store.

Below: She's "reading" one of her library books. The highlight of this video is when she correctly identifies "exclamation point." My heart runneth over with joy!



Here, she shows she knows all of the letters:

Avonlea Jane is snuggled up--and exchanging accessories--with our neighbor Mark at our neighborhood Oscars party. She was asked to wear something shiny, so she's wearing ruby slippers and has her sequined hat. The evening started so late that she came in pajamas after bath time, though. She wasn't interested in the ceremony at all, save for when The Gruffalo was up for an award, but she was very interested in the chocolate ice cream Janet got for her. She was also happy to learn that Will is gaining two playmates on the street who will be born this summer and fall. We stayed until 9:30 (an hour after her bedtime), when she declared from her spot lying on top of our neighbors Kate and Chad, "Time to go, Mommy. I'm getting tired."

Yesterday, in spite of the foul weather, we went downtown to the New England Aquarium with Michele.

Michele pointing out penguins jumping into the water

How Will spent the entire subway ride downtown, all of lunch, and nearly all of our time at the aquarium

Will's finally awake

Though he can't focus his eyes too far away, he really seemed to enjoy the massive central tank at the aquarium with sharks, sea turtles, eels, and thousands of fish.

Godmother Michele holding Will by the top of the tank (He is not nearly as close to the edge as this photo makes it appear; Michele was several feet away from the glass.)

Avonlea Jane loved seeing the divers go into the big tank to feed the fish. She also loved being able to hold (*cough* throw) starfish and a crab at their interactive exhibit.

The aquarium wasn't busy at all, so while she didn't need to hold hands the whole time we were there, she did a good job of not running off while we were inside. Even more remarkably, she didn't say anything to the contrary when it was time to leave. What a big girl!

Checking out the harbor seals on our way back to the subway

With David out of town, Avonlea Jane was sleeping in our bed, and she loves sharing a bed with Mommy and Will. While I love waking up to both of my children--and I normally do, as David brings Avonlea Jane into our room when he leaves for work--it was interesting trying to fall asleep with both of them. They're both such loud breathers; it's like sleeping in a room with a bagpiper or in the same house as a snoring Grandpa C.

I'm thrilled with how much she loves to spend time with Will. While I get dressed or shower, she likes to read her books to him, and she has an amazing recall of dialogue ("Mommy said, 'It won't come up.' Everyone said, 'It wouldn't come up,' but a carrot came up!"), text ("Some books are wide. Some books are narrow."), and even author's names("But Not the Hippopotamus by San-duh Boynton").

Today while I was getting ready, I took Will upstairs with me and asked Avonlea Jane to watch cartoons while I prepared to leave for the airport. I put up the downstairs gate when we left the floor, but I soon found Avonlea Jane standing in front of me. I asked her what happened to the gate, but she ignored me and said, "I wanna talk." I asked her what she wanted to talk about, and he said she wanted to talk to Will. She decided to tell him a story about herself in third person.

"The mommy said, 'Stay downstairs and watch nartoons. I getting ready.' The girl watched the nartoons then pushed down the gate and came u'stairs. 'What happened to the gate?' Mommy asked. Jane said, 'I wanna talk.'"

I wasn't pleased that she manipulated the gate, but I was impressed with her story telling and the ability to label herself in the story as "the girl."

As for Will's reply, he is starting to vocalize outside of crying, so we occasionally get an "ooo" out of him.

Will is happy to have Daddy home from Portland tonight (and happy to be wearing a sweater vest).

Tonight, at around ten o'clock, Avonlea Jane got out of bed and turned on the upstairs lights to come tell us she was thirsty. However, she got distracted from her task by a roll of stamps on the desk. We knew she was awake when she proudly proclaimed, "My stickers!" How far do you think we could mail her?

On a non-postal note, out little one turned two months old this week. Time is definitely flying.