Day 45-- Going Out Like a Lion

{PSA: for those of you just stumbling across this blog, it might help to start at the beginning. At some point, I may try to reverse these posts into chronological order}


So this is it... President's day, 2011. Day 45 of 42. The last day of my parental leave with Sabrina.

We decided to end it with a roar.... by going back to the zoo.

Yes, I was very tempted to go skiing today, but the lure of spending extra time with the kids won out... besides, the snow's been lame. I guess we're having a drought year. There's not enough fresh powder up there to change my mind.

While everyone was still waking up, Jen busted out a new signing time DVD, so we all learned ASL signs for all the zoo animals.

As Jen was getting ready for the day... (girls..  8 years of marriage, and it still takes her forever to get ready for the day), Edgar and Sabrina and I (already ready already) got to spend some sweet time together. This is Edgar tickling his sister and making her smile:

We had a fun time at the zoo. We managed to not overlap very much with the last time we visited, and there's still a bunch of stuff we missed. Glad we bought a membership.

Sea Lion encounter. Yes, we've seen them in the wild and at the Sea Lion Caves, but these were HUGE, and right behind the glass from us.

The Orangutans were really fun. The huge male swung around right next to us. Then, this female hunkered down near the glass and let all the kids get really close to her. When a kid would get really close, she'd make a kissy face at them. It doesn't take much prompting for Edgar, so he kissed back.

Again, this was the view I got all day: Sabrina was my bjornling, and she was totally quiet and well-behaved. Someday, she may actually see the zoo.

Edgar drove this Jeep from the Cheetah enclosure to Mommy's house.

We escaped from the zoo with two overtired, hungry kids, and dropped in on my parents without any warning. I love my family. They totally loved the visit, fed us lunch, and let us take naps. I took a sizable nap in the bed in the same room as Edgar. When Edgar woke up yelling for mommy (and no one else), I rousted Jen off the couch, took a sleeping Sabrina from her arms, and took her place, taking another longish nap with Sabrina on my chest, while Jen snuggled Edgar down. All told, I think it was about 4 solid hours of napping. I will totally miss daily naps when I go back to work tomorrow.

We had a fun dinner with my parents, and a lot of good conversation. Jen held Sabrina while I ate dinner, then I took her during Jen's dinner. She and I had a grand time, and I even got her to laugh!

Sabrina, smiling at me

Grandma gave in to Edgar's demands and put lots of band-aids on his (now mostly-healed) hand.

Wearing Mommy's shoes, showing off the band-aids.

We love Grandma.

Please don't interrupt my last evening of peace.

So, we're back home in Salem, safe and sound. Both kids are sleeping. Jen and I got some necessities done, and it's now the time that I've been dreading... time to encapsulate all the past six weeks into some coherent whole... to decide if this whole experiment in blogging/child rearing/vacation/slacking means anything. 

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Jen suggested listing things I've learned. While I'm not sure that's the best way to present things, I can't think of a better alternative at the moment. So, without further ado:

Things I've Learned in the Last Forty-some-odd Days:

1. I LOVE NAPS.

 If there is one consistent theme to this blog, it is naps. Long naps. I love them. I've taken them almost every day that I've been off work, and I highly recommend them to EVERYONE. The world is so much better after a nap.

This picture is the theme of my blog, and by far my favorite picture taken at the zoo today.

Honestly, when I think about it, the number-one thing I will miss when I return to work is my daily nap. Sure, I'll miss spending time with the kids, but I'll get some time every day with Edgar and Sabrina. I won't, however, get to spend time napping.

I think our society would see less hate and evil if we'd all take a good afternoon snooze. I happened to mention napping in church, in front of the kids that I teach. One 8-year-old raised his hand and asked, incredulously, "you take naps?" I patiently tried to explain to him that there is a window of age between about age 5 and 15 where naps are for babies, and you don't want to take them. Outside that age window, everybody loves naps. Just not everyone can take them without getting in trouble.

So, I'm all in favor of the siesta.

2. Being a stay-at-home parent is hard work, but I could do it.

Wow. Taking care of kids is a full-time job. There's no doubt about that. Just keeping them fed is crazy. Add to that bottles, diapers, fresh clothes, snacks, and regular naps, and it's a wonder any parents can ever get their kids out the door in the morning. I have a renewed appreciation for what Jen and other moms do on a day-in-day-out basis.

That being said... (This is the part where I sound like a bit of a male chauvinist). It's a big job, but I could handle being a stay-at-home parent. (I know, 2 parents at home with 2 kids=not the same thing). I think I would make an awesome stay-at-home-dad. I could handle the diapers, the yelling, the tantrums, the feedings, etcetera etcetera. I'm not saying I could do better than Jen-- it's not a comparison, anyway. We'd have a lot of fun, and go lots of cool places. But... I can't convince Jen to go to work so that I can stay home.

3. Babies are cute.

Aww...

4. I don't miss work.

Not one little bit. Nope. I could get used to this.

5. Having two parents at home doesn't guarantee you can actually accomplish anything.

Adventures, check. Chores and projects? Not so much. Oh well. There will always be chores.

6. Don't pick a fight with your spouse within the first week of childbirth.

This is one I should've learned last time around. Those hormones on day 4 and 5 are killer. A new mom is not a rational being... more like a vengeful destroying angel.

7. Down with the Wiggles.

I don't know much about them, but the more I know, the more they make me want to hurt people.

8. He-Man is still rad.

And knowing the phrase "Power of Grayskull" makes you the raddest not-even-two-year-old in town.

9. Should I take up writing and photography?

I've had several people suggest that I should do more writing or photography. That's very kind of you for saying that. However, there are several thousand people with more talent and education in those fields, living in their parents' basement, unemployed. I'm glad I have a job, at least until the rock star thing works out for me.

10. Blogging is time consuming

...Actually, I pretty much knew that. Oh well. I was on vacation. I had time to burn, right?

It's been a real joy seeing Sabrina grow from this cute, mewling newborn to a cute, smiling, mewling 6-week-old. It's been fun watching Edgar completely lose it and revert to babyhood when the usurper-baby stole his rightful place in the kingdom, and gradually learn to love this little girl and to be a responsible big brother. It's been fun being able to team up with Jen. We work well together, and we've got each other's back, at least enough to make sure each other gets a nap every day.

In a way, I'm going to miss sharing my life with everyone. In another way, my life is pretty boring. Especially when more than half of my waking time is devoted to being employed.

Having both parents at home, for this 6 weeks, has really brought our family closer together. Edgar loves his daddy. Sabrina loves sleeping in my armpit. Jen and I have learned to work together (even if we can't share a kitchen).  We've learned to have fun and have adventures and parent without a net. It's been great. I highly recommend to any father who can: take some time to support your wife and kids. Any time.

I have had a great vacation-- time spent getting to know my family, helping out, and reporting everything back to you. This will be my last blog post... UNLESS someone wants to provide some sort of artist-development grant to allow us both to keep staying-at-home. I would blog every day, I'd do pictures everyday, we'd tour the world with our rock and roll band. We'd be the coolest parents on the planet.

Maybe we already are.

Day 43--Boys

So Jen is off on this all-girls weekend retreat, leaving just us boys at home. I can handle this, right? I can handle anything.

Oh, did I mention she took our only car? Have I griped a few times about the shady volkswagen mechanic who is apparently perpetually 3 days away from fixing my car? I took the car in a week before Sabrina was born. This blog tells me she's more than 6 weeks old now. I may not be the world's greatest mechanic, but I could've taken both carburetors off, rebuilt them, and reinstalled them a long time ago. That's probably more extreme than it actually needs...

Okay, so, no car, no wife, no cell phone (okay, that one's a personal choice-- one I will gladly sermonize you on if you ask me)... Anyway, it seemed awfully like parenting without a net.

But the truth is, we had all we need. We have each other, and a healthy enough imagination to find things to do and ways to have fun.

So, Edgar woke up this morning after a long, peaceful night's sleep, and wanted to watch Spongebob. We cuddled in bed and watched a few episodes (thanks, netflix!). He seemed to really enjoy the time. "Daddy, go to sleep here!" (pointing to my pillow). I will admit to dozing a few times.

After a few episodes, it was time to start our day:

I took Edgar out in his bike trailer. This was our favorite activity last summer. However, it's been a while. He asked me "what's this?", pointing to the bike trailer. I think he remembers it, he just didn't have the words "bike trailer" in his vocabulary. He looks SO much bigger than I remember him being in the bike trailer. You may remember I bought Jen a two-seater bike trailer for her birthday. I was convinced there was some way to shoehorn another kid in this one, but after today, there's no way 2 kids would fit in that (see the above picture).

Last summer, I didn't consider myself in any sort of "shape", so I expected to be just as out of shape today. Boy, was I wrong.  Everything seemed much harder. Either that, or Edgar's much heavier. I know I am.

We rode off to the Gilbert House museum, as I felt we didn't get the full experience last time. We took my advice from last time and played on the empty playground first.

Continuing on yesterday's theme, here's a video of Edgar and I doing a xylophone duet on the playground:

Edgar loved this dinosaur chair. He returned to it a few times, and commanded me to sit in the other dinosaur chair next to it.

We went in the section of the museum dedicated to AC Gilbert himself. He was a true polymath and rennaisance man. Among other things, he was an olympic gold-medal pole vaulter, medical doctor, and inventor of the erector set. We need more people like him in the world. He also invented some other interesting stuff...

Also, those erector sets are cool. Now, I had some cool toys when I was a kid, but I'm not sure anything was as cool as a do-it-yourself robot or atomic energy kit.

Edgar thoroughly enjoyed his playtime today. We spent time at exhibits that weren't very crowded, so neither he nor I got sick of the people. He got a really good chance to explore some of the stuff in-depth.

We even visited the infamous bubble room, which we skipped last time. Our visit went something like this:

Edgar, timidly trying to see what all the other kids are doing in this room -> Edgar discovering a pan of soapy water and a hula hoop -> Edgar unsuccessfully trying to make a bubble with the hula hoop and getting a little frustrated -> Edgar successfully making a huge bubble with the hula hoop -> Edgar celebrating by splashing in the bubble fluid -> Total meltdown, as bubble fluid fills his eyes -> Daddy trying to comfort a screaming Edgar -> Edgar trying to wipe bubble fluid out of his eyes using his soapy hands -> Daddy dragging a screaming Edgar to the sink to wash his hands so at least that part will be soap-free -> Edgar crying on Daddy's lap, while Daddy grabs a bubble wand and makes a few bubbles -> Edgar wanting to make some bubbles, but not wanting to leave Daddy's lap -> Edgar finally getting the courage to stop crying and make some bubbles -> Edgar excitedly making bubbles -> Edgar jumping up and down, blowing bubbles everywhere, getting his arms, legs, and hair wet -> Edgar getting excited again, splashing soapy water into his eyes, and screaming in pain -> Daddy, repeating the wash and comfort cycle, and trying to convince Edgar his time in the bubble room is over

The star of our show, sometime between meltdowns.

The obligatory gilbert house Big Chair Picture. (shortly after bubbly meltdown)

With that, we crossed the wonderful Salem Pedestrian Bridge and grabbed some lunch. Did you know Dairy Queen sells milk in soft-drink-size portions?

Back across the bridge, I offered Edgar the chance of going back to the museum or heading home. He chose home. Good thing he did, too, because he was asleep by the time we passed Salem Hospital. I don't know how he does it, but this is a pretty common thing for Edgar to fall asleep in the bike trailer, going over bumps, with the top down...



Home after a long uphill ride, I trundled Edgar inside, with a fresh bottle, and put him in my bed. I've mentioned on here that he doesn't like to be interrupted/moved during his nap. I was lucky that he went back to sleep and we both got a sizable nap in my bed.

That's the sort of thing Jen thinks is fun-- snuggling with the kids. It's never held a huge attraction for me, but it was pretty fun today. Made me feel like a real daddy.

When Edgar woke up, he really wanted to snuggle some more. So, more episodes of Spongebob were in order. I could've gotten more things done (stuff put away from Kalaloch, dishes, etc. etc.) but snuggling with the kid was way too fun.

I mentioned in one of my first blog posts that I hoped that Edgar would do a little growing up (and detaching from Mom) over the course of this six weeks. I think he has. He's grown-up in all the good ways, and still a baby in all the ways that don't matter.

Here's a cute conversation:

E: "Daddy, what time is it?"

Me (taken aback) : "I don't know... uhh... I'm-just-starting-to-cook-dinner-time?"

E: "Change the diaper time!"

wow. That's easy.

Some other random cuteness from Edgar: He's taken up my habit of saying "Yes Sir" and "No Sir". It's kindof cute. The problem is, it's also ambigui-fied his answers:

I remember being in elementary school, first learning cursive, and finding that T and F were really close in cursive. From then on, for several years, I answered all my true-false tests and homework in cursive, with the hope that if I wasn't sure of something, I could make the letter ambiguous enough that the teacher would mark it right...

So, when you ask Edgar a yes/no question, he usually responds with something that sounds like "Nyeah" or "Yo" or "Noshyeah" or "Yeah-uh" or something else. They all look silly written down, but he honestly drives us nuts because we can't tell his nos from his yeses.

Another couple of cute stories: he loves he-man. Long before he discovered he-man, we discovered two old he-man toys at goodwill. One he recognizes as Cringer, although the toy cringer is quite a bit fiercer than the cartoon. The other one (Leech, evil master of power suction[!!]), he doesn't recognize as a he-man character, and calls it "the kissing monster".

Last week, Jen was nursing baby Sabrina. Edgar came in with Cringer held against his chest: "Edgar give Cringer some Nurning. A little bit. For just a minute." Apparently, this behavior is pretty normal.. it's just also hilarious.

We haven't told Edgar about my stash-- two apple boxes full of all my old he-man toys (and Castle Greyskull!) that my parents saved from when I was a kid. There are a ton in there, with armor, vehicles, weapons (whatever my nephew Gavin didn't manage to break). I figure he wouldn't appreciate it very much at this age, and would probably break them all. We can save them until he's 4 or 5.

Edgar went to bed easily again tonight. Jen comes back in the morning.

I spent way too much time tonight making another poster for an activity in primary tomorrow. Then, I realized that I should blog, too. It's 1:25 as I finish this. I really need to get some sleep before Edgar wakes up.