When I last left you I'd just arrived in Utah. Yesterday I flew home. Stuff happened in the middle, I promise and I'm sure I'll get to that but in the meantime life keeps happening (we've already been to the doctor this morning, for example).
The night before I left my mom's visiting teacher came over to show me some baby massage techniques, which people have sworn help their non-sleeping children sleep. Zoë did fall asleep after her massage, but only for about 20 minutes, which is an ordinary nap length for her. Then she was up and wired for the rest of the evening.
The lady said Zoë might've been upset because we only did the colic routine once (to learn it) and you're supposed to do it three times. She's not sure why but for some reason numbers are important—counting strokes and repeating sequences the right number of times.
Anyway, our first flight went okay but not great. There were a lot of babies around to look at, so they were all mostly entertained by making faces at each other. Zo hit herself in the head with a toy at one point and started howling but beyond that she was pretty good.
We had a three-hour layover in Houston which meant we had plenty of time to stretch and forget that we'd been sitting on a cramped airplane at all. It also meant that I had time to give Zoë a little massage before we boarded. I gave her the colic massage (all three times) and she slept the whole flight! The guy I was sitting beside said, "That is the best baby I've ever sat by!" He even got my backpack down from the overhead bin for me instead of running away in a dead panic (because babies are terrifying).
Andrew was a little late picking me up because Benjamin fell off the bench just before it was time to go. He hit his noggin pretty hard and quickly sprouted a big goose egg so Andrew was busy fussing over him—getting ice for his head and worrying about concussion. Benjamin still has a big bump on his head but he's acting just fine.
The doctor said as long as he didn't ever lose consciousness and wasn't vomiting uncontrollably that he was probably fine. Not that I made an appointment for him; no, no, Zoë had her six month well-child check and I just casually asked about head injuries. "Hypothetically speaking, if Benjamin has a goose egg yea big that's okay, right? Or should I make an appointment to have him looked at?"
He's fine, of course. But he was pretty proud of that bump. He told me all about how he fell down and screamed and Daddy iced his head. Then he wanted me to hold him and hold him and hold him while we waited for his suitcase.
Rachel gave me a quick hug and then demanded that I give her the baby.
Miriam gave me a quick hug and then sat by Rachel and played with Zoë.
It's nice to know they still care about me.
I was actually feeling a little insecure about my homemaking abilities because Andrew seemed to be handling things so well without me. The house was clean, the kids were happy—and that's great because Andrew's a very capable father...but things shouldn't be running smoother without me there, right? Like, there should be a few hiccups, right? I do stuff, right?!
Come to find out, Andrew only cooked once while I was gone (they survived on pizza and McDonald's). It was no-homework week for Rachel and she didn't have soccer or activity days. Andrew didn't have to run interference between Zoë and Benjamin all day, so he was able to get a little bit of work accomplished when Benjamin would leave him alone (but he also didn't get as much work done as he wanted to because Benjamin wouldn't always leave him alone). I guess I should say something about Miriam because I mentioned all the other kids—she was home and mostly helpful (she cleaned the house on Sunday while everyone else was napping because—did I mention?—Rachel got the throw-ups on Saturday so Andrew got to deal with that on his own, too).
Still, Andrew handled things wonderfully. I don't know that he'll ever want me to disappear for a week ever again, but he handled things wonderfully!
The night before I left my mom's visiting teacher came over to show me some baby massage techniques, which people have sworn help their non-sleeping children sleep. Zoë did fall asleep after her massage, but only for about 20 minutes, which is an ordinary nap length for her. Then she was up and wired for the rest of the evening.
The lady said Zoë might've been upset because we only did the colic routine once (to learn it) and you're supposed to do it three times. She's not sure why but for some reason numbers are important—counting strokes and repeating sequences the right number of times.
Anyway, our first flight went okay but not great. There were a lot of babies around to look at, so they were all mostly entertained by making faces at each other. Zo hit herself in the head with a toy at one point and started howling but beyond that she was pretty good.
We had a three-hour layover in Houston which meant we had plenty of time to stretch and forget that we'd been sitting on a cramped airplane at all. It also meant that I had time to give Zoë a little massage before we boarded. I gave her the colic massage (all three times) and she slept the whole flight! The guy I was sitting beside said, "That is the best baby I've ever sat by!" He even got my backpack down from the overhead bin for me instead of running away in a dead panic (because babies are terrifying).
Andrew was a little late picking me up because Benjamin fell off the bench just before it was time to go. He hit his noggin pretty hard and quickly sprouted a big goose egg so Andrew was busy fussing over him—getting ice for his head and worrying about concussion. Benjamin still has a big bump on his head but he's acting just fine.
The doctor said as long as he didn't ever lose consciousness and wasn't vomiting uncontrollably that he was probably fine. Not that I made an appointment for him; no, no, Zoë had her six month well-child check and I just casually asked about head injuries. "Hypothetically speaking, if Benjamin has a goose egg yea big that's okay, right? Or should I make an appointment to have him looked at?"
He's fine, of course. But he was pretty proud of that bump. He told me all about how he fell down and screamed and Daddy iced his head. Then he wanted me to hold him and hold him and hold him while we waited for his suitcase.
Rachel gave me a quick hug and then demanded that I give her the baby.
Miriam gave me a quick hug and then sat by Rachel and played with Zoë.
It's nice to know they still care about me.
I was actually feeling a little insecure about my homemaking abilities because Andrew seemed to be handling things so well without me. The house was clean, the kids were happy—and that's great because Andrew's a very capable father...but things shouldn't be running smoother without me there, right? Like, there should be a few hiccups, right? I do stuff, right?!
Come to find out, Andrew only cooked once while I was gone (they survived on pizza and McDonald's). It was no-homework week for Rachel and she didn't have soccer or activity days. Andrew didn't have to run interference between Zoë and Benjamin all day, so he was able to get a little bit of work accomplished when Benjamin would leave him alone (but he also didn't get as much work done as he wanted to because Benjamin wouldn't always leave him alone). I guess I should say something about Miriam because I mentioned all the other kids—she was home and mostly helpful (she cleaned the house on Sunday while everyone else was napping because—did I mention?—Rachel got the throw-ups on Saturday so Andrew got to deal with that on his own, too).
Still, Andrew handled things wonderfully. I don't know that he'll ever want me to disappear for a week ever again, but he handled things wonderfully!
Glad she slept for you! I figured he was busy because his Facebook post went way down and there was some crazy stuff happening ;).
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