FathersWork

The weather was terrible, but the weekend with darling daughter was terrific. We didn't do anything really amazing because it was so cold and damp, but we did have a lot of fun. She had a cold, too. We watched "Happy Feet", colored butterflies, colored her princess coloring pages, painted, cleaned her room, played hide and seek, and we also went to the mall and rode the train - twice!

I picked up Eloise from school and she was so glad to see me, and I was glad to see her. We called Jim and confirmed that he and his daughter Jordan were coming over for pizza. They were, and so then called and ordered the pizza. They brought bubbles with them and after pizza they had so much fun using the bubble machines to fill the air with their bubbles, then popping them. After that, they took turns as we swung them in the blanket, then we said goodbye to our friends. I then read Eloise the noisy book and the Maisy's Bedtime book. After that, we brushed her teeth and I put her to bed. She woke up a couple times during the night, so I got her a cup of water, held her, and put her back to bed. I laid down on the floor in her room until she went to sleep.

After a grueling session of mediation, I've resumed my visitation with my daughter on Tuesday afternoons. We had such a wonderful time together at the playground! It was obvious how much Eloise enjoyed our time together because the first thing she said to me on Wednesday morning was "Daddy - can we go to the park together?" I could not say no, so we went to the new playground together. It was a quick visit, but we had a great time. It was very wet, there were big puddles everywhere; thankfully we brought a towel!

Eloise's mother requested a change from Thursday night to Saturday night, so she dropped her off at 5PM. I appreciated the extra hour with her. We played outside a bunch - blowing dandylion seeds, then we went inside and painted and took care of the house plants. After that, we went out to dinner at the Silver Diner in Rockville. She was so well behaved and really loved her macaroni and cheese. I took a ton of pictures and videos of her with my camera. Then we went to Target and shopped for a few household items. After that, we went home, I read her some books, and she went to sleep. In the morning, we played with some of her birthday presents, cleaned up her room a little, had yogurt for breakfast, and then I had to drop her off at 10AM.

I picked up Eloise from daycare at about 5PM and we went to Grosvenor Market to buy some food for dinner. Eloise is still fixated on the whole red snapper they had there a few weeks back and keeps asking me to get fish. I offered to get some flounder, but she said she doesn't like flounder. I then suggested roughy, which she said she liked. When we got home, I set her up to do more painting which I cooked dinner which included the roughy, green beans, and some toasted bread. I then gave her a snack of grapes, and then some carrots and hommus, which she loved. She doesn't like roughy it seems, but she did try a little green beans (and actually at the store, she was very interested in "orange" beans!).

Eloise came over for our Wednesday morning visit. Before breakfast, she painted two watercolor pictures. We had yogurt for breakfast, then off to daycare and work.

This was Eloise and my Saturday together for the month of March. We had a good time, but I was a little stressed out from work. We went to the Post Office and then to the bank. During the drive she fell asleep, then woke up again when we arrived home. We then took the stroller out and walked to the little playground. She spent the night and in the morning we had yogurt for breakfast before her mother picked her up for ballet lessons at Glen Echo Park.

Eloise came over for breakfast today. She is potty trained now! We had oatmeal for breakfast and played with her puppy "Snowball", and she also drew some pictures with crayons and chalk.

I picked up Eloise from school at 5:30PM and we had Jim and Jordan over for dinner. I am very pleased that Eloise is always so happy to see Jordan and that she is getting to know Jim so well. They are such great friends. We had pizza, and the girls danced in Eloise's room. Then after they had some time to digest their food, we swung them in the blanket and they laughed with joy.

Eloise and I had such a great time this week. I picked her up around 5:30PM, had to run to the grocers to pick up a couple items, then ordered Chinese food on the way home. Unlike last time I ordered Chinese, she did not like it! It was ok, she had a small healthy snack (carrots, crackers, cheese) before dinner, and chocolate milk afterwards. She was in good spirits the entire time.

I picked up Eloise from daycare at 5:45PM, we had a great time together until 7:30PM when her mother picked her up. When she was leaving she said "I wish I could stay with you." It nearly broke my heart. I said I wished I could spend more time with her, too.