Marley has been home with us 3 weeks as of yesterday. We met her on December 29th, so we've passed the one month mark on that. Sometimes I look at her and can't believe she is finally here. I'll be rocking her in the chair before her nap and she stares into my eyes and I am just blown away that all of that waiting and worrying is over. She is here. She is ours, forever. It's just incredible. Other times I watch her walk around the house, looking all confident and comfortable, and it's hard to imagine that she has only been here three weeks. I'm sure I sound like a broken record by now, but she makes huge gains every day. Today alone, she (finally!) pulled herself up to standing, pointed to her cup when I asked what she wanted (rather than getting mad at me and whining), and fed herself her entire dinner with her fork and spoon. Yesterday, she was not doing any of these things. Today she did them all. It is just amazing to watch her, and it makes it feel like time is truly flying.
One thing I've been trying to do is to carve out a little segment of one-on-one time with each of the boys every week. Before Marley came home, Casey and I had every afternoon together while Keller was at kindergarten, and then Keller and I had two mornings a week together while Casey was at preschool. We did special things like trips to the bookstore and library, and not-as-special things like trips to Target and the post office. But it was one-on-one and it was nice. I miss it, and I'm sure the boys do, too. Marley is a pretty good napper, so Casey & I still get lots of one-on-one time in the afternoons, but it has been harder to find time to do special stuff with just Keller and I. Next fall he will be a full-time first grader, and spending time alone with him will be even harder. I really wanted to find a way to have some special time with him this winter, spring and summer. I've been kind of at a loss for how to find time, especially now that my semester started back up on the 22nd and I am teaching 2 nights a week again.
So, I called up my wise friend Amy and she told me what she and her husband have been doing with their kids (they have 3 as well--wow, I have 3 kids--sometimes it sounds so funny saying that!). Anyway, it's such a fantastic idea that Dave & I latched right on to it. What we are going to try to do is to each have a "date night" with one of the boys every week. It doesn't have to be anything elaborate or expensive, just a way to spend some one-on-one quality time with them. Tonight, Dave took Casey swimming at the gym and then out to Five Guys for burgers & fries. Tomorrow evening, Keller and I are going out to dinner and to watch the first part of the Superbowl together (GO STEELERS!). Next week or weekend, we'll switch it up and it will be my turn to do something with Casey, and Dave will do something with Keller. They are both enjoying coming up with ideas for what to do. Of course, this afternoon Casey told Dave that his pick was to "drive around the block and watch a DVD in the van"--so they will obviously need a little guidance at times! One of the best things is that even the kid who is left at home during the 'date night' gets a special night because it is just him, Marley and Mom or Dad hanging out. Tonight, Keller and I beat another section of Attack of the Toybots on the Wii, had melt-in-your-mouth pancakes (as he calls them) for dinner (Dave doesn't go for the whole 'breakfast for dinner' idea), and just got to spend a lot of time talking without much interruption. Marley is pretty easy-going and she was happy to sit on the floor with me and play while I helped coach Keller through the video game. I'm hoping we can make this a pretty consistent thing for the next couple of months. It serves the obvious purpose of giving the boys a little extra lovin' as they adjust to having another sibling to share attention with, but it also gives Dave and I an opportunity to get out a bit more. Although Marley would be fine with a babysitter, we aren't ready to go out and leave all three kids for an evening yet. We want to give it some more before we make that big move. So, now with our new date night plan, we still get to go out for dinner, to a movie, to the pool, to the bookstore, for a walk on the trail, etc. with only one kid in tow. I have high hopes for this.
Marley's 2nd birthday is on the 6th, so we're having a playdate/"meet Marley" kind of thing tomorrow with two families and then will have another small shindig next weekend with the families who couldn't make it tomorrow. Although I am eager to see all of my friends again, I think it'll be easier this way with just a few people and a few extra kids at a time. We may head down to DC tomorrow later in the afternoon to see the Chinese New Year parade. The weather is supposed to be nice (mid 50's) and we'd love to see the parade, but it does fall right at nap time, so we'll have to see what happens. It's been a long time since we've had to work around nap times in the Huffman house!
Sorry no pictures this time. I'm really tired and too lazy to upload pics today. I will try to put some on tomorrow night.
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