Look Who’s Back!

The past couple of weeks have been a whirlwind of activity! Here’s a recap for those who may have missed it.

On June 22, I headed to Pittsburgh to babysit for my two grandsons while Katie and Anthony took a trip to the Canadian Rockies. They had a great time and I am so glad that I was able to help them out. But, I do think I may have had my younger self in mind when I said yes! Each day was an adventure, and I wrote most of it on Facebook, but here are a few things I learned.

Things I learned at Camp CeCe…

1.     Daily activities with a two-year-old don’t take long. So, if you start it at 8am, be prepared to be finished before 9am. You need lots of backup activities. Even though I thought Gabriel was advanced, he is still two and his attention span for most anything other than cars is fairly short.

2.    A snack bag is like magic! Gabriel learned that there were all kinds of treats in the snack bag and when it was time for a treat (frequent occurrence that week!), it was a big deal to decide between rice Krispie treats and goldfish, or nutter butter mini cookies and fruit snacks, or graham crackers and fruit bars. So many choices…

3.    Babies that are nine months old are fast crawlers and attracted to all places that he shouldn’t go. Adrian was like a magnet to the open gate at the stairway and the fireplace. He also went right towards the outlet that was uncovered to have my charger plugged in.

4.    Taking a shower doesn’t happen in a timely fashion. One day, at 2pm, Gabriel ended up in the bathroom with me while Adrian took a nap. He sat on the stool and he read his book, until I told him “no peeking” and then I tried to escape from the shower with a towel wrapped around me and suffice to say there may have been a little bit of “peeking” as I ran to the bedroom! Adrian took a short nap that day so it was a cluster of a shower time.

5.    Regardless of the time of day, it really is okay to have something out of the norm for a meal…One morning, I asked Gabriel what he wanted for breakfast and he said, “Pizza!” We didn’t have any pizza at that moment, so he opted for eggs. But when dinner rolled around and he wanted “waffles with mommy’s dip” I was ready!! One day, he got a breakfast snack on top of his breakfast…afterall, a rice Krispie treat is like breakfast, right?

6.    Avoiding screen time is great in theory, but when Adrian was sick, crying for two days straight, Gabriel binge-watched Dora The Explorer, and as annoying as the tunes were, I was grateful to be able to focus on my little Adrian. I also learned that Adrian is not a fan of Bling Empire on Netflix. He and I had some long nights and he wasn’t interested!

7.    Between gates, cabinet locks, appliance locks, and the beeps that went off if the frig was left open, or when the dishwasher was finished, and when the coffee was finished, finding quiet time was not as easy as planned. Every time there was a beep, Gabriel exclaimed, “Coffee’s ready!”

8.    Toys for babies and toddlers are musical…and I think they have the same singers in the factory singing all of the tunes. “Welcome to our learning farm, we have much to show you…” “The cow says MOOOOOOOO” and “Triangle – Yellow” were all too familiar by the time I went to bed each night. It’s funny how Gabriel wanted Adrian’s toys and Adrian wanted Gabriel’s toys.

9.    Gabriel is pretty smart…the rule is if Adrian is playing with something that Gabriel wants, Gabriel must find something to replace and give to Adrian. Gabriel is really good about the concept and even better about figuring out a slightly lesser value toy…hmmmmm….”Here Adrian, play with this.” Adrian was quite content, but Gabriel had a side eye look, making sure Adrian wasn’t making a crawl towards his cars!!! So fun to watch!

10.  Always make sure you get good car seat directions. I was a master at strapping them in, but I had no idea how to get the seat out. So instead of carrying Adrian into the doctor’s office in his seat, I had to carry him in my arms and the backpack/diaper bag, and my purse. I was a sweaty mess!

11.  I learned that I may be better covering for a long weekend trip rather than a week-long trip! I also learned that Greg and I still make a good team. He came up on Monday and stepped up as a big help while I managed the sick baby. We had a good system and I am grateful that I had his help for those three days.

12.  Overall…I treasured that week. I was exhausted and there were tears, but we had great fun and I loved being there with my two favorite boys!!!

I returned at 3:30pm on Friday, July 1 and promptly headed to Day 1 of a family reunion. My parents anxiously awaited my return so we could begin the fun with family from all over. Saturday morning, there was brunch with cousins and a little shopping and then back to my brother’s house for food and drink. It was hot but no one complained. There’s was a repeat of the family gathering on Sunday, but only after friends from Missouri came into town and we prepared brunch for them that morning.

It was a whirlwind few days and as you can imagine, I was a little tired. Things I learned from the reunion weekend were:

1.    Family loves you no matter what you look like! (sweaty and tired)

2.    Don’t give up a chance to see family because you just never know. Everyone there was so glad to have some time with Mom and Dad and that made me happy.

3.    Time flies when you are having fun!!

The Fourth of July was fairly quiet for me. I was grateful for every day leading up to that day, and my bed never felt so great!!

But wait…there was one more thing…I met Katie and her family in Indianapolis for a small reunion with our first friends in Cincinnati…We have been friends for over 30 years and our kids are friends too. My Katie and my friend, Ann’s Katie, were maids of honor in each other’s weddings. It had been years since all of us had been together. There was total chaos at Ann & Dave’s house…3 babies and lots of toys…a swimming pool with pool toys, floats, and towels everywhere. There was wonderful food and drink, gifts of the day, and so much love all around. It was just what I needed and wanted.

Ann and I were sitting on her porch with our cocktails and we looked at each other at the same time and said, “This is what we always wanted!” We wanted our kids to be friends and they are…our kids and their spouses were talking with no awkwardness. Everyone pitched in to help with whatever was needed and I got to float in the pool!

Now, I am home for awhile. My heart is full and my body is almost back to normal…I think one more good night’s sleep and I will be good! So much happened during the last three weeks and I am grateful that I could do it all!

So…you are all caught up! I’m back on schedule and doing my “Betty & Chuck” things. We have a few things on the calendar but for now…we are home! See you next week!! xoxoxoxo