My "Vacation"

So, summer vacations are hard to fathom when you have a newborn. I love having warm weather babies, so many benefits of people not being sick, life being a little bit slower, and so on and so forth. But this year I have missed just enjoying summer as well. Noelle and I had so much fun at the pool last year, and it just isn't possible for me to do that this year with a 3 year old AND newborn.

But this week is my "vacation"! Noelle is with Mala and Pop-pop in Marietta. Josh, Louie and I are holding down the fort here in Lexington and it is glorious! Noelle isn't a difficult child at all, but toddlers in general like a lot of a attention and don't always want to go with the flow. I miss my little buddy, but am enjoying a little break.

That's right - I can watch whatever I want on tv...not having to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse every morning. I can easily get errands done with Louie in tow and don't have to manage wrangling a little girl into a shopping cart. I can even fly solo for a window of time and not feel guilty about leaving Josh with two crazy kids. He can totally handle one - which is awesome for me!

I had the thought before giving birth to Louie..."What was so hard about having an infant around?" I stand by that thought. The hardest thing is sleep deprivation of course, but I will say that Louie is not horrible at sleeping - and on top of that, once you have been sleep deprived as a parent once, it is like your body knows how to function more easily the second time it gets sleep deprived! Other than that, little babies are pretty awesome.

As much as I am tied down every 2-3 hours with this awesome chunk, he's a gem and thanks to him I get my little "vacation." I am still trying to enjoy these early days, because the other side of the coin is that I cannot wait for him to get big and see his personality. Kids just get so much fun just as they also become more "difficult"...

In the end, I love getting to love every stage of development. I'm sure I'll recant that statement in about 10 years when I have my first teenager in the home, but until then I will look forward to each and every precious age and stage.