Back to reality

Tomorrow, Mommy, Kaylani, and me all go back to reality. A reality where I'll leave every morning by 8am (at the latest) and not get back home until around 6pm. A reality where Mommy will be home with Kaylani all by herself (and her great Mommy friends and Mommy classes). A reality where I'm not longer a SAHD, but instead, just sad. On the bright side, reality means that I still earn a paycheck and can still afford the roof over our heads and the diapers on Kaylani's bottom. And since we need a LOT of diapers for Kaylani's bottom, I guess reality isn't all too bad. Plus, we sure had a blast while it lasted!

We finished off my SAHD week in grand fashion. Friday night, Mommy and I went out for our first date since Kaylani was born. We went to Catch a Rising Star Comedy Club in Princeton and then out to TGI Fridays (ahh the suburb life) to watch the end of the Yankees-Red Sox game. The show at the comedy club was alright. Not the best, but definitely good enough. It actually made me want to pursue my undeveloped dream of being a stand up comic that I had from years ago. I used to think that I would have enough material between my mom and Mommy, but now that Kaylani is with us, I just might have enough material to last a solid 3 (5 minute) shows. But since having another "job" would take away from my time at home, it's likely that my dream will remain undeveloped.

To sum up date night, it was good. Comedy Club was perfect because we didn't have that much of a chance to talk about Kaylani. Not that we didn't want to talk about Kaylani, but the rules of parent date night are that you're supposed to focus on the date, not the parent part. Since it was our first time out, you can bet we didn't stick to the rules strictly. Maybe next time...whenever that is.

To wrap up my SAHD week, we took Kaylani to the Aquarium again, and again, she had a great time. This time, I actually think she had a better time and knew what she was looking at. She was much more likely to say "ishhh" to all the fish swimming by and banged on the glass with much more force. Part of it could be that she was wearing shoes and could stand on ledges and bang on the glass instead of having to be carried, but I'm pretty sure she just remembered from last time too because she's growing. She didn't grow too much though since she was still afraid of the "water people", but again, who wouldn't be afraid of people banging on the glass back at you next to fish. Luckily the memories didn't carry over into swim class this afternoon. Mommy was a little afraid that she'd think there were fish in the pool with her. Guess she's not that grown up to put that together.

Anyways, she's now fast asleep, and soon, we'll follow and go to sleep ourselves. We've all got big days tomorrow. Personally, I'm excited to be starting a new job and looking forward to the challenge, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't sad to be going back to work. Being home this week let me spend all types of time with my girls in their natural routines (unlike vacation) and it was a great thing to be a part of. It'll be tough to go back to work, but just so we're clear, work is way easier than being a stay at home parent. Trust me, I know from experience...even if it was only a week!

Oh, and check out these pictures from the last week. I didn't post all week, so there are pictures from the cake Mommy and Kaylani bought me for my last day at Rosetta, Little Gym, random times around the house, and the aquarium today. Enjoy!

Go Fish!

After last weekends trip to the zoo, we decided to embark on another adventure to the Adventure Aquarium in Camden today. Actually, we had planned on going to the Yankees game, and then to Aidan's 1st birthday party, but the weather deterred us from the game, and Kaylani acting a bit sick deterred us from the birthday party (wouldn't want to be that kid who gets all the other kids sick). Apparently Kaylani acting a bit sick didn't deter us from going to the aquarium though, but chances are she had a better chance of getting sick there than getting anyone else sick, right? Anyways, it was Kaylani's first trip to the aquarium, and I think she liked it!

We knew from her fascination with the sea otters last week that she would love the aquarium so today really just confirmed our thoughts. It was a little bit harder for her to see all the fish since some of them were real small and the whole place was kinda dark, but when she did see them, she sure did love them! She banged on the glass in delight each time a giant shark or fish would swim by her. She'd shriek and say "ishhhh" whenever a bright colored fish would come near her. She said "ishhh" when the penguin followed her every movement ("ishhh" could mean "penguin" too right?). And she even stared at the hippo as it ate hay and wiggled its giant ears.

But she didn't like everything at the aquarium. Actually, the part she didn't like the most was the people. Well, she loved looking at the people and kids that were at the aquarium. It was the people IN the aquarium that she didn't like. When one of the staff all dressed up in his wetsuit swam over to her area of the glass and tapped on it, she immediately backed away. He tried to wave at her and smile through his mask, but she wanted nothing to do with him. Frankly, I don't blame her. Giant sharks, turtles, and fish? Cool. Old man in a wetsuit? Pretty scary.

We capped off our trip with a stop at the gift shop, but didn't end up buying anything. We tried to get Kaylani to pick between a purple hippo or a turtle, but she was more interested in the shelf full of frogs. And just when we thought we'd be going home with a new stuffed frog, she threw that on the ground too. Guess we saved ourselves $15...this time.

Anyways, I'm kinda picture crazy right now, so here are pictures from today's trip to the aquarium and her breakfast adventure with pancakes bananas. The picture quality at the aquarium is not the best since I haven't figured out how to take good pictures in the dark with or without a flash, but check em out anyways. Oh, and here's a video just for kicks too. Enjoy!

Ever dress a fish?

I'm not a big fisherman. In fact, I'm not any type of fisherman. I went deep sea fishing once on a boat with my Dad when I was probably around 10 and I ended up getting seasick and throwing up off the side of the boat the entire trip. Then, to make matters worse, we got fined $50 a fish for the 2 measly fish that my cousin caught because they were too small. Then, on top of all of that, the cop took the fish for us. What a terrible trip.

So while I didn't take Kaylani fishing, and probably never will, I've decided that getting Kaylani ready for bed is like trying to hold a fish. Not a frozen fish or a dead fish, but an actual live fish. Kaylani squirms so much when we try and get her into her pajamas that if she was a fish and we were on a boat, she'd be back in the water and I'd be standing there looking over. Then, to top it all off, I'd probably get fined for letting a fish go.

Okay, maybe I'm stretching this whole fish thing a bit far, but she really is squirmy. She's so squirmy that I've given up on the changing table and I now change her exclusively on the floor while she's pinned down with my left leg. Sure she's crying most of the time because she hates when "the man" holds her down, but it's the only way to keep her still. The problem is that I can't get her pajamas on when my fat leg is over her. That means I've gotta let her loose.

Kaylani sleeps in full, long sleeve, footie pajamas that button all the way up (or down) through both legs. I can usually get her sleeves on just fine, but the rest is a challenge. Getting her to stay on her back doesn't work. Getting her to stay still and not flip over doesn't work. Trying to button 12 buttons between both legs and all the way up top while she's on her belly doesn't work. Trying to button her up while she's crawling away from me doesn't work. After about 10 minutes of flipping her over, buttoning a button, pulling her back to me, buttoning a button, holding her in a bear hug, buttoning a button, and so on, it's finally done. Finally she's ready for bed and released into the wild for a few minutes before the routine continues on.

Thankfully tonight's routine is over with and she's asleep peacefully in her crib. Tomorrow night we'll do it all over again. Maybe I'll head downstairs and turn on the Animal Channel or Discovery Channel to see if I can find a good fisherman's show. Or maybe I'll just keep trying to dress the cutest little fish I know.