Easter Easter Easter

Holidays with kids are incredibly fun, and Easter can give just about any holiday a run for its money when it comes to kid friendly activities.  This year our Easter festivities began on Friday the 11th.  We went to our first family class at the John Tracy Clinic (clinic for children with hearing issues), and while Sara and I were listening to a speaker Connor was building an Easter basket and running around outside collecting eggs.  Not sure if this was a good thing, as Connor may now expect every family school day to have Easter eggs, but I'm sure we'll figure that one out.

The next step in our Easter celebration was through Connor's normal daycare, where Connor decorated eggs and had another Easter egg hunt.  He came home with 17 eggs filled with a variety of goodies.  I am incredibly thankful to the parents who filled their eggs with stamps or stickers, as Connor certainly is not in need of more candy.

Around the house Sara and Connor had all sorts of fun making bunny garlands, dying eggs with the standard egg kit as well as with shaving cream and food coloring, and decorating Easter cookies.  Sara and I also enjoyed a few Easter festivities a little early as well, like Cadbury eggs.

On Easter Sunday we woke up and Connor got to rifle through his Easter basket while Owen tried to avoid misplaced eggs and sidewalk chalk.  Connor found the chocolate immediately, and after he was appropriately sugared he found his helicopters, which dad managed to fly straight in to the ceiling (Connor seemed to think this was pretty cool, mom less so).  After we finished basket opening we hopped in the car and headed to Orange County for brunch with both sets of grandparents and the Bergmanns.  

The golf club that Bart and Joni are members of does a really great job of celebrating holidays.  Along with brunch they had a bounce house, petting zoo, egg hunt and Easter bunny all set up.  Connor loved the bounce house, loved the Alpaca in the petting zoo, managed to snag a couple of eggs away from the marauding 7 year olds, and steered well clear of the large man dressed in a bunny outfit.  Smart kid if you ask me.  Owen celebrated at the club by sleeping in Grandma's arms.

After nap time (for all of us) it was time for, I know you're going to find this hard to believe, another egg hunt.  You would have thought that 3 egg hunts for one boy would have been enough, but then you would have thought wrong.  Connor found 24 eggs in Bart and Joni's backyard, with only minor assists from Papa, who was always able to steer them towards eggs but could never quite seal the deal of finding them.  Owen enjoyed this Easter egg hunt by sleeping in his pack and play.

All in all it was a great day spent with family and wonderful to see the fun that holidays can bring to young eyes and minds (yes, Papa qualifies under these restrictions).

The Semblance Of A Routine

One thing that Sara and I discovered during Connor's first few months was that a routine was a great simplifier to the craziness that can be everyday life with an infant.  Everyone had similar expectations about what was going to happen during each time of the day.  For Connor the routine worked brilliantly, and Sara and I maintained the routine in the face of just about every obstacle.  Sometimes that was probably a bad decision as I think we limited ourselves because we needed to be home for "nap time," but in the vast majority of cases it was a major positive that brought some sanity back into our lives.

As Owen has gotten a little older we've begun to try and develop a new routine for our family of four. We've discovered that we, and Owen, need to be a little more flexible than we were during Connor's first few months.  Having a nearly three year old with social obligations requires a certain amount of get-up-and-go.  Regardless, we have gotten to the point where there is a rough road map for each day, and it has made life significantly more straight forward.

One huge benefit to the routine is the fact that Sara and I have gotten our evenings back.  Before Owen was born, Connor would go to bed between 7:30 and 8:00 and Sara and I would be able to have two hours to talk to each other, pick up the house, do laundry, stare blankly at the television like a trauma victim...whatever was necessary.  During the first few weeks of Owen's life that time seemed to disappear.  It seemed that any moment that Connor was asleep, Owen was crying.  Trying to find a minute for Sara and I to say hello to each other was exceedingly difficult.  As Owen has progressed and started to learn when bed time is and has gotten better at sleeping a little more soundly and predictably, Sara and I have slowly gotten an hour, then an hour and a half, and now close to two hours where we can just be with each other.  With so much energy focused on Connor and Owen throughout the day it is nice to be able to look at each other without chaos in the background and remember that we are in this together, that there's no one with whom we'd rather share this experience.