I'm cutting my nails

Has it really been almost a month since I've said anything on this crazy blog? Well, folks, get ready, because Kindred is in school, Elias is napping, and I'm cutting my fingernails so that click-clacking of typing doesn't make me crazy. Then I'm gonna be a bloggin' fool. So much to update:

Elias is 9 months, and Kindred will be 28 months. Kindred speaks as well as a 6th grader, Elias can crawl, fans have come out in the house and so have baby gates. Grandparents visited, we visited grandparents. Elias makes up games and laughs at himself, and can point out the light in every room. His temper tantrums have lessened, and instead of throwing his head backwards, he now crumples forward, head resting on feet in a wailing, devastated protest. (It's much more endearing than the old action.) Kindred enjoys school and talks about his friends at home. He is also becoming more possessive of his toys, and has, as everyone predicted, begun making good use of the words "No!" and "Mine!" Funny how it coincides with Elias learning how to move independently. Michael and I are in the throes of house hunting, and it has represented probably the most hardship our marriage has had to endure. Who knew that something "everyone does" could bring so much turmoil to the relationship of 2 people who mostly like each other a lot? Oh, probably because, among other things it is something "everyone does." And it involves an awful lot of money. When did we jump on that bandwagon?

And finally, no, I'm not pregnant. One gag over a particularly stinky diaper does not a pregnancy indicate. (Although it does cause one to irrationally and spontaneously disregard naptime and lunch to pack up 2 small children into stroller and backpack and haul them 6 blocks to the store to buy a pee tester then 6 blocks back only to decide you maybe didn't actually want to know right at that moment and anyways, you sweated out all your pee in your rush around the neighborhood.)

Annnnnd, he wakes. Hello Elias, goodbye lofty blogging goals. I will post pictures demonstrating all these and more later. No really, I promise.

Kid Genius

Sometimes you look at your kid and think, "Oh he's a genius!"

"Or...not."

How'd It Go?

I was, as I predicted, not happy at 4am. I was less angry though. Kindred was on my lap, rocking, in the living room. Elias was just settling back down in his bed. The basic story is that Kindred, who rarely, rarely wakes up in the middle of the night, woke at 2am and started to wail. When I rushed to him to see what was wrong, he stopped crying and said, "Mommy, Kindred get down." He just decided he was done sleeping. He sabotaged my great project. And all the while I was worried that Elias would be the problem. Nope, it was Kindred. Elias slept through the rant the first time, but Kindred didn't give up. Two hours later he was still going strong. Elias joined him in the wailing, and I was ready to start a fist fight. With whoever stepped up. But I softened and eventually agreed to hold first Elias for 45 minutes, then Kindred for 30. And I managed to get about 5 hours of sleep.

I will not give up though. Tonight we try again.

Togethah Forevah

sorry about the peekage!

And tonight, for the first time in their short history, they are sleeping in the same room, by themselves! I'm so happy. (I may not be happy at 4am, but I am right now.)

My Day

(This one might be boring. Sorry.) It's been striking me once again how little time I seem to have in one day to do something non kid-related. Michael and I a week or 2 back were having a conversation about the standards of cleanliness on our house, because he leaves the house early in the morning often and when he returns hours and hours later, the apartment doesn't seem to be any cleaner, even though I've had all day to clean it do laundry wash dishes make dinner and pay bills. I started feeling really crappy about myself as a domestic, uh, person. So I decided to make a log of my day, noting everything that I do so that I could look back and actually see how much I sat around and did nothing and how much I accomplished. At the suggestion of a friend, I am going to share my log with you.

My Day
8-9am: Pilates
9-10:30am: Ate Bfast, made toast for Michael and Kindred, talked to realtor twice, looked at email, weather and real estate stuff, etc. on computer.
10:30-11:20am: nursed Elias, put him to bed, loaded iPod, put away dishes
...-12:10pm: Cleaned up clothes in K's room, "Fixed" broken drawer, talked briefly on phone to bes
...-12:30pm: Changed K's poopy diaper, negotiated nakedness, made K's lunch and let him eat in nothing but socks sitting in his high chair on a towel
...-1pm: Bes over to house briefly
...-1:15pm: make myself lunch, start eating
...-1:20pm: Elias wakes, retrieve him
...-1:30pm: Dress K, put him down for nap-- which takes 10 minutes because of a music dispute
...-1:40pm: Finish eating my lunch, receive and open package from UPS, download photos to computer, catch up on log, watch E poop, think about his lunch
...-2:08pm: E played by himself (!), do dishes, compose 4 blog posts and reply to 6 emails in head while doing dishes
...-2:20pm: Put E in high chair and try to feed him Cheeri*s and small bits of pear.
...-2:35pm: Realize Cheeri*s are too big and he doesn't really like the pear, so decide self-feeding lesson is futile. Get peas and applesauce for him.
...-2:50pm: Enter Michael, discuss lunch. Exit Michael. Finish feeding Elias and play with him. Realize the only stage 2 nipple I can find is dirty, resolve to find more. But first have to wipe off E and take him with me b/c he'll throw a total fit otherwise. Put some lunch items away.
...-2:52pm: Realize (Shoot!) E's diaper is still poopy. Put nipple search on hold and change diaper.
...-3:20pm: Change E's diaper, dress E in "civilian clothes"- this is a fight. He only wants to practice standing and crawling. Sitting and lying still are not options. Put his PJ's away, check mail, get key and lock Linny's door, look for nipples, decide they're in K's room. Put suitcase contents away. Think about E's second nap. Turn music down in K's room.
...3:25pm: Answer phone, talk to Liz.
...4:18pm: Put clothes away in room, lay down with E and convince him to nap-- this takes 30 minutes.
...-4:25pm: E isn't settling down. Play with my new makeup in the bathroom to stay close and check frequently on E who is "sleeping" on my bed. K wakes up.
...-4:30pm: E nearly falls off bed, decide nap is futile. Retrieve K.
...-4:40pm: Finish working on clothes in K's room. Call Michael.
...-5:15pm: Didn't talk to M. Found nipples and shoes. While trying shoes on E, K empties all nipples out of bin, tried them out, unscrews all bottles and dumps bin contents.

After this comes dinner and bedtime, and I gave up the log before that. Perhaps I could streamline my time better, but I felt better knowing I didn't just sit on my butt all day.

Even the Best Laid Plans

I got up today (no hangover) and decided I was going to take the boys on the bus to go to a local strip of stores to buy a baby shower gift for a friend. Michael took the car to south Jersey for a funeral of a great aunt, so I hyped up the idea of all of us having an outing. Then I realized the obstacles. I only had the big stroller, not the little un-cooperative umbrella stroller

interruption: i have just confirmed that me typing while elias is sleeping in my room wakes him up. i have to stop this post or i am gonna have another day with "insufficient sleep boy". suffice it to say that i scrapped the plan for the day with my sleepy hungry boys after i had managed to get only one sneaker on and kindred had pushed elias over and he was wailing and rubbing his eyes essentially begging me to not take him away from his beloved nap and i was so mad at kindred i was almost shaking. no outing. i will order something and make a nice card.

My Date With Me

Every first Thursday of every month I have committed to taking a date night for myself. I go to the World Cafe Live and see the Cabaret Melange show. I'm usually on the guest list, so it's a free night of crazy musical variety and wild performers. I love it. Not even because the music is phenomenal or because the venue has great food. The food is actually not exciting at all and the drinks are expensive. But it is my treat to myself. I laugh harder than I have laughed all month, which is usually thanks to Johnny Showcase who steals the show for me every time, even when I'm not expecting it. And tonight when I went I was unusually tense, so I did something equally as unusual. I got drunk. I ordered myself a Long Island Iced Tea, followed by a beer. The show was, at times, completely hilarious (even my non-drunk friends agreed). Afterwards, my good friend Brooke drove me to a diner and then offered to let me sleep on her couch. I was pretty well sobered by the time I finished the fries and grilled cheese, so I came home. I'm exhausted but I had a great time.

If you're ever around and not busy on the first Thursday of the month, you are welcome to come to the show. I'll let you have a date with me. Score!

Big Zoomie

Thanks to my mother, we have been referring to the vacuum as the "Big Zoomie" since Kindred was very little. He hates it. He has begged me to not run the big zoomie, to throw it away, to put it outside. When it comes out briefly during a day, he obsesses about it, mentioning it during baths, diaper changes, mealtime, for days after it has been returned to the closet.

All this changed after the dirt incident. He was forced against his will to hold the attachment and help me suck up the huge mess he'd made. Now he is intrigued by this monster that comes out and cleans up the messy rug. I left it out in the hallway for a few days afterwards and discovered this encounter happening:



I believe he has been cured. And thank goodness, too. The sooner I can get this kid running the vacuum...