Ana flew out early Sunday morning to head to The Bahamas for a week of work. Yes, it sounds really lovely and everyone says, “oh yeah, ‘work,'” but the reality is that she is in a coworking space (overlooking the water) all day each day that she is away. The weather sounds really horrible there currently and there is a little bit of current safety concern. Not to mention the throngs of cruise ships that stop by to obstruct the view. When she found out that her work was sending her to Nassau for a week, we talked about Tadej and me going with her but then it struck me….a whole week with a toddler in a hotel room while Ana is at work all day and some nights, really didn’t sound too fun. Here, we have support and childcare for three days and his own bed that he sleeps in much better than a pack n play. So we stayed home.

This is the first time that Ana has been away from Tadej for more than a few hours. This is the first time that I am solo parenting for more than a day or so and the first time that Tadej is just with me for a week. 

The first hurdle was trying to figure out how to work at church Sunday morning, walk the pups before going and making sure Tadej has care. I can’t really care for Tadej while presiding over Communion for example. Our church doesn’t have childcare quite yet so that wasn’t an option. Plus kiddo is at that age that if I am around, he is upset with anyone else in another room. I was talking to my brother about this and he responded, “Just bring him over for the morning. This is why you moved home. We would love to have him.” So Tadej got to hang out with Uncle Grant, Aunt Sha, and his cousins for the first time on his own. He had a great time going to the playground (pic above), reading books, hearing Uncle Grant play guitar, and eating his snacks. I hear that he really had bonding time with Aunt Sha much to his Uncle’s chagrin but all was successful. Phew!

Luckily we have amazing neighbors who took the dogs for a walk while I was away and church was sweet and lovely. Challenge number one cleared!

We spent the rest of Sunday and all of Monday together. We explored around, went on errands together, napped in the car, went on walks, went to a book store or two, and played played played. We even ate pizza that Ana doesn’t care for…yay for pineapple on pizza! This is the week to make this influence known to little tastebuds. :) 

And if it hasn’t been clear, my kiddo loooovvves books.

Every time I turn away or look down, he has a book in hand and I love it. We want to encourage this as much as possible. He knows that he gets to pick out a book when we go into a bookstore and he will carefully choose one that he carries around the store the entire time. He has really chosen stellar books too!

Yesterday and today, both Tadej and I have enjoyed the return to childcare. While I work and meet and breathe, Tadej explores and plays with his bestie Kiera and loves on his caretakers. We are so lucky to have him going to Nuestra Escuela near our home. He gets to socialize, eat good food, hear Spanish all day, and get loved on by these incredible women. It is really a good fit for us.

I mean we have definitely had moments like this too…

Tadej is exploring what it means to vocalize his opinions. I am exploring what it means to set boundaries and to say no to things we don’t want him to do. We try to say no thank you unless we are really serious about a boundary…mostly around plugs in the wall or dangerous choices. But we are definitely raising a highly opinonated and sensitive soul. His cries of disdain are pretty phenomenal and usually don’t last long (about 20 seconds after this pic he was happily dancing to music) and I try hard not to laugh when he does this but it is pretty cute even in his displeasure.

It is all right on time for toddlerhood. He is also expanding his vocab every day and moving like a champ. It seems like everyday brings something brand new.

I have been asked quite a bit lately how I like being a mom and I have to say I am liking it so much more than I thought I would. Would I like more sleep? I can only dream BUT this kid is my favorite and I am loving just being with him and being his mom. ❤

And yes, we are READY for Ana to return! This time has been good for us all but we miss her. She will fly back to us Friday night and we can’t wait!