Today
Today started soon after I went to bed last night. Both kids are a little sick, coinciding nicely with Rob's work trip, so I pulled solo duty with getting up all night for both kids. Gotta love those Jack-in-the-Box kinda nights.
Today Michael told me he wanted to jump off the top of the house. I honestly have no idea how he got that in his head, except that he has been really into jumping off ever taller things these last few days. So I'm a little scared that it may have been an original idea.
Today Ella got really, really close to crawling. I'd say she did, but I'd be cheating. It was only a couple weeks ago that she hardly seemed to care at all about moving. Not till 7 months old did she even roll from her back to stomach for the first time. Now moving seems to be all she cares about and she's suddenly pretty whiny about wanting to get around.
Today Ella whined more than any other day in her life, I'm pretty sure. I think she just has a common cold - coughing, runny nose, low fever. But the lengthy sessions of whining got me wondering if I should take her in to the doc. But then she would seem perfectly fine and happy other times. Why is it that a kid will whine like they have the plague, but then you get them naked and suddenly they are chirping and giddy? For my kids, at least, nudity is like a cure-all. Or at least a good litmus test for if she's really awfully sick; just get her undressed and if she's still sad then I know to call the doctor.
Today I felt like I was cleaning all day long. Between Michael throwing up and having the runs (let's just say there were some silly fun accidents) and Ella's nose running like a fire hose and puking up from her coughing fits...well, shoot, what did people do before washing machines?!
Today I talked to Rob on the phone while he was waiting for his flight back home, and he told me that his day was pretty boring.
Today I exercised self restraint with sarcasm.
Today I built a pretty awesome train track with Michael.
Today I let Michael watch an entire full-length movie. I'm usually a t.v. nazi so this was big. Big on his part, too, because there have been a couple other times when I was going to let him watch a full movie (read - I NEEDED him to watch a full-length movie) and he always lost interest.
Today I felt a bit trapped with two sick kids and a missing husband, so I did a pretty great home-workout, complete with using Ella as a weight to add extra spice to boring old things like lunges, crunches, etc. I also did intervals of racing up and down our stairs (they run continuously from the 1st to the 3rd floor), and it was the best cardio I've ever done at home. Michael would have thought I was nuts if it weren't for the movie making him completely dead to the world. (Which is part of why I'm so leery of showing him too much of that stuff. And also why I wish I wasn't.)
Today was actually still a happy day. I'm sort of obsessed with my kids (obviously) and one of the best pieces of advice I've read was to not think about doing things for the little parasites, rather as doing with them. Even the not-so-glamorous stuff can still be turned into moments enjoyed together.
Today Michael told me he wanted to jump off the top of the house. I honestly have no idea how he got that in his head, except that he has been really into jumping off ever taller things these last few days. So I'm a little scared that it may have been an original idea.
Today Ella got really, really close to crawling. I'd say she did, but I'd be cheating. It was only a couple weeks ago that she hardly seemed to care at all about moving. Not till 7 months old did she even roll from her back to stomach for the first time. Now moving seems to be all she cares about and she's suddenly pretty whiny about wanting to get around.
Today Ella whined more than any other day in her life, I'm pretty sure. I think she just has a common cold - coughing, runny nose, low fever. But the lengthy sessions of whining got me wondering if I should take her in to the doc. But then she would seem perfectly fine and happy other times. Why is it that a kid will whine like they have the plague, but then you get them naked and suddenly they are chirping and giddy? For my kids, at least, nudity is like a cure-all. Or at least a good litmus test for if she's really awfully sick; just get her undressed and if she's still sad then I know to call the doctor.
Today I felt like I was cleaning all day long. Between Michael throwing up and having the runs (let's just say there were some silly fun accidents) and Ella's nose running like a fire hose and puking up from her coughing fits...well, shoot, what did people do before washing machines?!
Today I talked to Rob on the phone while he was waiting for his flight back home, and he told me that his day was pretty boring.
Today I exercised self restraint with sarcasm.
Today I built a pretty awesome train track with Michael.
Today I let Michael watch an entire full-length movie. I'm usually a t.v. nazi so this was big. Big on his part, too, because there have been a couple other times when I was going to let him watch a full movie (read - I NEEDED him to watch a full-length movie) and he always lost interest.
Today I felt a bit trapped with two sick kids and a missing husband, so I did a pretty great home-workout, complete with using Ella as a weight to add extra spice to boring old things like lunges, crunches, etc. I also did intervals of racing up and down our stairs (they run continuously from the 1st to the 3rd floor), and it was the best cardio I've ever done at home. Michael would have thought I was nuts if it weren't for the movie making him completely dead to the world. (Which is part of why I'm so leery of showing him too much of that stuff. And also why I wish I wasn't.)
Today was actually still a happy day. I'm sort of obsessed with my kids (obviously) and one of the best pieces of advice I've read was to not think about doing things for the little parasites, rather as doing with them. Even the not-so-glamorous stuff can still be turned into moments enjoyed together.
You are a great mom! What a day!
You're a rock star!
Okay, two comments (or maybe three): Michael wanting to jump off the house reminds me of when Rob was little and wanted to swing off our house from a rope. They were probably the same age. We have a family video of it. It's awesome.
Also, I also said I'd never let my kids watch much TV but sometimes a mom has got to do what a mom has got to do and I'm pretty sure Michael is still going to turn out just fine.
That totally stinks that Rob was gone for all of that. He owes you big time.
Oh P.S. Since this is our last week with only one child, we decided to spice up our lives and take James to the movie theater (his first time). It was the dollar theater and The Muppets were showing and oh how he loved it! It was so cute. I thought he'd only last 30 minutes maybe but he was enamored by the whole thing. We probably won't do that too often but it was a fun change. Since Rob is such a Muppet maniac I wished Michael had been there with him.
First, LOVE your new blog family photo! Sorry both children are sick. Please keep both of the deck doors locked tight...I don't want Michael jumping off the top of your house!
I hope Rob got back & is really helpful & gives you a little time off for excellent mothering skills.