Melanie’s dad left last night to fly home. He had come to visit for the week, which was great for both Melanie and Isabella.
Melanie has been so tired and nauseous in her first trimester (although not as sick as with Bella, thank God) that it was good that Randy was here to spell her in caring for the baby. He took out her two walks a day sometimes, letting her splash in puddles and pat strange dogs, something Mommy’s a little too conservative to let her do.
Our new apartment is smaller than our old one so we don’t have a guest bedroom any more. We’d though to have him sleep on the full-size bed in Isabella’s room, but the night he arrived, he walked into the room and she sat up and started screaming. I guess she didn’t expect some stranger in her room.
So he slept on the futon in the living room, which was very sporting of him. With me getting up at 5:30, I’m sure I woke him at least a few times.
The other great benefit was that he could babysit Isabella while I took Melanie out for her birthday on Thursday. While we’d initially had grand designs of dinner and a movie, Melanie realized that such a late night was well outside her capabilities at this point. Instead, we just went to “Cilantro,” a fine-dining Mexican place in Salem. (Here’s my review.)
I was sad to see him go because I know that Melanie loved having him around during the day, not just to watch Isabella, but also for companionship, and hey he’s her dad.
Melanie’s mom came up this spring after the miscarriage and cancer scare. Maybe we can get her sister or one of her brothers up this fall. In any case, we’ll be able to see them after Christmas. I know that Isabella loves to see them.
After all, by the end of his visit, Isabella had grown very attached to her grandpa.
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That’s a very good thing for the younger children. It took my children a long time to get used to my Dad because they saw him so rarely. My Mom they warmed up to earlier—she knows how to dial down the exuberance.
They’re quite comfortable with him these days. Now it’s a “Papa!” swarm every time they see him.