Oh, What a Morning

And it wasn't beautiful.

Noah was playing his "I'm not going to sleep" game last night again. He didn't get to sleep until 10:30, so he was pretty cranky this morning. I had to get up earlier than I prefer because we had to drop Rich off at work. We're waiting for a part to come in to fix the other car, so we're making do with the one car for the moment.

We went right from dropping Rich off to the clubhouse for Sarah's dance class. I got her changed into her dance clothes quickly, and we headed inside. Then Noah decided to pitch the world's biggest tantrum. Biggest. In the world. We're trying to walk the 30 feet from the front door to the dance room, and he is screaming his head off, flailing, and wrapping himself around both my legs so I can't move (while I'm carrying the infant carrier, of course). I managed to shuffle to the dance room, scooting him ahead of me. The dance teacher wasn't there yet, so I'm trying to get Sarah into her dance shoes while Noah continues to scream at the top of his lungs.

When the dance teacher got there, I picked Noah up around his waist and tucked him under one arm and grabbed the carrier with my free hand. I hauled Noah and Karen through the clubhouse back out to the van, with Noah screaming, "I don't wanna go to the car!" the whole way. I pretty much locked Noah in the back part of the van to scream and took Karen into the front seat with me because she was starving by this point. So I fed Karen while Noah screamed. The. Entire. Time.

When Karen was done, I asked Noah if he wanted to get out of the car. He did, so I told him he needed to calm down and get control, and he settled down for the most part. I mopped his face with a couple of tissues, and we headed back inside. Once inside, he began screaming again and wanted up. I picked him up and waddled back to the window outside dance class towing a toddler, baby, diaper bag, and carrier. I put the diaper bag and carrier down and just held Noah (who promptly fell asleep) until class was over. And yes, I'm that talented--I also managed to write a check for a recital costume and February classes.

By the way, why is it that children gain about 30 pounds just by falling asleep?

After class, I waddled back out, carrying the now-sleeping toddler, diaper bag, and baby-in-carrier. We got outside when Sarah realized she was still wearing her dance shoes and left her street shoes in class. And no, of course, she couldn't run back by herself to get them. I had to carry everything back with her. About halfway, a woman leaving the clubhouse saw us and walked Sarah to get her shoes so I could stay put. And then another mother from the dance class helped carry Karen and her seat to the van. (Thank heaven for compassionate people.) And we drove home.

Where I had 1/2 hour to shower and get Noah a clean shirt, etc. before getting back in the van to meet Rich for lunch. (We were meeting one of his Woodbadge patrol buddies and his family for lunch.) And of course, at this point, Karen decided she'd had enough of being in her seat. Not that I blame her, but... So she screamed the entire time I was in the shower and getting dressed and...pretty much until we pulled out of the driveway and the vibration put her back to sleep. Poor kid. And she'd been so nice last night--she slept from 8:30 p.m. until 5:30 a.m.

At least lunch was good. Karen slept, the kids were in a better mood, and Schlotzsky's is yummy. Maybe I can finagle everyone into naps this afternoon. A Mom can dream, can't she?

(Wow. This blog is great for journaling, huh?)

Field Trip to the Police Station

I went with Sarah's preschool group to assist with a field trip to the police station. Noah got to tag along too.

The kids got to climb all over inside a squad car and on a motorcycle. They got to turn on lights and sirens.

They got to try on several different hats and helmets,

they got to sit in a little holding cell (unlocked, of course),

they got to look at the courtroom and meet the judge, they got fingerprinted, they got Jr. officer badges, they got to talk on walkie talkies...

And they gave each of the kids a very cute stuffed bear that had been donated in quantity by Starbucks, apparently. It was a terrific visit. Noah loves the bear, which speaks in a cute high, sqeaky voice (voiced by Noah).

Proof!

So, yes, it actually snowed in Tucson. The last time I remember it snowing at all here was when I was in high school 10 years ago. The kids had lots of fun playing in the snow. Noah was rather upset that his hands got really cold, so he then borrowed some mittens from Nana. He learned his lesson, because he later sneaked back outside without his coat...but he had those mittens on!

2-year-olds

Now that Sarah appears to be over most of her destructive phases (the make up, the nail polish, the potions, the dumped food...), of course it's Noah's turn.

He's a little devil some days. Today, his favorite pastime was poking Karen in the eye when I wasn't looking. He was up till almost 11 last night because he kept getting out of bed, playing with toys, trying to climb into Karen's crib, etc. I was pretty proud of myself for not losing it--just returning him to bed firmly every time I caught him out. And yesterday, I caught him in the middle of his big sister's bed with scissors, merrily cutting a giant hole in the middle of her sheets. He managed to cut a small hole in his pants and shirt while he was at it. And of course, he's trying to give up napping, which gives him plenty more time to get into mischief. I just have to shake my head and sigh.

Oh, and on top of the late night last night, my husband woke me up around 5 a.m. (when he was getting ready to leave me for a Scout 20-mile hike) to let me know that the hamster has gotten out. We searched the house, but no luck so far. She's still loose around here somewhere. Hopefully she'll come out of hiding when she gets hungry. (Ha ha. Like there's any shortage of food on the floor she can scavenge.)

Diabolical cuteness!

Karen woke up early this morning. When I went to see if she'd take a binky and go back to sleep, she stopped crying, smiled really big and cooed at me. She was very happy and basically said, "I love you Mommy! Look how cute I am --don't you just have to pick me up and snuggle me?" And darn it, I did.

(Rich said she tried the same thing on Daddy a bit earlier, but Daddy was too tired, so he said, "Here's your binky. Go back to sleep.")

Elmo's a Crook

Noah has been waking up with bad dreams during the night recently. Fortunately, a binky helps him go back to sleep quickly...if he can find it. Last night he woke up again and kept crying, so I went in to help him find the binky. When I got there, he was sitting up in bed holding his new Elmo doll from Nana for Christmas...and shaking it. Then I realized he did find a binky--but Elmo wouldn't give it up. As I searched through blankets for the real binky, I asked him, "Aww, did Elmo steal your binky?" He nodded sadly and cried. At which point I found the binky, and he laid back down, pacified, and went to sleep again.

Some more of Karen's 2-month pictures

At her 2-month doctor appointment, Karen was 10 lbs. 2 oz. and 22 1/4" (both 50th %), up from 6 lbs. 4 oz. (10th %) and 19 1/2" (25th %) at her 2-week appointment.

Resemblance at 2 months

I didn't have poses that matched quite as well for 2 months, but here they are:


Not quite as close, but...still cute. ;-)

A Counting Game

Just the most adorable game ever (posted here for those not on the weekly email list). Have your speakers turned up. ;)

Hurrah!

We have sleeping-through-the-nightage! Karen slept for 7 hours, from 11pm till 6am this week! So why do I still feel so tired?

Family Resemblance

Okay, I am blatantly stealing this post idea from Ginger. These are pictures of my three kids, each at 1 month old.



I won't make you guess who is who...mostly because it's fairly obvious (i.e. one is not wearing a dress and hair bow...gee, which one could that be?), but they do all have pretty similar features.

Maybe I'll post comparison pictures at other ages too, just to see if the trend continues. :)