From Where I'm Sitting

I wish you could see the view from where I'm sitting.  Mike sat down earlier in our rocking chair in the living room to rock Maddie to sleep and within a few minutes they both fell asleep.  She started out in his arms but once she finished her bottle, she turned and put her head on his chest. 

It's been a rough week at our house.  Maddie came down with the stomach virus and we almost ended up in the ER.  Scared us to death.  Then Mommy and Daddy both got it. It's no fun for anyone involved when you can hardly take care of each other, much less chase after a 10 month old who doesn't understand why her parents haven't moved from the same spot all day. Mandy dropped off sick supplies at our front door - the usual pedialyte, gatorade and soup - we were too afraid to let her in and chance infecting her too. We didn't make it to school or work until Wednesday.  Well, Mike made it into work on Tuesday, Mommy and Maddie did not.  Since then we've been trying to get our heads above water.  Catch up on laundry, catch on cleaning, and catch up at work. Couple that with bad news I got at work.  It's been a struggle this week. There have been days this week when we just wanted to crawl back into bed and forget everything that happened that day. 

Tonight was finally a normal night and everyone was well. Before they fell asleep, we ordered pizza and stripped Maddie down to her diaper so that she could "feed" herself.  She likes to peel the cheese off the pizza and eat it.  Annie gets her crust. Afterwards, Maddie got a bath and came downstairs to play for awhile. Mike tried to teach Maddie how to throw a ball, a beach ball, and then throw things at the ball, all in the house.  Lovely. Maddie is a fast learner.  Even better.  And then they settled down for bottle and night time. Did I mention earlier that Mike fell asleep first?

Saturday morning Mike leaves for Pebble Beach and his busy travel season starts back up. Watching them play together tonight I know that Maddie is going to notice his absence this time - which is bittersweet.  He is going to miss her more than ever.  I don't really know if she is truly a Daddy's girl or a Mommy's girl at this point - she seems to play her hand quite well with both of us - but I know that she will miss the weird laugh he does lately that makes her giggle and eating breakfast with Daddy every morning while Mommy trys to steal a few more zzz's, and many other little routines they share.  There are lots of things that I will miss about having Mike at home with us all of the time and nights like tonight are definitely one of them. This week has been insane and Saturday the craziness will all start up again.  But tonight I get to enjoy the view.