Super Sleepover: Day Two
The next morning - which came way too early - brought The Lion King, graham crackers, and hot chocolate. Then, after a stressful and ultimately rather unsuccessful attempt to correctly install three very different car seats in the backseat of our car, we headed to BYU's campus (slowly and cautiously, just in case someone wasn't buckled tightly enough) for some homecoming festivities. First there were blue pancakes, complete with chocolate chips, syrup, and whipped cream. (I bet you can guess which artificial dairy product was the sole part of that breakfast consumed my little Miss Maddie. At least she drank her milk...)
Just when little bodies started to tire of ducks and flowers and leaves, it was time for the parade to start. Now that's real eye candy. There was lots of literal candy, too, courtesy of all of the passing floats and dancers, and it was bestowed extra generously on Topher and Maddie (once we taught them how to wave and smile properly at the passers-by) who were easily the cutest kids on the block. Drew and I took turns holding a rather cranky Caroline and keeping Maddie and Topher from instantly unwrapping and eating every.single.piece of candy thrown their way. Save some for later was such a novel and unwelcome idea.
With dark clouds rolling in and the BYU game wrapping up just a few blocks away, we made for home in order to avoid both traffic and wet babies. We spent the next few hours with pizza for dinner, another round of cupcake decorating, baths, plenty of books, and finally, one 20-minutes-that-just-wouldn't-end carride to Lehi to drop the kids off with their loving parents. Caroline and Maddie both screamed (not cried. there is a difference.) all.the.way down I-15 to Lehi. Although our little adventure together ended on a rather loud, unhappy note, I think we all had a really great time.
Drew's mom has reminded us that this experience was undoubtedly far different than it might be if it were with our own kids, who will likely arrive in our home one-at-a-time and initially immobile. Still, I think Drew and I learned a few useful things to think about before we expand our aunt- and uncle-hood to parenthood:
1. Drew is way better at taking pictures of little ones and our adventures with them. Didn't you notice the paucity of his handsome face in these posts? While I get really absorbed in taking pictures of absolutely everything on hikes or trips, flowers and rocks and sunsets don't run away or fall or eat something hard and plastic while you're trying to adjust the camera. I think I was too preoccupied with keeping Topher, Maddie, and Caroline fed and happy and alive to worry about capturing their fed, happy, and living faces on camera. I'll have to try to be better at getting me behind the camera and Drew in front of it with our own kiddos...
2. Kids need temporal structure, even if they resist it. Set naptimes and bedtimes and eating schedules, while it seems like it might be fun to break them, are actually really important for everyone's peace of mind. No one was happy when all three munchkins boycotted naptime or were still awake and in the car at 9:30pm. They should have been dreaming deeply about themselves as Shark-Boy and Lava-Girl by then; instead, they were serenading us with blood-curdling screams for absolutely no apparent reason.
3. Physical structure is also important. Having a space for eating and one for sleeping and one for playing and one for resting makes it much easier to do those activities without too many distractions. With the exception of the bathroom, our apartment functions as one big living space, and that arrangement isn't the most conducive to smooth functioning with kiddos.
4. Kids are loud. They cry and scream and play and laugh and run and fall and throw stuff. Our upstairs neighbors have a one-year-old, and I generally feel like we live underneath a herd of elephants. Really, the ceiling is bound to fall in one of these days. Between the pitter-patter of little feet learning to run, plenty of crashes from not being so good at it yet, cars that roll across the floor and everything else that gets dragged, not to mention the constant running of the vacuum cleaning up after him, there's no break in the sounds from up above. After having three very loud, very small people in our apartment for the weekend, I have a little more empathy for the mama upstairs and will be sending her fewer grumpy facial expressions through my ceiling/her floor from now on. I hope we live in the middle of nowhere on a few acres - or at least a detached home, not an apartment with paper walls - before trying to raise toddlers.
5. Taking care of kids is consuming. Drew and I were together all weekend, but since there was generally a kid in the middle of us or on top of both of us, I really missed him by the end of it. Our conversations were centered around missing sippy cups and pacifiers and diapers and our efforts were focused on entertaining and taking care of three little people, not necessarily each other. Figuring out how to still be a couple, even with kids in the picture, will be interesting. Figuring out how to eat - at all and healthily - will also be interesting. The first thing Drew and I did when we got back to our quiet apartment was to eat fruits and vegetables and hummus and drink lots of water. Trying to make sure everyone else eats and that what they're supposed to be eating doesn't end up all over the carpet or walls, makes it significantly harder to feed yourself. Without cooking two completely different menus, it's also hard to make sure you eat the things that your refined, adult taste-buds prefer. Taking care of ourselves and each other while tending to the needs of the little people that, for the most part, can't tend to themselves seems like it just might be the single biggest challenge in adding kids - temporarily or permanently - to our happy home.
Oh, the things we have to learn. We're lucky to have a nephew and two nieces willing to so candidly show us the ropes of kid-dom before we attempt to embark upon our own journey in parenthood. And they're lucky that they're so cute... their funny faces definitely help us approach our initiation into their worlds a little more gracefully.
After "breakfast" (more like dessert, really), we wandered through what are easily the most beautiful parts of campus, exploring big, green fields, a streamside trail, and the duck ponds.
Excuse the many, similar pictures of Drew and kiddos that follow. I just love them all, especially in sequence.
Stoic Caroline doesn't change her facial expression one bit.
Topher's changes based on gum bribery.
And Maddie can't be convinced to do anything that her heart doesn't already desire.
Just when little bodies started to tire of ducks and flowers and leaves, it was time for the parade to start. Now that's real eye candy. There was lots of literal candy, too, courtesy of all of the passing floats and dancers, and it was bestowed extra generously on Topher and Maddie (once we taught them how to wave and smile properly at the passers-by) who were easily the cutest kids on the block. Drew and I took turns holding a rather cranky Caroline and keeping Maddie and Topher from instantly unwrapping and eating every.single.piece of candy thrown their way. Save some for later was such a novel and unwelcome idea.
The parade was a lot of fun, and Maddie and Topher and even Caroline stayed more interested in it for much longer than we thought they would. By the time we decided to pack up and head for home, the combination of a sugar high and exhaustion from so much excitement made everyone more than ready for naptime. We had a quick lunch, force-feeding Maddie some whole grain Goldfish, fresh fruit, and water in an attempt to flush out some of the refined sugar coursing through her little body, and sent everyone their separate ways for a nap or quiet time. It didn't last long... I'm pretty sure neither little girl ever actually fell asleep, something we paid dearly for at 9pm that night when we packed them up way past their bedtime to deliver them to their parents.
Since naptime was a bust, we needed to get our darling nieces and nephew (all of whom were largely still suffering from a sugar high and exhaustion) outside, for the sake of our sanity. We loaded everyone up (again, cautiously, fearing our faulty carseat installation) and drove over to Rock Canyon Park for a change of scenery. The park has a good playground, but also plenty of frisbee-throwing room and a giant hill for rolling and sliding and running down.
With dark clouds rolling in and the BYU game wrapping up just a few blocks away, we made for home in order to avoid both traffic and wet babies. We spent the next few hours with pizza for dinner, another round of cupcake decorating, baths, plenty of books, and finally, one 20-minutes-that-just-wouldn't-end carride to Lehi to drop the kids off with their loving parents. Caroline and Maddie both screamed (not cried. there is a difference.) all.the.way down I-15 to Lehi. Although our little adventure together ended on a rather loud, unhappy note, I think we all had a really great time.
Drew's mom has reminded us that this experience was undoubtedly far different than it might be if it were with our own kids, who will likely arrive in our home one-at-a-time and initially immobile. Still, I think Drew and I learned a few useful things to think about before we expand our aunt- and uncle-hood to parenthood:
1. Drew is way better at taking pictures of little ones and our adventures with them. Didn't you notice the paucity of his handsome face in these posts? While I get really absorbed in taking pictures of absolutely everything on hikes or trips, flowers and rocks and sunsets don't run away or fall or eat something hard and plastic while you're trying to adjust the camera. I think I was too preoccupied with keeping Topher, Maddie, and Caroline fed and happy and alive to worry about capturing their fed, happy, and living faces on camera. I'll have to try to be better at getting me behind the camera and Drew in front of it with our own kiddos...
2. Kids need temporal structure, even if they resist it. Set naptimes and bedtimes and eating schedules, while it seems like it might be fun to break them, are actually really important for everyone's peace of mind. No one was happy when all three munchkins boycotted naptime or were still awake and in the car at 9:30pm. They should have been dreaming deeply about themselves as Shark-Boy and Lava-Girl by then; instead, they were serenading us with blood-curdling screams for absolutely no apparent reason.
3. Physical structure is also important. Having a space for eating and one for sleeping and one for playing and one for resting makes it much easier to do those activities without too many distractions. With the exception of the bathroom, our apartment functions as one big living space, and that arrangement isn't the most conducive to smooth functioning with kiddos.
4. Kids are loud. They cry and scream and play and laugh and run and fall and throw stuff. Our upstairs neighbors have a one-year-old, and I generally feel like we live underneath a herd of elephants. Really, the ceiling is bound to fall in one of these days. Between the pitter-patter of little feet learning to run, plenty of crashes from not being so good at it yet, cars that roll across the floor and everything else that gets dragged, not to mention the constant running of the vacuum cleaning up after him, there's no break in the sounds from up above. After having three very loud, very small people in our apartment for the weekend, I have a little more empathy for the mama upstairs and will be sending her fewer grumpy facial expressions through my ceiling/her floor from now on. I hope we live in the middle of nowhere on a few acres - or at least a detached home, not an apartment with paper walls - before trying to raise toddlers.
5. Taking care of kids is consuming. Drew and I were together all weekend, but since there was generally a kid in the middle of us or on top of both of us, I really missed him by the end of it. Our conversations were centered around missing sippy cups and pacifiers and diapers and our efforts were focused on entertaining and taking care of three little people, not necessarily each other. Figuring out how to still be a couple, even with kids in the picture, will be interesting. Figuring out how to eat - at all and healthily - will also be interesting. The first thing Drew and I did when we got back to our quiet apartment was to eat fruits and vegetables and hummus and drink lots of water. Trying to make sure everyone else eats and that what they're supposed to be eating doesn't end up all over the carpet or walls, makes it significantly harder to feed yourself. Without cooking two completely different menus, it's also hard to make sure you eat the things that your refined, adult taste-buds prefer. Taking care of ourselves and each other while tending to the needs of the little people that, for the most part, can't tend to themselves seems like it just might be the single biggest challenge in adding kids - temporarily or permanently - to our happy home.
Oh, the things we have to learn. We're lucky to have a nephew and two nieces willing to so candidly show us the ropes of kid-dom before we attempt to embark upon our own journey in parenthood. And they're lucky that they're so cute... their funny faces definitely help us approach our initiation into their worlds a little more gracefully.
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