Zero to Three in 40 Weeks: What's Better Than Slides and Grandpa?

Right before Christmas, my dad came to visit for a few days. He still lives in Raleigh, NC, but I'm thinking there's a good chance he'll be living near us within the next few years (hint, hint dad if you're reading this). How could you stay away from these girls after all?

My dad unknowingly assumed the brave responsibility of helping me with the girls for the weekend before Christmas. Meg had to leave town for a couple of days to begin packing up her mom's house since we found a buyer! Of course, her leaving coincided with all three girls getting sick...again (it's amazing how the timing of that works out). Now, I pride myself on being able to take care of these girls myself, sometimes. However, this time around, I was no match for three sick toddlers. Personally, I don't think it was all me. Even with my dad here, we just couldn't keep these girls happy. I knew exactly what they needed.

I wish I could tell you that I found a way to get through it. That I'm the type of dad who can handle anything. Instead, I called my wife, frustrated and in somewhat of a panic and, basically, pleaded for her to come home a day early. To my surprise, she had already left a couple of hours earlier and had planned on surprising me with her early arrival. Needless to say, I was ecstatic when she walked through the door. It wasn't just me though, the girls turned in to these completely different little ladies when they saw her. There's just something about mom.

All in all, it wasn't a total failure. It's always good for me to get a fresh reminder of what Meg goes through on a daily basis. It reminds me that she's her own backup and reinforcements. Obviously, I play my part when I'm home during some of the evenings and on the weekend, but in our girls' eyes, she's always numero uno.

After a few days, my dad got, what I'm sure was, a well-deserved break from the babies and some time with his own mom. This time around, I remembered to break out the camera and I'm so glad I did. I love looking back at pictures of me with my grandma and I'm so glad our girls will have a chance to do the same when they get older.

By the way, one of the girls' presents this year was a ~~medium~~ HUGE slide. It was supposed to be the next step up from the one that's about 10 inches off of the ground. Apparently, there is no such thing as a medium slide. It's either they can touch the ground and the top of the slide with their feet at the same time or they appear to be climbing Mt. Everest, ready to jump from the top. Fortunately, they're all having fun with it, except that time when two of them bonked heads at the bottom. Besides that, it's great.

Sophie, ready for the morning's first slide trip