Daddy's on TDY - Day 1

Michael's daddy left for TDY (training) for 2 weeks. We had to wake up at 2am to see Matt off and it took Michael awhile to fall back asleep. So between very little sleep, having a cold, and not having his daddy....M had a rough day!

For our first attempt at calming Michael, we put him in the bathtub. It was about 9am and he had already refused breakfast and was a beast. He didn't feel the absence of his daddy yet, since he is usually at work at that hour, but he felt the effects of little sleep and his cold. 

But bath was very short. I don't think he even moved from this spot. He had fun putting his hand under the running water then putting it to his face but as soon as the tub was full and the water turned off he cried. He drained the tub and we tried one more time but it was another short lived bath.

Our second attempt was outside play! Yay....usually. 


He was pretty grumpy in the yard so I had to carry his crying, pouting self to the park before he realized he still liked the swing. Today's swinging had more of a love-hate feel to it though.

He did recently discover that he can touch the ground now so he loved having me push him then he would stop himself. Then we'd do it again :) 

After returning back inside we attempted lunch. At first, I thought he would reject it. I went for a comfort food that is almost never rejected: peaches and strawberries 'n' cream oatmeal. I also made myself a frozen lunch of chicken and potatoes. Because he always loves to surprise me...he ate BOTH! He hasn't eaten much meat in probably a year. It is always nice when we get some in him so I gladly sacrificed my meal. 

During lunch he really looked like he was ready to finally pass out. 

But of course, that would have been too easy. Instead, we spent the next few hours pouting, crying and fighting sleep. And yes, I said WE. I'm sure I did quite a bit of pouting too. 

Does this face not say "I'm exhausted!!"? Sure does! But never once did he sleep. 

Liz and I decided to try a car ride since he kept running to the car every time we went outside. It worked! We drove for 90 minutes, with a brief stop to pick up a chocolate banana shake from Sonic for the kids to share. We drove and drove and drove and he never fussed once. We returned home and it was looking promising while I was cooking dinner. The dinner he never ate. The dinner that seemed to remind him that he was cranky. 

Oh my poor little bear. He destroyed the shoe rack. He was even laying down with the shoes by the door. He can get a little dramatic at times but it was over the top today. I think at this time of night he was realizing that Daddy had not made an appearance. So I made his medicine and Liz and I put him to bed. We attempted to recreate the bedtime routine that Matt and I usually do. Liz was great. We're very fortunate to have such an amazing, caring daughter. She has her normal disagreeable kid moments but not when it comes to helping with her brother. 
Can you tell he is ready to sleep?

Sadly, he didn't seem to know it! It still took about two hours, a stripping act, a poop, the mattress being pushed off the bed a few times, a phone call with Daddy, a lot of crying and cuddling and Daddy Bear (the kids' talking bear with Matt's personal message to them) to get him to sleep. 

But he's finally asleep :)  We can only hope that if he gets a normal night sleep he will have a better day...until he realizes he still has 12 more without Daddy.