Bracing Myself

As time marches on, Levi's weekends with his dad don't seem as painfully long as they used to. There are fewer tears spilled...on Levi's part as well as mine. Those weekends are still hard. I feel out of sorts and like I'm missing an appendage, but overall they are manageable.
What I can't get used to, though, is summer...okay, so we've only gone through one, and it was abbreviated due to Levi's dad's work schedule. But, for this one he plans to take Levi for both 2 week periods. Ugh. I go back and forth between trying to ignore it and trying to prepare myself for it. I don't even know how to prepare Levi. I've mentioned it to him, and he seems fine with it. But, he's still a little young to comprehend two weeks....and then two more weeks.
I get that horrible lump in my throat feeling every time I think about missing what equates to an entire month of my little boy's life. 4 weeks of missing out on moments like these...

And, 4 weeks of him not trying to wake Sophia up every morning so that he can hug her. 4 weeks of missing out on his funny sayings, his sweet hugs, his sloppy kisses and all the crazy stuff he brings to bed. He still does that. It's just hard to photograph with Sophia sleeping in the same room.

A jar gripper that he played with all day, and then insisted on sleeping with.

June is coming up too fast for me, and once it hits I'll be antsy for August. I never thought I'd be wishing for August. Do you know how miserable and hot August is? Nevertheless, I'm ready for it. Heat, sweat, and all.
So. very. ready.