Well we are finishing up our vacation, so I thought I would blog about it. The vacation had fun times, boring times, relaxing times, and stressful times – pretty much a typical vacation. We didn’t have a lot of funds to do anything extravagant. But we just really wanted to spend some quality time with each other and Matthew, as well as Matthew's grandparents.
Matthew’s vacation actually started a week before mine and Brian’s. On Sunday, the 19th, Me-Ma and Pappy came to our house for a visit. They stayed all week long. So Matthew got to stay home from daycare and spend some quality time with them. Unfortunately Matthew doesn’t get to see them as often as they or I would like. So it was quite a blessing to have them around for a whole week. While they were here my dad replaced our back deck and put rails all the way around so that Matthew can play on it pretty safely. When Me-Ma and Pappy left on Saturday morning they carried Matthew back to their house with them. That was very hard for me. We have never been away from him overnight before. And honestly I would have been fine not having him away overnight until he was old enough to understand what was going on. It has nothing to do with not trusting others with him. I just feel like I already miss so much with him since he is in daycare all day. He is growing up on me so fast. I just want to treasure every moment. Matthew has slept next to me pretty much since the day he was born. I was worried that he wouldn’t rest well without me. I worried that he would do something amazing without me. I worried that he would be mad at me for not being with him when he cried for me. And as irrational as it sounds, I worried that he would forget who I was.
Anyway Brian and I figured we could survive a couple of nights without him. My parents originally wanted a week, but I couldn’t do that the very first time he stayed away from me. Anyway, they left with him on Saturday morning and of course I cried. I wanted to run after them and tell them that I had changed my mind. But I decided to be strong and let him spend some quality time with my parents. It gave Brian and me a chance to spend a lot of quality time together. It was nice being able to go on dates with no regard to what time of day it was. Going out with Matthew involves planning around nap times and his meal times and trying to go to restaurants when they aren’t busy so that we don’t bother other diners. We were able to stay up late (‘til 11 pm), sleep in (‘til 8 am), watch entire TV shows (without having to pause because we can’t hear over the squealing), eat in the living room (without a toddler to make a mess), leave the doors open in the house(without worrying about little hands playing in the toilet or emptying the pantry), eat whenever (even dinner at 7pm), shop whenever (we stayed at BJ’s until they cut the lights off) and stay out past bedtime. We enjoyed being able to be spontaneous. We were able to just enjoy being a married couple for a few days. It was nice remembering the times before we had so much responsibility. But we found out that we couldn’t go more than a little while without talking about Matthew (what did we talk about before we had him) and we really missed his routine and everything that goes with being his parents. Nurturing our marriage is very important. Mine and Brian’s relationship is the most important relationship in Matthew’s life. So I think we need to have regular dates to just be a couple. But we probably won’t need several days in a row too often. Brian and I do a pretty good job trying to stay connected. I got a chance to do several pages in Matthew’s scrapbook. It was great.
I am grateful to my parents for giving us those few days. They helped me realize that Matthew can sleep without me right next to him. He still woke up several times a night with them, but for the most part he drifted back to sleep with a little comforting. Me-Ma and Pappy also had Ayden at their house on Matthew’s second day there. The boys really enjoyed playing together. They rode in the golf cart, went to the bait shop, played in the pool, went to visit their great grandparents, went to the park and a petting zoo, went out to eat and just enjoyed their time with Me-Ma and Pappy. I can’t wait to see the photos that they took while they were together.
By Monday night Brian and I were very anxious to get Matthew back in our arms. So we let Mama and Daddy know that we were definitely coming on Tuesday. (That had been our plan all along, but they told us to come whenever we got ready.) We went to visit my grandparents before going to my parents, which was nice. Then we headed for Me-Ma and Pappy's. We actually beat them getting home with the boys that afternoon. When Matthew saw us in the living room, one of my fears was realized – he was mad at us. He wouldn’t have anything to do with us for about 30 minutes. It broke my heart.
On Wednesday we went to Aunt Christy’s house so that the boys could play in Ayden’s pool. Man did they have a time.
I am so glad that they played well together. They stuck together, even when Matthew had to go in time out for pulling Ayden’s hair, Ayden sat in the time out chair with him. Matthew hit a major milestone Wednesday night – he slept all night long for the first time ever and in the pack in play on top of that. He slept from 8 pm until 6 am. That was a major victory for our little family.
On Thursday morning we headed to Lake Gaston to spend some time with Grandpa Gene. Grandpa bought a little pool for the deck so Matthew could play in it. Matthew had a ball.
(We are going to have to get a pool for our new deck now.) The pool actually doubles as a bouncy toy.
He went for golf cart rides and played at the playground.
He loved playing in the little pool on the deck and the kiddie pool, but hated the big pool.
His favorite part was trying to empty the pools with a red solo cup or bowl. At least he didn't need expensive toys to make him happy.
He loved playing with Bailey the dog. He really LOVED Bailey.
He is so fascinated with animals, maybe he gets that from me. Bailey would have preferred to be left alone some of the time, but she tolerated his petting and touching her nose very well. And in exchange, Matthew shared his pop tarts and snacks with her.
Matthew really had a good time playing with Grandpa. Grandpa even got in the little pool with him.
They both had fun until Matthew got too interested in Grandpa’s chest and belly hair. Grandpa made the mistake of squealing after Matthew grabbed a handful, so it became a fun game for Matthew and a painful one for Grandpa.
Matthew danced for everyone whenever there was music with a good beat playing.
Saturday morning we left the lake to come back home. As much fun as we had, it was wonderful to be home (once all the bags were unpacked and the laundry was done that is). It is such a relief to have a few days to relax at home before returning to reality. It gives us a chance to get back into our routine. It was a pretty good vacation minus a few moments. Maybe our next one will be completely filled with fun and relaxation.
