While dad was away...

We played! Two weeks ago, Grant received an email stating that there were some spots open in an endo course that he was interested in attending. The email was sent out on Wednesday and the class began the following Monday. He thought there was probably no chance that they would actually fly him all of the way from here to Washington DC for this class, but he thought it didn't hurt to try, so emailed back saying he was interested in going. Long story short, he found out Friday night that he would be leaving Saturday morning for DC! So, we hurried and got everything together and on Saturday drove him down to Naha for his long flight "home"! 

I was glad that I had just been in the states a few week prior, otherwise I would have been super jealous. However, I wasn't anxious to make that flight again, so even though it would have been so fun to go with him, I felt much better about staying home. However, I was not excited about the thought of being a single parent for 9 days. I was away from Grant when I was home for 3 weeks, but had family who wanted to help and play with Rowan, etc. This time I knew it would be our normal routine but without my favorite time of day (Grant getting home) or having him coming home from work to look forward to. However, I was determined to make it a good week. I cleaned our house like crazy the Friday before he left so that if I accomplished nothing besides being a good mom to Rowan that week, that I would feel it to be a success. (And by the end of the week I did feel like I had been a good mom...but accomplished very little else :)

This may be one of my all time favorite photos! Grant was in the middle of a large snowstorm (the government was actually shut down one day because of it...but his class still met) and Rowan and I were on the beach in our front yard making sand angels. This photo perfectly captures the sheer joy this child experiences at the beach (and it makes me pretty dang happy too!) He was having SO much fun.

 Cutest little drool monster :)

I decided that I didn't care how dirty and sandy he got...I was just going to let him explore. Let's just say that I was picking sand out of his nose for more than a few days, but it was so worth the fun we had.

Before Grant left, I told him that we needed to lower the crib mattress because Rowan had been showing signs that he would likely be able to pull himself up to standing pretty soon...well sure enough, the very next day he's hanging out in his crib and does this... which then quickly led to standing. So needless to say, I had no choice to lower it myself (cursing the fact that we hadn't done it before he left). Luckily my neighbor Ali came over to help!
 (Don't worry, that camera has also now been repositioned out of reach :)

 After dropping Grant off at the airport, we decided to check out the outlets which are nearby. I had heard rumors that there was a Gap outlet and more but hadn't been there to check it out myself. I was pleasantly surprised. The outlets were really clean and nice and new feeling (unlike most buildings in Okinawa). It felt kind of like home which made me happy :) Rowan and I had a little date, doing some shopping and then eating ice cream for lunch at Blue Seal (Okinawa salt cookie is my favorite).

 Japan has some interesting bathroom situations but sometimes they are genius. A little seat for the baby to sit in while mom goes to the bathroom...yep, that's smart :) And they have little antibacterial wipes to wipe everything down so it's not even gross.

 Rowan loved it :)

 Also while Grant was gone, Santa came to the Camp Courtney festival, so we went to see him! Of course I forgot the camera and my phone was almost dead, but I still managed to get one decent shot. Rowan smiled for Santa, yay :)

 I love that he is starting to fit into his 6-12 month clothes, because I have a lot of them...and I'm pretty excited about them all :) I remember being slightly sad that I wouldn't get to buy girls clothes when I found out I was having a boy, but I have to admit, "little man" clothes might even be cuter. I love this!

Posing for the camera :)

 We worked out together a few times. (Now I know why it's hard to get back to normal body after baby. I've essentially lost all my weight, but I am definitely still "fatter" than I was before). However, trying to workout is a new kind of crazy. I either have to decide that nap time (my only time of the day to get anything else done) will be spent working out or I have to try to keep the little guy entertained while I get my workout on with Jillian Michaels :) Rowan pumped some iron with me!

 Mmm, taste the salty sweat on those weights ;)

 We tried a new thai place with Brooke which was really cute and delicious...

And then Rowan spent the rest of the week learning new skills and tricks. I'm pretty sure he learned to do more in this one week that Grant was gone for than in the 3 weeks we were in the states. He perfected his crawl (and got fast)...

 Learned to open the entertainment center...

 Figured out how to pull himself up to standing and grab whatever he can reach!

 Found the presents and tried to open them...(which made me extra excited for Christmas morning). He LOVES ripping paper to shreds, so opening presents will be the perfect playtime for him.

 We also did a little crafting and Rowan helped me with the drill...

 

I definitely can't complain about Grant being gone for a week, especially since we are in the military. But, I can say that I am grateful to have a husband who is such a great support to me and a terrific dad. Life just wasn't as fun without him here! I don't know how single parents do it. It was pretty exhausting and I knew I only had to endure for a week. Here's to hoping that endo conference paid off and Grant can specialize in endo (a non-deployable specialty :) Fingers crossed!