3 weeks; is that all?

I'm in the "Super Mom I can do anything" mode.  It's a little bit strange how overwhelmed you are at first, which slowly cedes into "this is cake."  Of course... I'm sure it's going to just be a vicious cycle.  Bad days, good days, bad days, good days.  But the good news is that I can talk to Nic almost daily, and that usually makes everything better :)

The kids seem to be taking Nic's absence in stride.  Usually at 2 weeks they start acting up, mostly in an emotional/tantrum-y way.  However, we've yet to encounter it (knock on wood).

Maximus has been a bit mouthy with me, so when he talks back to me I've been taking away the Wii - it seems to be working as a punishment.  It helps him that we're staying busy with play dates - he gets boy-time in.  All in all though, he seems indifferent to Nic being gone. Not sure if that's a defense mechanism or what.

Colton notices that Nic is still gone and still tells me "Daddy's taking a long time to get home." And when we pass Futenma (where Nic works here), Colton will say "that's where Daddy lives!"  And I have to explain that Daddy is in Qatar, not Okinawa.  And then he wants to know if Daddy drove there and I remind him that we drove him to the airport. "Why can't Daddy drive there?"  "Because there's an ocean."  And then Maximus chimes in, you know being so much older and wiser he likes to explain things to Colton.

Elora has started to really communicate more.  Although that little stinker still won't talk much.  She says Daa-Daa for Nic, Maa-Maa for me, Dah-Dah for doggie (her purple doggie she carries around the house and sleeps with at night) and she says Guh-Guh for thank you. MMMM is please.  She also nods her head for yes - which REALLY helps.  I can guess what she wants and she'll nod if it's a yes.  But she's so stubborn, I wish she would just talk!! With a mouth FULL of teeth, I would have thought she'd be talking by now.  Colton was 21ish months when we came here, and he was talking in sentences.  Elora is 17 months and when I ask her to say something she just stares at me, as if to say, nice try Mom I ain't talking!


All in all, we're staying busy and although we miss Nic a LOT, it feels good to have 3 weeks done... I can't wait until we can start saying we only have X weeks left - when that number is smaller than our done number.  :)