Last Thursday was my first day back at work. It was surprisingly easy to leave home, much easier than leaving Bennett. I think it's because I've been through it before. Leaving Bennett, I wasn't sure how he'd do, if he could survive without me. Clearly he can and this time they'll more or less be together. 

When I got home Caroline stared at me for a while, her wanting to eat stare. Then she started tapping her lips with her fingers, while staring at me. Yes, clearly very hungry since she hadn't eaten much, nor napped well all day. After she ate, she was out. 

Friday Caroline barely ate a thing while I was at work. In the evening we went to the mall for dinner. Nothing exciting. 

Saturday we went to West Medicine Lake park again. This time Daddy got to go too. 

Then we made a little firepit and had our first bonfire. Everyone enjoyed themselves. We had s'mores but Bennett was more content just eating graham crackers by themselves. Here he is posing by the firepit, making his pirate face. 

At one point Caroline was left by herself in the living room. I found her doing his: 

This morning when Bennett woke up he said, "go outside and eat crackers?" So clearly he enjoyed the fire. In the afternoon Bennett drew in a card for Uncle Kevin's birthday. 

 Caroline took a three hour nap on the couch. 

Her little chubby cheeks and mouth. So cute. And yes, she was drooling all over the couch. Must've been a good deep sleep. Bennett has been doing a pretty good job of going on the potty every night before bed. I think in the past seven days he has gone four times, two days we didn't put him on the toilet and one day he didn't do anything. He's really doing fantastic with it. It probably helps that we give him a new car each time, but I'm okay with that! He is always so proud of himself after he goes. He likes to flush the toilet. Then he usually shrieks in excitement... And today, excited flipped around on Caroline's rug. 

Today I noticed Bennett started using the word 'and.' In the past when he's look at a picture with lots of objects he'd just point to each object naming them. Today he was saying, "basketball and football and soccer ball." I thought that was really cool. Caroline's top two teeth have popped out and she's quite the pro at siting up on her own, especially going from her tummy to sitting. She couldn't have picked a better time to master the skill because now she'll have more fun at daycare. Tonight both kids went to bed late. Caroline went to bed around 8:45 and Bennett was still awake when I left his room at 9:15. This should be interesting for tomorrow first day of daycare. 

Yesterday was my last day of leave. So sad! We went to the gym and then to the splash pad and park. Bennett wasn't really into the splash pad. I think he didn't want to get wet. We enjoyed the picnic lunch though!

Then Caroline and I took one final afternoon nap together. 

At 1:30 last night Cadiline started crying so I brought her into bed with me. Then at 2:30 I heard footsteps walking down the hall. When Bennett got to the bed, I told him to take the stairs into bed, since I was holding Caroline. All night one kid wanted to eat and the other kept kicking me. I didn't get much sleep but at least they were happy. 

I had music playing as I was prepping for the day. I was running around the house with Caroline, getting us both dressed. When I finished I found Bennett chilling and listening to the music. 

We went to the MN Zoo again today. I wanted to see the monk seal exhibit that had just opened. It was a pretty gloomy out which out a damper on our day but we still enjoyed ourselves. 

Showing off his sun and moose stamps. 

On the way home the kids gave me the best gift ever: Bennett fell asleep and Caroline was awake but quiet. It was wonderful. Bennett transferred to bed well, which was awesome. Caroline didn't want to nap right away when we got home but she eventually slept on me and I was able to take a 20 minute nap. Bennett woke a little after 3 so I set Caroline down to get him. That's when things started going horribly. Caroline was super fussy. Every time she'd look at me, she would start screaming. She didn't want to eat, didn't want me to hold her but didn't want me to other down either. It was so miserable. Even Bennett would ask, "why are you crying baby?" And then would tell me she was crying, as if I wasn't aware. Finally I decided the fight to give her Tylenol would be more fun than to deal with a screaming kid. It maybe made her 20% happier. Then Bennett started getting bored and would throw his toys around. He literally sat next to his kitchen and would take food from the fridge and throw it across the room. Argh. So I did what any good mother would do. I took them to the gym so that I could get an hour away. 

Caroline went to bed easily but keeps waking. Bennett wouldn't fall asleep until 9:30... Again... It's been this way for nearly a week. Then after he went to sleep Caroline cried again and I brought her into bed with me. She was equally fussy at the zoo when it came time for her to nap. She wasn't at all content in the stroller, even thought she has taken many stroller naps. But the second I put her in the carrier, she was out. Same goes with tonight. The second is pick her up, she'd stop crying and fall asleep. Now that she is cuddled in next to me, she is sound asleep. Hopefully this need for human touch is because of her teeth coming in and not some new fun must-be-by-someone-all-the-time quirk. 

Last day of leave tomorrow.     :(

Today Bennett woke up wanting to read the vehicle "magazine" grandpa gave him. 

Then he spent his time drawing circles after breakfast. His drawing has turned from scribbling to more focused drawing as of late. I was pretty impressed with circles, especially because he said, "I drawing circles!" At least there wasn't a question about what it was... The car wash he drew later would've been more difficult to guess. 

In the afternoon he took my phone and took a bunch of selfies with it, or "cheese" as he calls pictures. 

After dinner the baths took their first bath together. Caroline was definitely unsure of getting in the tub with her big brother. She kept grabbing onto me with a firm grip. 

Then Bennett made matters worse by trying to pour water on her head... And then her face when she was laying down as I was washing her hair. And after that she wasn't trusting anyone in the bath, nor was she enjoying herself. 

And then Bennett got a car for peeing on the toilet before bed. A pee on the toilet is a great way to kick off the week. I always hope he'll go on the toilet at least once a week (I have pretty low goals) so we've already reached our goal!

Caroline's right tooth has broken through. Poor thing. She doesn't se nearly as uncomfortable this time around as she did with her first two teeth. It she did have a bit of diaper rash developing. Hopefully the diaper cream and powder will do the trick!

Two days left of maternity leave! So sad and I can't imagine not spending every day with them. Caroline is going to have the hardest time with me gone, since she won't take a bottle. Bennett and I talk about it every day. He knows he is going back to school and names of the people he will see. Sometimes he brings it up but often I do. When we talk about it sometimes he says, "mommy go to work. Bennett go to school. See friends. Nap... I cry." And I remind him that mommy will probably cry too, and it's okay to be sad and miss each other but it's okay to have fun because we'll see each other afterwards. "Mommy comes back," is something he has picked up during leave. We've read books about mommies leaving, we had to talk about it when we first started going to the gym daycare, and at ECFE. He does always say that baby Caroline will be with him at school too. And I tell him she will probably miss him too, and maybe he can visit her if he gets very sad. He does seem excited to go back though, so that's reassuring.