In which I natter on about nothing at all

M. is working from home today so that he could go to the doctor's office this morning - his nagging wife, afraid that his achy and swollen lymph nodes were a symptom of some awful disease, made him go in despite his protestations that he was most likely fine (the doc ended up prescribing antibiotics and an anti-inflammatory so I feel quite vindicated, though he does, indeed, look fine). In addition to ending my maternity leave much the way it started, with both parents home with Lucy (though admittedly with fewer hormone-induced crying jags), I saw another potential bonus. I was hoping to pick up Finn a little early for some fun one-on-one time. The post-daycare, pre-bedtime hours have been a total drag for Finn lately. Lucy is a crab then, and even when we have a few moments in between prepping dinner and feeding the baby, it's been too hot to go outside and let off any steam. Finn has been kind of trapped inside, and a little bored and miserable (it doesn't help that he seems totally uninterested by all his toys, but that's a whole separate blog post in itself).

Today, I wanted to surprise Finn by packing his bathing suit (and goggles, of course) in the car and making a detour to the pool on the way home. Part of my motivation is to try out the new flotation device we just got him, which should help him learn how to feel more independent in the water, the Stearns Puddle Jumper. My neighbor has them for her two kids, and it was amazing how well they were able to stay afloat and get around in the water (Grammy and Bumpa, you may want to check them out for your boat, have a couple on hand for visiting grandkids...). I thought it would be a lot of fun for Finn, and as a bonus, tire him out for bedtime.

Alas, the day has been gloomy and cloudy (though hot) without a single sunny break. We've even managed to have a little bit of rain, something we haven't seen since June. So the pool trip has been placed on the backburner, hopefully only until tomorrow. Instead, I think I will take Finn to one of his favorite places - Target. Clearly we shop there too much, as our two-year-old commonly asks to go there by name. I'm headed there to pick up some photo prints that I ordered online - can't go back to work without at least one physical, actual photo of my new baby to display. I'm guessing I'll probably let Finn talk me into buying him a toy while we're there. One which he will play with for about a day, and then ignore completely. Sigh.

To follow up on my previous post, it seems apparent that Lucy is in the midst of another growth spurt. She has woken up every night for the last four nights, and she's been downing her bottles like there's no tomorrow. Hopefully once her limbs are done making like trees and growing, all will return to "normal." Whatever that is with a baby. In the meantime, after last night, the middle of the night wakings became "so not my problem" anymore. Now that I'm the one who will be working, and M. will be the one sitting around lazily eating bonbons and watching TV all day, he gets to be in charge of the 2 am feedings. At least for the next two weeks!