- Watching Paul interact with my nephews and niece. He was particularly enamored with my nephew Matthew, who is 10. They had a bit of a mutual admiration society going on. I was surprised how excited Matthew was to see Paul. I guess all summer he's been asking every week when he could see Paul. Paul absolutely lit up when he was being held by or interacting with Matthew!
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| Matthew wanted to hold Paul the way Phil does! Matthew really likes Phil and clearly wanted to interact with Paul the way Phil does. |
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| My blue-eyed beauty! |
- Seeing so much family, including my aunt, uncle and cousins from California and my grandma. My Grandma got 2 opportunities to hold Paul during our time at the lake as she was at my parents place on the 4th and my aunt and uncle's place over the weekend.
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| I hope I look this good at 95!! |
- Handing Paul off to my mom every morning. Paul did not sleep well at the lake so I was very glad that my mom willingly took care of him each morning so I could get an extra 1-1.5 hours of sleep! It was also nice to have her watch him while I pumped. Pumping + watching a wiggly 4-month old is challenging at times! My mom absolutely adores Paul so this was a win-win situation as she can't get enough of him!
- Finally getting to hear some laughs from Paul. We've gotten some little bursts of laughter but this was the first time he gave me some true giggles! Best sound ever!
- Eating delicious home-cooked food. I failed to take any pictures of the meals we ate but trust me when I say I ate very well. I think my favorite meal was grilled crappies (pronounced crop-pee for those not familiar with this kind of fish). It's a delicious, mild white fish. My BIL caught some on Saturday that he cleaned and sent home with us which was so nice of him!
- I got to see 5 of my 7 nieces and nephews. It amazes me how fast they have grown up - especially my Godson James who will be 14 (!!!!) later this month. He has matured so much over the last year and now he has this deep voice and broader shoulders. Gone are the days of burping and telling fart jokes at the dinner table! I know many of you probably wonder how I could miss that phase but it's just crazy to see how quickly he has grown and changed. But he is the nicest young man and I told him multiple times over the weekend that he's a perfect and terrific kid.
- Seeing Phil on Saturday morning after being apart for 4 days! I know he appreciated his uninterrupted sleep, especially since he had a super busy week at work with long days. But we sure missed daddy and he missed us, too. Plus he was all on his own while we were gone as Oscar went to his mom's for a couple of weeks.
What was the highlight from your Canada Day or Independence Day celebration?
How awesome that your mom was willing to help with the morning paul duties!! sometimes that extra rest makes all the difference in how much energy you have for all that family time!
ReplyDeleteIt's so cute to see all the family members enjoying Paul! I swear that's one of my favorite things about having a baby! <3
ReplyDeleteSo glad your mom helped in the morning! It's so hard when you are traveling and they won't sleep!
Glad you had a great trip! We had friends over for the 4th for BBQ and pool time! It was fun for kids and adults.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds just terrific, Lisa. And it looks like the stranger danger is lightening up a little bit -- and just in time for daycare, too. Isn't it glorious to be with family? He sure is loved!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun time at the lake with all the family members :)
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like such a fun weekend at the lake with your family! It's adorable to see how enamored Matthew and Paul are with each other!
ReplyDeleteYes, Paul really did light up when he saw Matthew! It was so cute! I didn't mind at all taking care of Paul in the mornings as I was up anyway, and know you had been up curing the night when I was sleeping! Win-win for both of us!
ReplyDeleteIt was a grand time and we loved having our family, or some of them, home!
I'm so glad you had such a wonderful weekend with family even though Paul's sleep wasn't exactly stellar! The weather was really crappy here on Canada Day but I loved taking Olivia to the parade and I know next year she's going to have so much fun watching it!!
ReplyDeleteThat's so sweet that Matthew and Paul bonded like that :-) It must have just warmed your heart so much to see them interacting.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't get the giggle video to play :-( (It's my old laptop, not your video).
Sounds like a wonderful 4th of July getaway, and it's nice that you had a lot of help from your mom, especially since Phil wasn't with you.
The highlight of my Canada Day long weekend was just relaxing after one of the more tiring years at work I've ever had.