We took the kids to a park today since we are all enjoying DJ's first real day off in weeks. It was kind of hot so I became the mom that I always look at and think, "Who would let their kids do that?" and let them run through the spray park area. Of course Carter loved it and I was super surprised when Abigail the Cautious started running through them too- especially since we all know she HATES wearing wet clothes.
Carter managed to make this mess in, no kidding, less than five minutes. Even Abigail (complete with monkey backpack/leash) was impressed. How can one little man make such a huge disaster in such little time without making a peep?
Abbie's newest thing is "helping" Carter eat his food. She pushes up a chair and hands him food, laughing when he either drops it or smears it all over himself and getting upset when he doesn't eat what she hands him. Carter likes to slouch down in the chair and kick up a leg. I blame myself because this is the same, though very unattractive and unfeminine, way I used to rock and/or feed the kids after Carter was born because it was the only way I could hold both at once in one little chair.
Abigail the White Rabbit, Carter the Gorilla. Abbie loved hers and hopped all over. Carter laid on his back and played dead for a few minutes before attempting to walk around. SO fun!
Again, in my desperate attempts to keep the kids and myself entertained while DJ works an incredible amount of overtime (58 hours over his normal 40 so far!) this week, we headed to another park. Carter threw wood chips at himself and Abbie ran around with a bunch of kids around her age.
Abigail decided that her potty seat was a hat, which was all fine and good by her until she got her arm stuck in it. I laughed and took a picture until I realized that it really was stuck. After a minute of panic, Abbie was freed with only a red cheek to show for it.
Last week I took the kids to Emerald Cove park in the Fruitvale area in another effort to kill some time while DJ worked overtime. What a fun park! There were tons of great toys for both kids to play with and the weather couldn't have been better.
Now he can fall even harder! I found Carter up on the couch watching his favorite girl, Dora the Explorer. What's a momma to do?
So, DJ has been working even more than usual for the past week and will continue to do so for at least another. Now that I am dealing with the kids for much longer periods of time, I guess my observational skills are suffering. While blow drying my hair, I somehow did not notice Abigail walk in and take my shine serum off the counter in front of me and run away. I finished drying my hair- totally enjoying my peace and quiet- and then walked into the living room. Something unusual caught my eye as I walked past Abigail. She was shiny from head to toe and the couch was soaked. She had unscrewed the top off the shine serum, dumped it on herself and the couch and was rubbing it all over! For anyone who is not familiar with shine serum, it would be like rubbing cooking oil all over. I scrubbed her with antibacterial soap and she still has a nice glossy appearance. So much for a little peace!
Abbie loves stickers. She peels every one of them off the sheet and sticks them on her arms and then takes them off and sticks them all over another object of her choice. Sometimes its another living creature in the house, sometimes the floor, sometimes a toy. Here she is admiring her handiwork. Tattoos in her future?
Abigail has been very independent this week and has insisted on getting herself ready to go places. I told her to go get ready, which normally means she will go get her shoes and put them on herself. This time, she got her shoes and then put her makeup on. She came running in, yelling, "Ready Mom!"
Today I showed further proof that I am just a few tiny steps away from completely losing my mind by taking the kids to Picture People (whom I have a love-hate relationship with) by myself to photograph the two of them together. Yes, the crazy, teething little monster and the ever sensitive and dramatic two year old. They did as expected, and I swear the photographer has never photographed small children ever before. I've had some bad photographers there before, but this one took the cake. I was so tempted to take her camera and do it myself. We got a few good shots after a lot of effort on my part, before I finally became exasperated and asked for the shoot to be stopped and then became rather unpleasant when she continued to try to take pictures. I thought for sure the day was going to end with my going to jail for assault on a children's photographer! But well worth it, and the pictures are precious.
My good friend Sandi recently went back to work after having baby Jacob and found herself stuck without a sitter for him an hour before she was supposed to be at work this morning, so we got to babysit for awhile today. As you can see, Abigail was more than enthusiastic about it and that enthusiasm did not wane as the day went by. She loved having a little person to snuggle up with, one who can't bite her or wiggle away from her like her brother. She didn't move far from his little feet most of the time and was more than eager to fetch blankets, diapers, toys, bottles, etc. Carter thought he was fun to poke at, but didn't pay him much attention.
