It’s been 2 solid days now of solo parenting, and to be honest I think it’s gone really well. Isaac has been merciful to me during the nights and only woken up once at 3am. Even then I just had to pick him up, comfort him a bit and set him back down and he went right back to sleep. So yeah… dodged that bullet!

The thing I’ve noticed most over the last couple days is exactly how “busy” these boys are. While I will fully admit to liberal use of Curious George as a diversion, in those moments when I’m cleaning up from a meal or doing dishes or something I’ll hear Joel in the other room playing make believe with his trains. He’ll be acting out a scene from one of the books or movies, or just making up his own dialog. It’s really cute, and a good reminder to me that while I do enjoy rough-housing with him it’s important for him to have his OWN playtime too.

Isaac is all about the business of developing his 9 month old skill set. And he is SERIOUS too. If he’s pulled himself up to stand next to Joel’s train table and discovered a new toy (which we have an abundance of these post-Christmas days) you’d be well advised not to try and take it away from him because he’ll let you know how unhappy that makes him. It’s as if every single new trinket he finds is the most amazing thing he’s ever seen… and in some ways that may be true. He’s so determined about it too. It’s like the second he’s done eating he’s scanning the room, ready to start exploring. Look out Dad, I gotta PLAY!

We’re heading to Tacoma today to spend a little time with Grandma & Grandpa and then Sarah should be home by dinnertime. I’ll be nice to have her home with us, but I’ve also really enjoyed this special time with my boys.

The dynamic duo at yesterday’s Mobile Chowdown.

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Last night at the dinner table, my 3 year old told his first knock knock joke.

Joel: “Daddy, I want to tell you a joke”
Me: “OK”
Joel: “Knock, knock”
Me: “Who’s there?”
Joel: “Goat”
Me: “Goat who?”
Joel: “Goat to the door and find out!”

I just about fell off my chair. I dunno why it caught me as so funny, I mean it’s a cute joke but definitely not in the comedic genius category or anything. I think it was the idea that he, in his own little 3 year old way, was pulling one over on me. I hadn’t heard that particular joke before (or if I had I’d long since forgotten the punch line) so when he delivered, slightly bumbling and trying to remember exactly how it went I was at once surprised, proud and completely tickled. Brilliant!

Just wait ’till Uncle Sean comes over…

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Well here we are, just a couple weeks away from the birth of our second child. The lead-up this time definitely feels different. With the first baby we were totally infused with the anticipation of it all, not really knowing what lay ahead for us but consumed with the inevitablity of the oncoming parenthood freight train. This time it’s definitely different. It feels a little more like an item on the to-do list… like, “Oh yeah, don’t forget next Thursday to go to the hospital and bring new life into the world.”

I’ve been reminding myself to savor these last couple weeks of being “just the three of us”, since all our schedules are about to be seriously disrupted. There are precious few of these lazy Saturday mornings left, where Joel crawls into bed with us and nestles down in between the pillows clutching his Pooh Bear and murmurs, “I am so happy.” We all find our way downstairs, make up some coffee and oatmeal and lounge around in our PJs, maybe we’ll get REALLY motivaed and head out for coffee or something. Not that it won’t be possible once the baby comes, it’ll just be… different.