Early morning mayhem...

Our nephew Maxwell has stayed with us the last two nights while his little brother (Felix!!) was being born. It has been a blast. His bedtime is a little later than Alex's (and mine to be honest), and his wake up routine starts a bit later... but we have all worked together to make it work. Yesterday morning Michele and I got them up and fed them and packed them in two seperate cars, and then met back up at daycare to take them in together... holding hands as usual. It worked out nicely.

This morning was different. Michele had an early meeting and an hour commute. She left before either of the little angel started to stir. So, it was me and two two year olds. Alex woke up and immediately wanted to start harrassing Max. Max is a slow-waker-upper, and spent some time stretching and giving Alex dirty looks for being so energetic. Then we all had breakfast and played a little. Both needed to go potty, so we spent some time discussing the difference between boys and girls (graphically, but with proper medical terminology). Easy peasy.

Until it was time to get cleaned up and dressed up and out the door. You would think that two two year olds is twice the work of one. You would be wrong. There is an exponential multiplier at work... egging each other on. It was like wrangling cats, if cats could giggle, jump, and scream "NO" while still being adorable. It was enjoyably frustrating... because they looked like this:



Eventually I got them both in the car and we danced all the way to TutorTime. It was a hoot, and I don't think I could do it everyday. Good luck Michael & Cheri.

Short story...

Michele just asked Alex why she didn't take a nap today. The answer?

"Apparently I wanted to play!"

I think we're in trouble.

Bigger girl bed...

Remember a couple months ago when Alex climbed out of her crib and we had to emergency shop for a big girl bed? Well, we didn't tell the whole story....

She did climb out. She did bonk herself a good one. We did run out and buy a new bed... to pick up the next day. But that night, as Michele went to put the little monkey in her crib, Alex leaned in close and whispered, "Mama, I won't climb out of my crib anymore." Just like that. So we slow played it a little. We eventually took off the front rails to convert her crib to a mini-big girl bed. She dug it. She could climb in and out on her own. But now...

We finally set up the big-big girl bed. The whole thing is a bit surreal. It's a real bed. And, she digs it...
She's taking her first nap in it right now. All grown up...

Sleep tight...

Two nights ago I didn't get much sleep*. Alex got me up six separate times. She had to pee, she was thirsty, she tottered in to our room carrying a blanket and Mr. Dinosaur Head. But the big one, the one that lasted a while was weird. She was crying, wailing really, and pointing at her bed. "It's there Papa... it's there, get it!"... and I was lost. It was dark and I was recently roused from little slumber. After some soothing and some discussion, it ended up just being the cartoon frogs and ducks on her sheets freaking her out. Long night.

The night before last I didn't get much sleep. Alex got Michele and I up six separate times**. She was thirsty, she was singing, she fell out of bed. But the big one, the one that lasted a while was weird. She was screaming that she needed her other Mr. Dinosaur Head. "Mr. Dinosaur Head is right there honey." But she knew that... she was looking for the other Mr. Dinosaur Head. "There is only one Mr. Dinosaur Head honey." She didn't buy it. Long Night.

Last night Michele and I were talking. She asked me why I was so tired and/or grumpy. I told her I was tired and hadn't gotten much sleep the last two night because the monkey kept waking me up. Alex walked over, touched my knee, and said, "I won't wake you up tonight Papa." And she didn't. And I slept as well as I am capable.

She's the best.

* Michele was sicker than sick!
** Michel was only sick.

Ponies Papa...

This morning Michele had already left for work when Alex decided that she REALLY wanted "ponies"... that is pigtails. I have avoided this task so far, because my big fat fingers and lack of experience make it all but impossible. But, she really wanted them and we had time to kill, so I tried...

The first attempt, in addition to pulling out a bunch of her hair, was bad enough that I took it out. I then decided that it would be quicker and easier to just give her a ponytail in the back and call it a day. The result was somewhere between Kelly Kapowski with bedhead and the chick from Napoleon Dynamite... cocked to one side, frizzed out and lumpy. She loved it. She looked in the mirror and said, "I'm likin' it Papa!", and wouldn't let me take it out.

When we got to Tutor Time I pleaded with the teacher to please fix it so that Alex wasn't laughed at and summarily refused entrance to forthcoming reindeer games. I also asked her not to make fun of me. She promised to redo the do, and then made fun of me. One out of two ain't bad.

A good Friday...

On Good Friday we took Alex and her cousin Maxwell to the Toledo Zoo. It was a beautiful day, not that Alex noticed. I'm not sure she noticed many of the animals either. The thing is, Alex has a thing for her cousin. Not that type of thing (I hope), but an unending fascination. She whispers his name when she talks about him just to keep from screaming. She knows that Thursday is the day that he comes over to play and therefore lives life in anticipation of Thursday. She looks at him like some of you once looked at Frank Sinatra, or Jordan Knight, or Justin Bieber. She can stare at him for an hour while he plays with his cars. She can, and she does. He calls her "Baby". And, at least once a day, she stares off in the distance and says, "Max calls me baby all the time."

Which is all just a way of explaining why, instead of an album full of pictures of exotic animals to show for our day in the sun, I have these...

I get it...

Okay, so I have been slacking off on the blog for a while.

Does this, in any small way, make up for it?



This is the first day that she actually used the pedals to propel herself. I will follow her lead and attempt to, once again, propel the blog.