I've got a bad feeling about this....

As some of you may know, last weekend Carrie was going out of town for a few days to attend a conference, leaving me and Lily home. Alone. Up to now, the longest I have been alone with my daughter is about 5 hrs. It's not that I am inherently untrustworthy, that's just the way things worked out. Carrie, however, has been abandoned by me and multiple occasions. I took off two weeks after Lily was born for a 4 day weekend (all work related). When she was two months old, I left the country for a week(again, work related)! In retrospect, I don't know what in the world my wife was thinking to let me go. I am sure it wasn't pleasant thoughts.

Carrie was set to leave on Friday afternoon. That night, Lily and I had plans to attend a Halloween event at a local school with her cousins. This involved costuming a 6 month old and keeping her happy in a crowded unfamiliar environment, surrounded by monsters, fairies, and a collection of batmen in assorted sizes.

That night, we went to dinner with the family. I managed a quick costume change back into her "civies"in the car, and got right to rice cereal and squash before dinner arrived, so that she would be content to entertain herself while the rest of us ate. Towards the end of dinner, I noticed a red faced, grunty Lily. This was not good. Once enough time had passed, I decided to tackle this job and hoped that there would be a changing station in the Men's restroom.

There was not.

I proceeded anyway, and laid her up on the counter between both sinks, with her head against the wall. As I was going about the business of diaper changing, Lily had discovered that directly above her head were two soap dispensers, and she was determined to hit the release buttons. This was definitely a bad start. Luckily, I am faster than Lily and a soapy disaster was averted.

Saturday we headed to Louisville to see my family (Grandma Robin). Generally speaking things went well with one small hitch. Although I had packed four cans of formula, I only packed one bottle. After returning home that night, I remembered that I had left her jeans and several toys at Grandma Robin's house. It was at this point that I realized I didn't really need the extra set of hands around, I really needed the extra brain.

Sunday was fairly uneventful, however the late night drive home, caused Lily to sleep in late, thus causing us to be late to an early morning soccer game. Not that I am complaining, as I had all but forgotten what it was like to sleep in late on a Sunday. Sunday also marked bath night. This is something that neither of us (Carrie nor myself) has tried single handedly. My job is usually to keep Lily seated and prevent her from slipping down in the tub while Carrie gets more involved in the actual "cleaning" process. I also like to take on the role of splashing. During this one-man bath, I am not sure how "clean" she got, but she was definitely wet. We were both pretty wet.

Monday we got back into our usual routine. We were up and dressed before 7Am. We had breakfast, and I dressed her in a pink little number she wore just two weeks ago-a sort of "blousy" top with leggings. I dropped her off at school and went about my usual day. When I went to pick her up, I noticed she was wearing her backup clothes, which isn't uncommon. When I made a comment about it to one of the teachers, they replied that they could tell mommy was still out of town, because it looked like daddy had dressed her!

How could it be! I have always tried to pick clothes that were "cute" or at least not too baby like. In fact in intentionally stay away from most out fits with knit pants or or tops/bottoms made of the same pattern as I feel those are "old lady" clothes. Apparently the consensus was that here leggings, were more like tights.

I don't know the difference.

I felt both both a little guilty and challenged by this comment. After we left school, Lily and I headed straight to Macy's to go on a shopping trip. I had something to prove! After scouring the racks of little girl clothes, I decided on a pair of gray/pink jeans with a pink striped shirt. Not only was it good looking, but it replaced the jeans that were left in Louisville. She would not go to school looking like a crazy baby again!

On Tuesday, Carrie was coming home. Again, Lily and I went about our usual routine and dressed super-cute for her teachers and her mommy. Unfortunately, by the time Mommy got home, Lily had required another wardrobe change.

All in all, the weekend was a success. We all survived, and I didn't accidentally leave her anywhere. I left her clothes, toys, bottles and food other places, but not her. I am not sure if Lily and I exactly "bonded" while Mommy was away, but I think she definitely likes me a little more than she used to. Just today, we walked through an Ikea and she had her head on my shoulder for 10 minutes. Turns out she was just eating my shirt collar, but at least she feels comfortable enough to do that.

Let's just say we are both glad that mommy is back.

Here are some more pics.