Weekend with Marta

Yes, that's me in my underwear and Marta in her underwear too. That photo was taken on Sunday morning after somebody opened the backdoor and let Marta outside so she could roam. I didn't have time to dress Marta (nor myself) before she got on both feet and had me chasing her. And in case you are wondering, that line in the front of my underpants is not my vagina.

Anyway, it being Memorial Day weekend, it was decided to give naine a break and for me to drive to Setauket to spend Saturday, Sunday, and half of Monday with my offspring. Naine looked very nice as we drove away, and I was very afraid Marta would cry because she was no longer near her emme's bosom. Yet, because she no longer nurses perhaps, Marta was interested in the journey and was very interested after her Uncle Ian got in the car.

Once at my folk's place I spent most of Saturday and Sunday alternating between chasing Marta around the backyard and doing manual chores like spreading mulch near my parents small fish pond. I was afraid Marta would have a hard time going to sleep with me - without her mother there - but both nights we shared the big bed in my old room and did fine. I also got to sharpen up my diaper changing skills.

My mom - Marta's mimi, was very good and hands off, letting me chase her most of the time. Mimi did take Marta out to the store I think, I can't remember. I was a bit tired.

One way I got to rest was to plop Marta in front of the TV set so she could watch Finding Nemo, which she really likes. It actually is pretty entertaining - even for a *sigh* adult like me. Ian also did a good job babysitting - he liked to tease Marta. They spent periods of time saying "You stop! No, you stop!" to one another.

Marta ate well both nights. She had a lot of corn and ate a lot of ice cream. My Mom tried to get her to eat her dinner by saying she would get ice cream in the end, but Marta persisted and got ice cream anyway, without eating that much dinner.

On Sunday afternoon I took Marta to the beach. The first place we went to was the playground at the beach, but Marta had already started developing a cold and snotting all over herself. I also didn't like being in the playground with the older boys (5, 6 years old) who were throwing rocks at each other.

We then played by the beach. I gave Marta an hour and a half and she used every minute of it. Again I spent most of the time chasing her and picking her up out of the water when she realized it was too cold. On Sunday night, Marta was pretty sick. She wheezed all through the night and I did my best to make sure her head was propped up.

Monday was the parade. I think she was mostly bored by it. I was a little tired too. Mimi dressed Marta up in a patriotic hat and we went to the parade with Marta in a red wagon.

At the parade we met up with Virginia, an old friend from high school who has a daughter about six months younger than Marta named Elizabeth. There was another person I went to high school with there who also had two kids. I guess I'm falling behind in the competition to populate the Earth!

We left my parent's house at about 2 and dropped Ian off at Jamaica station in Queens. Then it was just me and Marta on the Van Wyck Expressway home to our digs on Rockaway Beach. Marta was sick and it was a warm day. I made sure to check she was still alive, and, yep, she was.

Finally at about 4 pm yesterday, I got to hand the keys to Marta back over to her Emme, with a little bit more respect for what Epp goes through every day of her life :)