On Monday, Isaiah and I headed all the way up to Van Dyne to hang out with my sister and Chris. They live literally a stone's throw from Lake Winnebago and the wind was very strong that day, so it was significantly colder than I expected it to be. Nevertheless, after feeding us a really yummy dinner of pork tenderloin, rice, and veggies that Isaiah successfully threw all over the floor, we went outside to play on the neighbor's trampoline. Isaiah had an absolute blast! He and Erica were bouncing around in there, wrestling, crawling, and he was reluctant to finally be pulled out. It's hard to compete with a trampoline.
After that, we headed to Waupun so Isaiah could hang out with his grandparents and his Aunt Ashley. I love it when I get to bring him to places surrounded by family because I can really go "off duty." I plunked down on the grass and just let him go, knowing that one of the other adults would be more than willing to chase after him for me! Isaiah and Howie took a long walk around the neighborhood and then Howie grilled us an amazing supper of BBQ chicken, asparagus and red potatoes. Once again, my son doesn't know what he's missing. He refused to eat any of it and instead ate only a piece of bread and some grapes. Seriously, kiddo. Getting him to bed was a bit of a challenge again, but I expected that with being away from home. I finally put him down around 9:00 or so and he slept really well all night.
If there was any doubt in my mind that Isaiah misses Evan, which there isn't, it would have been erased while we were trying to get Isaiah ready for bed last night. When it was time to settle down and get ready to go to sleep, Sandy picked up Isaiah for some cuddle time, but Isaiah reached out to Howie and wanted him to hold him. The second Howie picked him up, Isaiah layed his head on his shoulder and snuggled right in. Gee....I get it, kid. Someone is really missing his Daddy. I tell Isaiah every night when I put him to bed that when he wakes up, he will be one day closer to seeing Daddy again and that Daddy is far away, but that he loves him very much and thinks about him all the time. That speech I give is partly for me too. I miss him more than I can say.
