Where does all the time keep going?

I swear, it doesn't seem like it's been so long since I lasted posted. But it's been a few weeks and lots has happened.

The big thing was my trip up to MN with Ronan last week. It was a lot of fun and hard to leave. Ronan did fantastic on the flight up there. It helped that we sat next to a guy who really loved kids. But Ronan was quiet for the whole flight and was content to either look through his books or out the window. He did finally fall asleep - as we were landing. While there, my parents were so helpful in watching him (which I'm sure was a real chore for them, haha). Ronan quickly found our old red wagon and my dad would pull him around, which Ronan enjoyed immensely. He loved my mom and it was so nice to be able to leave him with her and go out to get my hair done or have dinner with friends and not have to worry about him being upset or crying the whole time. When I went out to dinner, she took him outside with me so he could wave good-bye and there were no tears. He also liked to follow my brother around. Sunday, my cousin and his wife and daughter came to visit. It was a little dicey at first - Ronan's very much into the push and hit stage. And you never really know what he's going to do. Sometimes he hits, sometimes he hugs, and sometimes he nicely pats people on the head. But after a little bit, he was more interested in helping build a tower. Kaylee would start stacking and Ronan would just hand her pieces to add. It was cute to watch. On Monday, my last day there, my mom and dad took us to the Como Zoo, which was a lot of fun. Ronan saw a lot of cool animals and we all got to witness a zebra kick an ostrich, which was definitely out of the ordinary! The flight home was a little rougher than the flight out - we were in an even smaller plane, I sat next to a very big guy, which limited our space, and the guy in front of us decided to recline his seat a bit and Ronan would have been happy to kick it the entire time. Once again, though, he fell asleep as we were descending and overall did a good job - no screaming or crying.

Readjusting to LWG (Life Without Grandparents) was a little difficult. Tuesday saw a lot of screaming, crying, and tantrums when we couldn't do exactly what Ronan wanted exactly when he wanted to. I think he missed having several people willing to exclusively cater to his needs. And God knows I missed it too.

On Monday, Ronan's going to start daycare again. I'm really looking forward to it. I have so much respect for stay-at-home moms. There's no way I could do this full time. At least not here - I'd need to move somewhere with more stuff for kids to do that didn't require driving for more than 10-15 minutes. I think being in school while raising kids, while incredibly stressful, does allow you to strike a nice balance between spending time at home with your child and also being able to participate in a grown-up life as well. I'm very thankful that I can put Ronan in daycare for a two to three days a week and then spend the rest of the time at home with him. (Even though it makes getting things done a bit harder.) I wish there were more part-time work solutions available to people. I also think it's great that Ronan gets to go to daycare. I like that he's exposed to other kids (although I could maybe do with less exposure to their germs!) and adults who aren't family. I'm also hopeful that once he starts up again, he'll be better able to understand that hitting isn't ok and overall learn how to play more nicely. Or else he'll just learn to hit more. :)

Well, I should try to get some work done while Ronan naps. Starting next week, I have meetings and stuff for school and then classes begin on the 30th. I can't believe how quickly the time has gone.