Wild and Crazy

Now that I'm back to my old self and healed from the gallbladder thing the boys aren't cutting me any slack. I really don't know how people with more than two children are able to function. It blows my mind to think of what life must be like with three, four or more kids. I am just not cut out for that. I readily admit I'm not sure I'm cut out for two, but I'm trying to toughen up and roll with the punches.

Nick was taking a shower last night with Lucas while I sat down for the first time in hours. Suddenly I hear a joyful squealing and a small, pale, naked, dripping streak go running by me. It was Nick soaking wet and enthusiastic about running around the house after "escaping" the shower. I just sat there and let him. What the hell, why not? So he did some laps went back into the shower presumably to warm up and then came running by me again. And again I let him. My carpet will dry right?

Then I went to dress Lucas and Nick decided to take a hold of his privates and take a big pee on the bath mat. Little #$%@!. I would have punished him but he isn't potty trained and I am 80% sure he did it on purpose but since there is a questionable gray area I opted to ignore it rather than unfairly discipline a not-quite-two year old over misplaced urine. I'm just glad I don't need to shampoo the carpet . . . again.

And dressing Nick lately is like calf roping. Have you ever seen a rodeo with calf roping? All the skinny limbs kicking and thrashing trying to get away? And the rodeo dude doing his best to get a hold of every flailing body part and pin the thrashing body down at the same time. . .? That is me with Nick lately. Any sort of a diaper change is some sort of weird toddler power struggle and for Nick it is like a fight to the death. Good versus EVIL. Nick versus the UNIVERSE and by GOD he is determined to exert control over when and where the diaper changes occur - and if they occur at all. Incidentally I have found that holding his hips down with one hand and fastening the diaper with the other works fairly well. His shoulders and legs can move about pretty freely in their protests but as long as the hips are relatively still it IS POSSIBLE to get the damned thing on.

Lucas is still having hearing trouble. The other day I offered to help him hear me by grabbing hold of his ear and gently (I'm serious, I was gentle) guiding him closer to me so he could hear me. He thought this was a big joke and I'm glad he took it as a joke because I was fresh out of ideas to get him to listen to me. He is in this "I can do it myself" stage which is really freaking cute when he wants to buckle himself into the car seat. However when he is opening your fridge and attempting to pour his own milk into his cereal bowl while you are tripping and falling on the floor over the pants you were trying to put on in order to PHYSICALLY stop (I mean "help") him . . . because he suddenly can't seem to hear you telling him to "wait! Stop! Hold on while mommy gets her pants zipped!!! " it isn't so adorable anymore.

Whew that was one hell of a run on sentence there. Sorry.

Here they are doing their naked laps through the house prior to shower time.


Here is Nick hiding under a bed so he doesn't have to shower. It was really fun dragging his naked flailing body out of there by an ankle while he screamed and cried as if I was about to beat him. I really shudder to think about what our neighbors hear through our open windows. Me yelling, kids screaming and crying, then hysterical maniacal toddler laughter followed the sound of a beer opening. . . we are classy people.


Speaking of classy . . .


Mmmm. Daddy is out of town and Mommy needed to have a few seconds of quiet time so this was the solution - whipped cream out of a can for everyone. Hey. No judging. At least it wasn't canned squirt cheese, that is a whole new level of classy.


And now for the good stuff.

Lucas brought me an adorable plant that he made at school for Mom's day. As he got off the bus holding the plant he watched my face to see my reaction to his gift. I of course LIT UP at his beautiful present and he in return was beaming at my excitement. He was so proud of himself for giving me something I so clearly loved. And I do love it. It was one of the best presents I've ever received because it came from such a sweet angel. Lucas is also speaking much better. He will be returning to his Phonics program at his preschool next year which I am happy about.

Nick is putting three words together but is still pretty hard to understand. He is pedaling a tricycle by himself in imitation of his brother on a bicycle. We need to get him a helmet now that he is a cyclist. Nick is exceptionally cuddly and still wants his Momma all the time. And he still steals sips of my coffee when I turn my back which I don't mind because it seems to calm him down instead of hype him up - so I ignore the occasional sips. Today Lucas hurt his head and was crying hard so Nick ran to the freezer, opened it up and brought the Scooby-Doo ice pack I keep in there so that Lucas could feel better. It was so sweet and so thoughtful. I love moments like that because it makes me feel like despite the daily struggles (and there are many) I might be doing something right.