WHAT A VISIT
Hi, this is Grandma Moorefield. I am writing about my adventures with Adam and Jack.
I arrived in Columbus, Ohio on July 30th. For the next 8 days I was in a whirlwind of fun.
Adam and Jack are on a schedule and you would think that the routine would keep things somewhat calm, but that is far from the truth.
Wake Up - The boys get up around 06:00 or 06:30 a.m. Mommy gets up and lovingly welcomes them to the day. I admit I slept in a little longer I was adjusting to Eastern time zone.
Play – Adam and Jack have a great playroom. It is where all of their toys are located and they like spending time in the room. A couple of days Katy, Lola, and the boys took me for a walk around the neighborhood so that I could see where they live. Katy says they live in the country. When you drive down the road to their house, she says you can see deer. Now I never saw one, but it was pretty hot. There were deer crossing signs so there was evidence that they existed.
Breakfast – The excitement here is that as soon as you put Adam and Jack in their highchairs it is expected that there will be food on their plates. Therefore, they start out with an appetizer of dry cereal while the rest of their breakfast is being prepared. Apple butter was added to their food list for putting on toast or bread.
Play – It is nice that Adam and Jack have each other to play with, but Adam wants what Jack has and Jack wants what Adam has. They are always looking for something new to get into or doing things that they know they are not supposed to do.
Morning Nap – The boys still like taking their morning nap. It may not be as long, but they still go to bed easily. Then Katy and I played “Beat the Clock”. Clean up the kitchen, eat breakfast, take a shower and get dressed before the boys wake up from their nap. Katy was even able to take off on her own and get some errands done as I watched the boys.
Play – This is special playtime. This is when we got to go to the library on Tuesday to sing songs and meet with friends. On Wednesday, we went to Gymboree. This is not just playtime for the boys. We all got to participate. Adam and Jack are not fond of the parachute activities but they do like all the things they can climb on or anything with wheels. Then on other days they schedule play dates with their friends in each others home. I am not sure, but I suspect this is more for all of the mothers so that they can get together and have an adult conversation.
Lunch – The appetizer is usually crackers of some kind. Meat, vegetables, and fruit provide them with a well rounded meal. Both of the boys will eat almost anything you give them. We even tried fish and they ate it as well. Adam is the one that likes to feed Lola. It is not that he doesn’t like the food; he is just learning to share.
Play – Back up to the playroom. They really like playing on the sofa, but you have to watch them much closer to make sure they don’t fall off backwards, climb over the back and fall, or climb over the arms and fall. The sofa is “L” shaped, so they push the leather coffee table up against the sofa to make a bigger play area. They know what they are not supposed to do, so they will go over to the arm of the sofa, put their hands down and then turn around and look at you waiting to see if you are going to say anything. They give you that little smirk / grin look like I know what I am doing. They do know how to turn around and get off of the sofa backwards you just have to remind them sometimes.
Afternoon Nap – Adam and Jack will usually take a longer nap in the afternoon. Once again they go to bed without any issues. Like in the morning you either get things done, take a nap yourself, or Katy and I would make plans on where we were going to go when the boys woke up.
Play – This is the play time when we would get out the map and hit the road. On different days, we went to two different shopping malls (one close by and one on the other side of town), two different quilt stores (one close to the airport and one that took us straight through downtown Columbus right by Ohio State University), and several miscellaneous stores to get items to help with lengthening curtains which we also did while I was there.
Dinner – The appetizer could be cereal, crackers, or maybe even cheese. I learned quickly that I could not pull the cheese apart in bite size pieces fast enough for two boys. I learned quickly that I could not make mashed potato balls fast enough for two boys. They ate what I put down faster than I could get it down. It was so good to see them eating so well. At all 3 meals we worked on improving our talents. It was probably only because I was there, but we would all clap our hands, wave ‘hi’ and/or ‘bye’, and then clap our hand over our mouth while we made noise.
Bath (Optional) – This did not always happen, but the boys love it when it does.
Play – This is the last playtime of the day. Books are read even though they don’t necessarily sit there and listen to you.
Bedtime – Off to bed at around 07:00 p.m. Most of the time they go to bed without any trouble. Jack will usually take longer to go to sleep, but he will be fairly quiet in his bed until he does. Adam did have a couple of nights where it wasn’t working and it took a little rocking to get him to sleep. There were also a couple of nights that the boys were diving into their beds they were so excited about going to sleep.
Sprinkled throughout the entire day you are changing diapers, putting clothes on, making water or milk cups, putting on PJs, settling disputes if they can’t work it out, moving them from where they don’t belong, going upstairs, going downstairs, and making sure gates are shut and locked. I enjoyed every minute.
There were two panic moments during the visit from my viewpoint.
1. On one of our shopping trips we pulled a ‘shop til you drop’ and was at the mall for 5 hours. As we were getting close to the end of the trip I realized that we did not have Jack’s baby with us any more. Katy and I looked all over the stroller and could not find it. We decided that we would have to retrace our steps (5 hours worth) to see if we could find his baby or if someone might have turned it in. God must have been smiling down on us because the very first store we went back into had Jack’s baby.
2. One afternoon when Katy was out and I was watching the boys both of them decided to make a deposit in their diapers. I changed Adam and while I was changing Jack, Adam was playing with a tube of Desitin. The cap was on and they play with it all of the time so I didn’t think anything about it. When I got done changing Jack, I looked up and Adam had gotten the cap off and had Desitin all over his hands and in his mouth. I panicked took him into the bathroom and got a washcloth and got as much of it out of his mouth as I could and cleaned his hands. No, he was not a happy camper. When Katy got home, I told her what had happened and she said “Did you take a picture?” and I thought “Take a picture are you crazy”. Goes to show that I am not used to this kind of thing. She says they have done it before.
During these 8 days, it was 2 on 2 (Katy and me against Adam and Jack) and it was a whirlwind of activity. Normally Katy does all of this on her own. She is an ANGEL in disguise and I really appreciate the wonderful job she is doing with the grand boys (they are no longer babies).
This maybe a little humdrum to you, but when Adam and/or Jack give you those smiles and giggles, climb up in your lap and put their head on your shoulder, or share their binky with you it is HEAVEN.
