Nashville Glewwe Kids

Michael can’t yet say Megan’s name, but we know when he’s trying to reach her: he calls for Ya-ya! I first noticed this a week or so ago. I called out Megan’s name as I was searching for her in the house, and Michael followed me, saying “Ya-ya!” with the same tone and inflection with which I had said her name.
There’ve been a few other examples to support my theory, too. At the zoo on Monday, I said “Megan, wait!” and Michael repeated “Ya-ya! Ya-ya! Wa(it)!” It was adorable. And yesterday, when I put up a website I thought would entertain him for a moment while he sat in my lap, he turned to the living room and called for Ya-ya several times before I finally asked her to come see the site. It’s adorable!

June 2 was a landmark day for us. After a bit of discussion and forethought, I left Monday dinner at my parents’ house with one less child than which I arrived. Megan was having an “overnighter” with her Nana and Grandpa. She was very excited and told me on Tuesday of all the fun things she did. She got delivered back to our house around 4pm the following day. There were pillow fights, firefly watching, sitting on the deck, and sleeping in her “nest.” She spent the night on the living room couch in a nest of blankets. She got up once to check on her grandparents in the middle of the night, but otherwise rested peacefully. She had a fantastic time, and she told me she wants to try it again. I think Sandra and Michael caught the worst of it without “Yaya” home to play. Sandra quotes a famous comedian often with “When you have one kid, you’re the show. When you have two kids, you’re just the usher.” Well, she switched from “usher” to “show” for the day, and Michael for some quality swim time.

Yesterday was Father’s Day, and though I had received a big present from Sandra a few weeks earlier due to a strange confluence of events, Megan hoodwinked her Mima into buying strawberry lemonade mix for me at Cracker Barrel when they went to Mass the night before. Megan is still making progress on potty training, and we had two incidents yesterday. No need for the gory details; however the engineers cleaning up at Chernobyl and Three Mile Island weren’t in need of HazMat suits more than we were.

Our real test will be Saturday. Sandra and I are approaching seven years of marriage, and we have decided to have an overnighter away from both children. We are fleeing the city to an undisclosed location where we will sit in a room and look at our cell phones waiting for them to ring. No doubt the kids will have a ball with Mima and Papa. They will be sleeping in their own beds, so they should have little anxiety from that. I know Megan will be fine, but Michael may be in for an unwelcome surprise Sunday morning. I’m not sure who will have it worse: us or them!

On another note, we had a few pictures taken recently that I wanted to share:

Megan spent the night at Nana and Grandpa’s last night, so it’s just been me and Michael today. This morning, we cleaned a little and played a little, then we headed for the Y to try out the improved children’s pool and water park area. It’s a water park right out of Michael’s dream book, filled with all sorts of things that shoot water out at you. The water was still a little cold though, so we only lasted 30 minutes. After a quick shower in the locker room, we headed over to have lunch with Grant. I wanted him fed fast before the water could do its thing and knock him out.

We had a nice lunch for 3 at Grant’s office, then Michael and I headed home. I did all I could to keep him awake and still arrive safely at home. I pulled him out of his seat and he snuggled into my shoulder. Before we were upstairs, he was a dead weight on my shoulder and chest. I usually read a little while I’m working on getting Michael to sleep; essentially, I have a book or Grant’s new Kindle next to me, just off the mattress, while I keep one arm on Michael, holding him still. I grabbed the Kindle to read a bit, assuming Michael would wake when I lay him down, but he didn’t! So, I’m delighted he went to sleep, but sad that I will have to wait a bit to see what happens next in The Outlander.

Off to take advantage of this nap to get some work done…