Building Blocks

My little block head! Earlier I was telling you how we had such a great weekend, and it was something I really needed. The first full week back at work was overwhelming and I was really missing my little girl. But on Saturday, I gave myself permission to focus fully on Violet and my family (save a few organizational things I did during naptime). It was wonderful. Us girls spent the morning together going shopping and playing in a fountain. Once we got home and Violet woke up from her nap, she was so happy and sweet. I don't know if daycare is really fostering her independence or she's just growing up, but she played so well by herself while Matt and I stayed busy on various projects.

At one point, Matt actually looked up from what he was doing and asked if I'd seen Violet. She was so busy and quiet that we'd both lost track of her! Well, I snooped around and found her playing on her own (!) in the playroom (!) where she'd managed to find her blocks (!), pull them out of the bin by herself (!) and was contentedly stacking them ten-high (!) and knocking them down over and over (!). (Note how many of those things totally stunned me!)

This summer I was continually frustrated that Violet seemed to need me right next to her in order to play happily. I felt like I couldn't get anything done! But Saturday was a revelation. It was amazing to watch her figuring out what to do and accomplishing her goal. And the best part was, she was so happy! (Can you tell I've been dealing with some working-mommy guilt about having to "abandon" her at daycare and seeing her miserable each afternoon when I pick her up?)

We ended our Saturday by dropping Violet off at daycare's Parents' Night Out and spending some quality husband-wife time. We did a little browsing for a new bed, bought Violet a bunch of new shirts (she's growing so fast that her 18-mo stuff doesn't cover her tummy!) and had a fun dinner, capped off by a last-minute run to Wal-mart (because nothing says date night like a trip to Wal-mart!) so I could make a return. It was nice to have some time with Matt that occurred before 8:30 p.m. when I'm usually so tired or already focused on what needs to get done the next day. We're going to try to commit to signing up for every month's Parents' Night Out so we can get in at least one date night. (Once upon a time I actually thought we'd get a weekly date night - ha!)

All in all, it did my soul well to have this little oasis of calm in the middle of what is proving to be a whirlwind start to the school year. I'm hoping every weekend can be like this!