Another Solo Day

Had another solo day with Jack today -- as has been the case for a while, he's been in daycare Monday through Wednesday and alone with me Thursday and Friday. Sometimes I loan him out to relatives (Aunt Taffy, Grandpa) if I've got a commitment or they're available for part of the day), but lately everyone's been sick so it's pretty much been just us. Except for last Thursday and Friday, when he and I were both sick and miserable, so we borrowed Grandma for a few hours to keep me from going insane. (Naturally, she's now sick. Probably a coincidence.)

Anyway, despite the tough moments, which are mostly him wanting one thing one minute ("cereal!") and then changing his mind moments later ("I don't want CEREEEEAALLL!"), the days are usually fairly positive, and I'm starting to cling to the positive moments more as I feel, yes, that he's getting older. Plus we're going to be moving soon, ideally, and everything is going to get more complicated. And he's just getting bigger, and more talkative, and more engaging, and more demanding. "Daddy, do puzzle." And then: "Go work at your computer." And then: "I want a snack." This in the span of, oh, 5 minutes or so.

Jack's 2 and what's scary is he's never going to be 1 again, and those great days are gone. They're replaced by new great days, of course, but I'm already starting to get nostalgic about those. I know, it's nuts.

Anyway, today was nice, because I didn't try to work. I just tried to enjoy him, and deal with the negatives and embrace the positives. Watching Backyardigans with him ("They fell down aGEHN!"), reading Kat Kong ("Forget science -- think of the money we'll make!"), drawing pictures (His easel is currently an ode to Tyrone, the moose from Backyardigans, who I draw for him over, and over, and over). Tomorrow we'll draw more, read more stories, do puzzles, play with trains, and I'll probably try to get him to eat something besides his favorite foods right now: yogurt, and fruit. Saturday we'll go swimming and the grandparents will be around; Sunday is the Super Bowl. Monday he'll go back to daycare, and I guess I'll work as much as I can -- until it's Thursday, and another solo day comes around again.

It's too soon to miss the days I'm actually living in, so I guess I'll try to stop and just enjoy them while they're here.