Low frills daddy daycare day
Florida, Miami - Day 8
Today's story begins last night because Sophie went out with her colleagues after hours to socialize and grab some drinks while I hung back with the sleeping kids and reflected on my day. All was going swimmingly well and I even received positive messages from my wife that all was well, that she was happy she went out and that she was having a great time. I was happy for her and went back to my writing.
Well it seems the day still had a few surprises for me in the can. The first was Wesley waking up screaming close to midnight. I usually respond quickly to his cries but in a hotel with a shared locked door to the next room and paper thin walls I react in time travel mode by going back in time to when he just starts to cry and pick him up.
With Wesley usually picking up is all that is needed to resolve what ever issue he has, well not this time. When picking him up doesn't work walking around usually does. No dice, poor little guy was struggling. Mom usually solves this by now, hmmm what is a daddy to do. Well I've got a few things to run through but the ultimate back up plan is mommy's return which originally was supposed to be sometime after 10pm so likely anytime now… right?
First thing I do is change his diaper. Wesley hates being in poop so sometimes his cries are a plea to extract him from a shitty situation literally. Doing this has a secondary consideration, I want to confirm his temperature. Aahhh poor guy he's got a mild fever but while I'm doing this he takes a pee which soaks his pyjama. Dohhhhhhh! Ok so I give him some meds, put him in a new pyjama and walk around till it starts to take effect. Still not fully calm but perhaps if I lie down with him he'll start counting sheep again. No dice. Back up I get and walk around. Let's try milk. Ok he likes that but not for very long. After a few swigs he's back to crying.
We do this dance for over an hour and a half and he's still not sleeping. I message Sophie and get nothing back so I call her and she answers right away. We argue about her staying out so late as well as my delivery but ultimately her baby needing her is all she needs to come back. While talking to mommy our voices seemed to soothe him so after I hang up I lay back down with him and eventually he falls asleep. Mom arrives and all is well but she feeds him nonetheless and he happily accepts. It is now well past 2am. Both parents are dead tired and dreading the morning to come.
Thankfully the little ones sense the panic and decide to sleep in untill 10am allowing both my wife and I to wake up refreshed and ready to tackle the day. Ha ha ha yeah right! The oldest senses her parents weakened state and pounces at 6am with the “I need to shit strategy.” Her first target, daddy but soon to follow is mom.
Things that made an appearance in that moment:
Exhaustion
Dread of the day ahead
Itchy, tired eyes
Migraine in the making
Reduced brain cognition and operation
What didn't make an appearance? Shit didn't appear in the bowl to be flushed… just pee. Kids = 1
I get the kids ready while my wife sneaks in additional Zzzzzs but it doesn't take long for the kids to destroy her hopes and dreams of a peaceful sleep all morning long. Well when you can't fight them join them. We get everything ready to go out for the day including our ready for anything and everything stroller. Given yesterday's experience with busses today I opted to keep us bipedal, this will surely reduce the friction that we encounter throughout our day. We head out and grab breakfast at the same bakery as yesterday except this time no Nutella infused croissant for either Lola or myself.
We then walk mom to the conference and then exit the venue. Across the street is a sign for a Botanical Garden, let's check that out. Man oh man what a find. It's free and it is incredible. Such a beautiful green space that is chock full of greenery and peace. The place reeks of pure thoughtful intentioned design. Lola discovers a huge pond with tons of koi fish who are clearly used to being fed. Across in the other pond we find a bunch of turtles too. We take our time and visit every nook and cranny of this magical place. Once every inch is covered we head back out from where we came.
I'm gonna just walk around in random directions and see how the kids handle that. I head south and come across Lincoln road which is basically a straight line exterior mall concept. Nothing is open but the space is geared for pedestrians which suits my plans for the day so I walk aimlessly towards the West. Interruptions abound such as Lola wanting to check out the fountain or search for the source of the musical sounds coming from the trees which happened to be wind chimes. Wesley also contributes by needing a diaper change but also by wanting to be strapped to my chest.
We eventually hit water so I turn towards the north which leads us to a Fresh Market. I buy them some fresh watermelon and watch them indulge in the tasty water disguised as fruit. At this point lunchtime is around the corner and Sophie had asked if we could do lunch together so time to retrace my steps. Halfway back Lola needs to hit the head so I quickly find a loo and I plop her down on the bowl. Wesley begins to protest his position in the stroller so prior to strapping him back on me for his nap, he's due, I opt to change him first.
The change table is by the sinks so I leave Lola on her own while I deal with Wesley. Sophie calls at this moment and I multitask as best I can. We confirm that I am heading to her and we will eat at the convention centre. Wesley is changed and strapped on for nap time and Lola's poop finally makes an appearance. She's recently started this thing where she examines the shape of poop and categorizes them based on their shape. So far we've had escargot poop, rock pellet poop, and snake poop.
Back in the stroller she goes and back to mom we go. By the time I arrive Sophie secured us some grub so we head into one of the areas, grab some chairs and eat together as a family. We share our morning with Sophie and impress upon her the importance of visiting the Botanical Garden. Sophie says no time like the present so off we go back to the magical wonderland.
Back at the fish pond Lola sees a lady pet the fish. She wants to pet the fish. So seconds later Lola has pet half the school of fish. She wants me to get in on the action. At 49 years of age I pet my very first fish… it took my child to add that to my list of things I've done in my life. Boring to most, but what a special and tender moment to share with your daughter. She believes that her petting them brings them great joy and who knows maybe it does. Wesley gets another feeding of mom's milk before we split again, we kiss and say goodbye and head back to the hotel. I pick up some supplies at a CVS on the way. Lola has fallen asleep by this point but Wesley is raring to go. We get back to the hotel, I park Lola in a dark section of the room and then play with Wesley on the floor, bed and sofa.
Wesley now moves his body to a beat anytime he hears anything resembling music which includes us singing. Well we can also add hitting things together or on the floor to that list. I used two toy shovels as drumsticks on the floor and the little guy starts bouncing back and forth to the beat. Lola eventually wakes up and we play all 3 together including building some duplo block ducks together. Wesley starts to become irritable so I check his temperature and sure enough mild fever. Meds and off to bed we both go. I give Lola the tablet and she activates zombie mode.
He falls asleep on me for a bit more than an hour but when he wakes up I get PTSD from the night before. He's back in the same state. Thankfully mom will be back shortly after 5pm and it's 4:30pm now. I try everything again but eventually it's Ritz crackers and playing together that breaks him out of the funk. We are playing together on the ground when mom walks in. He spots her and he lights up right away. He starts to crawl towards her but immediately abandons that for the army crawl which he excels at. He's in her arms and hugging her face in seconds.
We chill as a family in the room while discussing dinner plans. Sadly tonight I have a condo board meeting for our cottage in Tremblant so Sophie packs the kids and goes on an Italian dinner mission. She comes back successfully and we dine on one of the beds together while I listen to the call. Tonight is an early night for Sophie, I wish to join her but I want and like to write these out so sacrifice a bit more sleep to capture days of our family traveling for posterity.
Soon I will be dreaming with them, I hope I end up in their dreams.
Life is beautiful
October 29, 2024
