42 Days: Day 44--The End is Near

All day today, floating somewhere in the back of my mind was the knowledge that this idyllic existence is about to come to an end. I start work again Tuesday.

Many people in this world, my dad included, live to work, and need work to create or define a purpose for their lives. Retirement has been hard on my dad. Me? Six weeks with no work? I could get used to this... Too bad nobody seems to want to set us up with a hefty artist-in-residence grant to pay our bills, allowing us to continue simply being awesome 24/7. Oh well.

Edgar and I woke up this morning, and did our now-usual routine of Edgar-watching- He-Man while daddy attempts to snooze on the couch.

I even coaxed Edgar into taking a shower this morning. This boy doesn't really enjoy cleanliness. The soap in his hair from the bubble room yesterday made it a necessity.

For several sundays running, we have attempted to get Edgar to nap early before church. This is the first sunday he actually succeeded!

Jen and Sabrina made it home safely from the mountains. If you were to tell me two days ago that Jen could spend two nights away from us, and Edgar wouldn't throw a single Bikini Atoll-sized tantrum, I'd say you're crazy. This kid has been great! There were a few moments where Edgar would tear up and say "Iwantamommy", but I was able to calmly explain "Mommy is at a hotel with Becky and Katie." (hotel is a word he understands). With that gentle reminder, he would buck up and be cool with hanging with dad. Not so bad, if I do say so myself.

Soon after Jen made it home, we woke Edgar up, and made it (almost) on time for church. This is a big accomplishment, as we have tended to the 30-to-45-minutes-late side of things every week since Sabrina was born.

Church was fun. I discovered that certain primary songs actually sound better when you attempt to sing them at double speed. We had a fun moment where Edgar badly needed a diaper change, I needed to be up in front of 30 kids being silly, and Jen was nowhere to be found. Luckily, everything worked out all right in the end.

I got my customary nap after church (yay!) and settled down for dinner and He-man with Jen and Edgar, until Edgar got on Jen's nerves, and the boys retired to the other room to watch Spongebob. I've enjoyed my time snuggling with Edgar and watching TV. I think part of the motivation is knowing that I won't be able to spend as much quantity time with him in the next few weeks. I may get some play breaks, etc., but I probably won't have time to sit and watch 3 or 4 whole episodes of anything with him for quite a while.

During family scripture time tonight, Edgar was looking at the pictures in his book of mormon. This one's his favorite:

He can identify several of the characters from the story, but tonight, he pointed to the boy (lower left, leaning against the rail with bulging biceps) and said "Edgar!" I said, "Edgar, do you have muscles like that?", and he replied:

(muscles)

This boy sure loves his mama, too.

We put Edgar down for the night, and now all that is left to do is decide what to do for my last day of freedom. Stay tuned.

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Okay, here are some photos that I've been meaning to upload for a while....

First, the star of our show:

Strike a pose.

Shameless plug: This cute outfit was made by a friend. You can get one for your kid, too.

(click to enlarge) This one's kindof spooky. This is Edgar with a bunch of toy bandaids on his left hand, about 2 weeks before burning his hand on the stove, requiring way too many real bandaids on his left hand.