Separation Anxiety

Amber and I had another nice hang out day today. We went out to get the boys some Christmassy pjs for this year's Christmas Card photo shoot (stay tuned!) and ended up spending the entire day together.

For some reason, the boys didn't nap today - they just jumped and played and chatted in their cribs whilst Amber and I listened to them and read the newspaper, drank tea and ate cookies downstairs. Abigail however, was on a full on sleep bender and slept for quite a few hours. The only problem was that I needed to go food shopping in the afternoon. By 3pm Amber was planning on waking her up and taking her home, but then we decided that was silly, she should just stay put and chill out whilst the boys and I got groceries. The plan was modified a bit more when Amber suggested that I leave the boys and go on my own. But William decided he really wanted to come with me as soon as he saw my coat go on, so we changed the plan even further and decided I would take Will and Amber would watch Owen.

I've always meant to do little one-on-one trips with the boys, but for some reason it just hasn't really happened yet, so this was a bit of a first for us. I knew Owen would probably be fine since he loves Amber and Abby, but would he miss his brother? As for William...Sigh. My funny little William. As I pulled out of the driveway he started to howl. Absolutely howl. "OOOOOOWWWWWWWWWIIIIIIEEEEEEEE!" I think he thought I was abandoning his brother, or maybe had just forgotten him. He was beside himself for at least 5 minutes and no matter how much I said "Owen is fine, he's at home, mummy hasn't forgotten your brother, he's with Auntie Amber, you're going shopping with mummy, just the two of us" he just cried for his twin. Broke my heart a little, I have to admit. He calmed down enough to just whimper a bit every now and then and finally we saw a school bus, I started singing 'The Wheels On The Bus" and he was fine.

On the drive home he talked a lot about Owie and even managed to say something that sounded like "hey hermano" (Arrested Development, anyone?) and I think he was looking forward to seeing him. Their reunion was cute - big smiles all round and some waving. I called Mark on the way home and told him about their little separation and he agreed with me that we need to give them more of this alone time with us. Although they've definitely got their own personalities and we try our best to see them as individuals at home, its nice for them to have 100% of our attention and focus every once in a while, and good for us as parents to see them as seperate entities, not just "the boys".

I have to admit that shopping with just the one wasn't actually any easier than with the two of them, although I think it might have been a bit faster. I guess I've got it down to a fine art these days. But it did feel strange not having people come up and talk to us. Usually we get lots of attention in the supermarket from little old ladies and employees. But this time I was just another mummy out with her son. I realised that I'm a bit of a famewhore with my kids. I LIKE the attention we get. I LIKE talking to people about them. I like smiling ruefully and saying, "yep, you're right there, definitely double trouble." I think there might be something wrong with me.


I don't have any new photos of the boys, so instead here is an oldie but a goodie of the hermanos. I think they're about 3 or 4 months old here. Owen's on the left and Will's on the right in case you can't recognize them.