The 21st of January

It's the 21st of January.  Claire is six months old (what!) but today we celebrated another birthday, as well.  Today was Charles' grandmother's 97th birthday.  *97* As in, almost 100 (makes Claire's 6 months a little less...astounding, I guess).

Because of the birthday party, and because Charles was gone last night and I started my morning at 6 AM, I did a pretty crappy job of recording my day.  Unlike the first month I started this project, when I diligently took a photo on the hour, every hour, with a decent camera to boot, this month was a little more...slapdash (and I am really happy to have used the word "slapdash" in a sentence).  Taking pictures was, unfortunately, an afterthought...and this really is too bad, as there were tons of tons of great photo ops today (Jack and Claire with their great-grandmother would have been one, Claire with a beautiful black Friesian horse another...you get the idea).  Forgetting a real camera was a parenting FAIL.

You can see the results of my thoughtlessness below.

6:00 AM

I don't have a picture for 6:00 AM.  It was dark.  And even if it wasn't dark, I wouldn't have remembered to take a picture.  Because it was 6:00 in the MORNING.  That is really, really early for me.  Ungodly, even.  But Claire wanted to party and Charles was spread out by himself in a hotel bed somewhere so I had no choice but to get up.  

7:00 AM

So, guess who woke up early?  Yeah.  Jack was up by 7:00 AM.  As always, it was anyone's guess as to whether or not Jack would awaken in the form of Jekyll or Hyde.  The morning was tense as he swung back and forth, back and forth...alternating between throwing himself onto the couch howling for Memaw (my mom spent the night) and asking (nicely) for Lucky Charms.  I do my best in these situations to coax out Jekyll, and this morning was no exception.  Cartoons and a mug-full of sugared cereal later (I know, I know...bad), a pleasant little boy was cuddled up on the couch.  

8:00 AM

An hour later, he was still on the couch.  Watching his new favorite show, Octonauts.  And I have a picture of this, but apparently in my phone-to-Shutterfly picture transfer, this one was lost.  Oh well.  

9:00 AM

My mom leaves and I decide to cook up some eggs for Jack.  In a moment of domestic-wannabe-ness, I offer up Millenium Falcon eggs.  Another mom FAIL.

See, we have a couple of Star Wars cookie cutters.  So I thought, "I'll just put the cookie cutter in the pan and pour the eggs into it and they will cook in a perfect Millenium Falcon shape and I will be the BEST. MOTHER. EVER!"

First mistake?  I asked Jack if he wanted Millenium Falcon eggs without ever having actually created Millenium Falcon eggs.  

Second mistake?  I couldn't make them.  If I have learned anything as a mom of a three-year-old, it is under-promise and over-deliver...not the other way around.

The eggs were a complete failure.  Meltdown ensued, and ended with me promising Tie-Fighter eggs instead and Jack shaking his finger at me as he said, "Be gentle with the eggs this time!"

Long story short, the Tie-Fighter eggs were no great success either but they were at least consumed.

11:00 AM

At 11:00 AM we are finally on our way to GG's (GG = Great Grandmother) for the big party.  We tell Jack that if he goes to sleep, we'll get there faster.  Here he is "trying to go to sleep."  We spend the first part of the trip trying to convince him to go to sleep and the second half of the trip trying to keep him up (because we really don't want to have to wake him up right when we get there and deal with the risks of Jekyll and Hyde syndrome in public).

12:00 PM

My mom holds Claire and she tries to pull Jack's hair.  Jack loves this new game, but it's short-lived as other children arrive.  From this point on, Charles and I are on Jack like white on rice.  He is relentlessly harassing (hitting, growling at, yelling at, etc.) the other kids at the party.  AAAAGGGGHHHHHH....ready for this phase to pass).

1:00 PM

One great thing about having a sweet little nursling is that at large family gatherings, when the going gets tough, I can escape to a room to nurse my baby and get away from it all.  OK, it wasn't really "tough" at GG's 97th birthday party, but a few quiet moments with my baby was appreciated nonetheless.  

2:30 PM

At 2:30, we are headed home.  Within minutes, Jack starts telling us he doesn't feel good and his tummy hurts because he ate too much cake (he did).  A few more minutes, and he's crying and telling us his knees hurt (they often hurt so bad at night he wakes up crying).  A few more minutes?  He's full-on screaming and crying in the backseat.  Which is *extra* awesome because Claire has just fallen asleep.  The screaming gets worse and worse and...even worse.  See the picture I posted?  We are in the middle of nowhere.  After 45 minutes of non-stop screaming we get to a drugstore and buy him some Tylenol.  

A few minutes post-Tylenol and he's asleep.  Silence.  

4:00 PM

We will soon be closer to an In-n-Out than I ever was when living in California.  But since In-n-Out isn't open yet, we swing by Whataburger.  I need some caffeine.  And it's 4:00 PM...which means it's waaaaay to late for me to be drinking caffeine.  But I got up at 6:00 AM and just listened to 45 minutes of non-stop screaming, so I indulge.

We get home a little after 4:00 and they are still sleeping. It's still quiet.  I get in the backseat and block the sun from Claire's eyes so she'll stay asleep.  I do this for kind of a long time, because, well, it's reallllly nice to have two sleeping kids.  Even if it means we are stuck in the car.

5:00 PM

When Claire wakes up, I bring her in and we play while Charles sits in the car with still-sleeping Jack.  He eventually brings him in and puts him on the couch, and here he remains until we wake up him at 6:15 (and that doesn't go so well - think Mr. Hyde).

6:15 PM

7:30

It is finally bedtime for Claire.  Last week our rocker broke (super duper sad face) and we had to send it back to the manufacturer to be fixed.  So, I am without a glider for the next several weeks.  Today we borrowed a rocker from friends (no words to express my gratitude for this!) and I covered the chair and ottoman with crib sheets (not like we use those anyway) because I would like to return it in the excellent condition it is currently in (as opposed to broken-in-by-a-three-year-old).  

10:00 PM

No surprises here, but Jack is wide awake and just had a mini-meltdown because he told me he was hungry and I supplied him with cheese and crackers.  I'm not sure what he wanted and I didn't ask - don't negotiate with terrorists! - and this appears to have worked, as the plate is now EMPTY.  My goal is to get this published before the baby wakes up (again - she's already woken up twice since I started this post, but Charles has put her back down both time...remind me again that someday she will sleep, please!).  

And wow, that was a ridiculously long post for a few crappy pictures!  But you know what they say.  

"The days are long but the years are short."  

And today was no exception.  Long as I live it, but a mere minute in my lifetime.

Just keep telling myself that, right?