Warm-Up Before the Real Deal

East Coast Warm-Up

I had the pleasure of spending 6 days on the east coast with my sister, Angie, and nephews to help out while my brother-in-law was traveling for work. The boys are 2.5 yrs old and 9 months old.

It snowed 9 inches the second night I was there, and I unfortunately had to work much more than I planned to while I was there. Still, I was able to help a little bit in the mornings and evenings to feed the baby and put the toddler to bed. I gained a huge appreciation for all that my sister does to take care of the two boys. Day in and day out with little positive feedback from the young ones--only demands, which are sometimes non-sensical or immaturely unreasonable.

While in the car:

    Toddler: "Mama go."

    Angie: "We are at a red light, son. We have to wait until the light turns green before we can go."

    Toddler: "Mama goooo!"

My sister's comment to me after that exchange was slightly unexpected: "At least he's engaged and not completely zoned out back there."

It was firsthand taste of what parenthood would be like. With the toddler, it's a series of games to get him to do what he's supposed to do without having him throw a tantrum. Being strict all the time is way easier said than done, and each situation is not always black and white. He also had a way of responding with unexpected, humorously intelligent statements that just made me laugh.

    Me: "Why are you wearing your sunglasses inside the house? It's not sunny inside."

    Toddler points to the light fixture on the ceiling: "Sun is right there."

Well, it's not the sun but it is bright! If wearing his sunglasses for a little bit makes him happy, why not? :)

As an uncle, I found it very difficult to discipline the toddler. It's much easier to teach facts than it is to teach good behavior, which requires much more patience and thicker skin...and being ok with making them cry. I need to work on that last item.

I wish Hannah would have been there to witness the exhausting daily routine. I use the word "exhausting," yet Angie was the one doing all of the hard work! There are daily highs and lows with the boys.  Plus, the cuteness wears off a little bit over time. You don't completely become oblivious to the cuteness, but when you're having to change dirty diapers and you're sleep deprived, the "awwwww" moments lose some of their luster.

I also saw this emotional workout extend beyond the boys. My sister was in the middle of "losing" her babysitter who was moving to Wisconsin. Additionally, her good friend with two kids the same ages as my nephews was moving away to Oregon. I've experienced good friends move away from San Francisco, but I can't imagine seeing people go who've developed a close bond with my child(dren). Once you find people you trust and enjoy having around your kids, it must be nice to hold on to them and not have to start over again. All the while, the little ones just don't quite understand the whole "goodbye" process yet. I guess it's a part of life that they'll learn eventually.

With all that said, it was the perfect warm-up to the real thing. Angie is doing a fantastic job, and I look up to her as a parental role model and big sister!

It's Gettin' Real

Hannah is on maternity leave and her belly is still growing. She has the glow and we are still pretty much on cloud nine. I love it.

I've reached the point of acceptance that I have no idea how the sleepless nights and constant tiredness will feel. If I don't know how to deal with whatever baby situation we encounter, we'll figure it out. Plus, we have friends and family who are going through the same situations, so hopefully we'll be able to leverage their learnings.

Hannah is due in less than 4 weeks. We've been counting weeks since she was 4 weeks pregnant. I still remember waking up that Sunday morning when Hannah called to me from the bathroom. Looking at that positive pregnancy test seems oh so very long ago. I had NO idea what the next 8 months would bring, but it's been overall quite amazing and fortunately pretty painless thus far. (I know--easy for me to say.) That initial excitement of finding out that we're having a girl to seeing Hannah's belly slowly grow to now feeling the imminent life-altering day approaching fast. I can't believe it! 

Humans have been reproducing for thousands of years and now we get to experience it. Seems like such a small event in the grand scheme of the universe, but it's all we can think about and look forward to. We're so grateful for all the love and support we've received from friends, family, and co-workers. It has been incredible.

Maybe this will be the last post until WuBerry comes!