Probably a quick post this week. I'm short on time and energy. Things have gotten a little better since my last entry. Lil' S1 was much, much easier this week during bed time. He even slept in his bed a few nights, which I far prefer to him sleeping in my bed with me. Once we get things "settled," we will make him sleep in his bed full-time, but for now it's fine if he sleeps with me, as it keeps him out of S's hair, so that she (and her mom) can tend to the baby at night. If he gets into bed with me in the middle of the night after I'm already asleep, I actually don't mind at all. The problem is when he starts in my bed, because then when I get in, I have problems falling asleep, because he kicks me constantly. Somehow even when he's in a deep sleep, he reflexively digs his feet into my back, no matter what position I put him in. Last night was particularly bad. I was SO tired and couldn't fall asleep, and then I started fixating on the fact I couldn't fall asleep, which only made things worse. Then a bird started chirping and annoying me, and pretty soon it was 2:30 a.m., and I was still wide awake. Hence the lack of energy today.
We took Lil' S1 to a little community festival last night, which was really nice. A bunch of kids/parents from his daycare were there, so you could just let him go and relax -- well, almost relax. With Lil' S1 you always have to stay within "striking distance," because it's likely at some point he's going to get himself into some sort of predicament that requires quick action. Like last night, he squeezed through this make shift barrier and got out of the festival area, so I had to run around this building to keep him from running into a busy street. (I think he has enough sense at this point not to do that, but I don't want to test it.) But for the most part he does really well in "social" situations. He is very high-energy, but usually pretty well-behaved, and he seems well-liked by the other kids and their parents. That's the thing about him. He seems to be fine everywhere but at home with us. I guess that's good, in a way.
And of course there are redeeming moments, even at home. The other day he was really stressing us out (S has been getting it worse than me lately), so we put him in his room to play by himself for a while, and when I went up there 15 minutes later, he had opened up this card game that's for older kids and organized all the cards into color-coordinated piles and then matched them up with their corresponding racks. And then he said, "Look, Daddy! Purple, purple. Red, red..." and showed me what he had done. I felt genuinely proud. It was really cool. Of course, the next day he crawled under the futon to poop in his pants and got his head stuck, so ... gutters and strikes.
In other news, S's dad came to visit this week. It is nice to see him, but honestly it will be nice to see him go too. (He leaves tomorrow.) He's just not very helpful at times like these. And it's not just that he's not helpful, he's anti-helpful. He adds to the stress, because he's one more person S's mom has to take care of, and the only thing he can do to help is watch the baby when he's not being fussy, which pretty much anybody can do.
The other day he really annoyed S by complaining about his iPad, when she and her mom were trying to feed the baby. And he really annoyed me by telling me I needed to cut the grass in front of my house between the sidewalk and the road. That actually really set me off, because the timing could not have been worse. S's parents were supposed to take Lil' S1 to the zoo yesterday morning to give us a little break. But he started crying in the car on the way there, and instead of just dealing with it, giving him a snack or just ignoring it for a few minutes (he would have immediately stopped once they got to the zoo and it's only a five minute car ride), they turned around and came back. S wasn't around, so I had Lil' S2, and he was being fussy, so I'm trying to calm him down, and then I got bombarded with a hysterical three-year-old, who's bawling and trying to climb into my arms while I'm already holding the baby.
So it's a double-kid whammy, and all I want to do is make some coffee and take a dump. And then in the middle of it all, S's dad asks me if I have a lawn mower, because the grass by the sidewalk looks bad, and I should cut it. All I said was, "it's fine." What I wanted to say was, "First, that's not even my property; it's the city's. Second, even if it was my property, I still wouldn't really care about it. Third, WHY ON EARTH ARE YOU BRINGING THIS UP NOW?" Infuriating. I will say, however, in his defense, last time he was here, he did some minor yard work, which he can't do now because he hurt his shoulder. If he didn't have the injury, he probably would have offered to cut it himself. But still, just have some general awareness of the situation. That's all I ask.
Anyway...
In other, other news, I went out with some friends on Friday for my birthday. It was really nice. I hadn't been out like that in ages. Actually, S and I went out for dinner beforehand (at 5:30 -- old people time!), and then she went home to take care of the kids and let me meet up with my friends. So, it was a pretty good birthday ... until the next morning.
And with that, until next time ...
We took Lil' S1 to a little community festival last night, which was really nice. A bunch of kids/parents from his daycare were there, so you could just let him go and relax -- well, almost relax. With Lil' S1 you always have to stay within "striking distance," because it's likely at some point he's going to get himself into some sort of predicament that requires quick action. Like last night, he squeezed through this make shift barrier and got out of the festival area, so I had to run around this building to keep him from running into a busy street. (I think he has enough sense at this point not to do that, but I don't want to test it.) But for the most part he does really well in "social" situations. He is very high-energy, but usually pretty well-behaved, and he seems well-liked by the other kids and their parents. That's the thing about him. He seems to be fine everywhere but at home with us. I guess that's good, in a way.
And of course there are redeeming moments, even at home. The other day he was really stressing us out (S has been getting it worse than me lately), so we put him in his room to play by himself for a while, and when I went up there 15 minutes later, he had opened up this card game that's for older kids and organized all the cards into color-coordinated piles and then matched them up with their corresponding racks. And then he said, "Look, Daddy! Purple, purple. Red, red..." and showed me what he had done. I felt genuinely proud. It was really cool. Of course, the next day he crawled under the futon to poop in his pants and got his head stuck, so ... gutters and strikes.
In other news, S's dad came to visit this week. It is nice to see him, but honestly it will be nice to see him go too. (He leaves tomorrow.) He's just not very helpful at times like these. And it's not just that he's not helpful, he's anti-helpful. He adds to the stress, because he's one more person S's mom has to take care of, and the only thing he can do to help is watch the baby when he's not being fussy, which pretty much anybody can do.
The other day he really annoyed S by complaining about his iPad, when she and her mom were trying to feed the baby. And he really annoyed me by telling me I needed to cut the grass in front of my house between the sidewalk and the road. That actually really set me off, because the timing could not have been worse. S's parents were supposed to take Lil' S1 to the zoo yesterday morning to give us a little break. But he started crying in the car on the way there, and instead of just dealing with it, giving him a snack or just ignoring it for a few minutes (he would have immediately stopped once they got to the zoo and it's only a five minute car ride), they turned around and came back. S wasn't around, so I had Lil' S2, and he was being fussy, so I'm trying to calm him down, and then I got bombarded with a hysterical three-year-old, who's bawling and trying to climb into my arms while I'm already holding the baby.
So it's a double-kid whammy, and all I want to do is make some coffee and take a dump. And then in the middle of it all, S's dad asks me if I have a lawn mower, because the grass by the sidewalk looks bad, and I should cut it. All I said was, "it's fine." What I wanted to say was, "First, that's not even my property; it's the city's. Second, even if it was my property, I still wouldn't really care about it. Third, WHY ON EARTH ARE YOU BRINGING THIS UP NOW?" Infuriating. I will say, however, in his defense, last time he was here, he did some minor yard work, which he can't do now because he hurt his shoulder. If he didn't have the injury, he probably would have offered to cut it himself. But still, just have some general awareness of the situation. That's all I ask.
Anyway...
In other, other news, I went out with some friends on Friday for my birthday. It was really nice. I hadn't been out like that in ages. Actually, S and I went out for dinner beforehand (at 5:30 -- old people time!), and then she went home to take care of the kids and let me meet up with my friends. So, it was a pretty good birthday ... until the next morning.
And with that, until next time ...
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