April 7: It’s a miracle! Both kids are asleep. I just snuck out of the bed after lying down next to Sylvia for almost an hour. She really only likes to nap either on my lap on next to me in bed. Occasionally over the last hour, her eyes would flicker open, and a brief smile would spread across her face as she noted that I was still next to her. What sweetness. But then she seemed more lax, more asleep, and I snuck away to have a few moments in a room by myself before the next round of parenting starts. Andrew is sleeping this afternoon too. After spending the morning at Alivia’s house, he came home quiet tired. And happily, today (as opposed to the last couple days) he took a nap.
Andrew loves Syliva so much. I got home from Carleton late on Saturday night. On Sunday morning, Andrew came around to my side of the bed and asked if Sylvia was there. Then he crawled over me, cupped her chubby cheek in his two-year-old hand and said, “She’s so beautiful. I love her pretty eyes.” Then he got cozy under the covers and cuddled with all of us. What a sweet boy!
Pictures from the last several days are in the gallery.
I drove up to Northfield, MN on Thursday last week to attend an Alumni Concil meeting at Carleton. Sylvia had been rather fussy the previous couple days, so I was rather skeptical that it was a good idea to try to drive four hours with her solo and have her sitting in two full-day committee meetings. However, the whole experience was a good one. She didn’t cry much on either leg of the trip…maybe an hour, but she tends to cry for around an hour in the evenings anyway, so it was pretty managable. She did great during the meeting times, and it was a lot of fun to share her with the other people on the council. I love playing “pass the baby!”
While I was gone, Andrew went to daycare at Karen’s on Friday and had a great time. I think he enjoyed getting to see Karen and some of the other kids he knew. On Saturday, Becky came over to watch him in the morning while Bryan went to a Madison Film Festival show, and then Bryan and Andrew spent most of the rest of the day outdoors.
It was a lovely weekend. The air was pretty balmy, and we got to see many of our neighbors as we swept out the garage, raked all the leaves out our gardens, and threw balls around in the yard.
Today the weather is back in the 30s, but warm spring is peeking around somewhere. I just know it! I have several pots of pansies waiting to be planted when the last piles of snow disappear.
We’re off to Wichita this weekend to introduce Syliva to Bryan’s grandparents and aunts and uncles. Bryan’s parents and Ben and Melanie will be driving up from Texas to join us. We’re looking forward to it. This will be Sylvia’s first plane flight. And she is eight weeks old today!